Albert Kualiʻi Brickwood Lyman

Born in Paʻauhau on the Hāmākua Coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi, on May 5, 1885, Albert Kualiʻi Brickwood Lyman, graduated from West Point ranked 15th in his class of 103 – classmate George S Patton, Jr was ranked 46th.  On March 13, 1942, Lyman was named Hawaiian Department engineer.

On August 11, 1942, Lyman was the first native Hawaiian (and Asian, he was also part-Chinese) to attain the rank of general or admiral in the US Armed Forces.  He died suddenly of a heart attack on August 13, 1942, two days after his promotion.  On October 20, 1942, Brigadier General Lyman was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Medal “For exceptionally meritorious service in a position of great responsibility.”

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Cannon Club

Fort Ruger Military Reservation was established at Diamond Head (Lēʻahi) in 1906.  Also at Fort Ruger was the Cannon Club, a social club with a restaurant built in 1945 for the officers and their families.  The conclusion of World War II made the coastal batteries obsolete; in December 1955 the majority of the Fort Ruger land was turned over to the State of Hawai‘i – the Army kept the club.

The club, however, could not keep up with the times; the Army had to close the Cannon Club in 1997 as a result. For a few years, there was hope that the restaurant could reopen under private contractors, but the funding for the project fell through; the state acquired the property.  It is destined to be KCC's Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head.”

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Go For Broke

On January 28, 1943, the US War Department called for volunteers for a new combat team.  The mainland quota was 3,000 and the Hawaiʻi quota was 1,500.

But wait, we are getting a little ahead of the story.  Let's look back.

On December 7, 1941, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor forced the US into World War II.  On the day of the bombing and for six weeks after, the Nisei (Hawaiʻi born, 2nd generation Japanese in Hawaiʻi) and other cadets in the University of Hawaiʻi’s ROTC were made part of the Hawaiʻi Territorial Guard and assisted in guarding vital facilities on the island of Oahu.  They served as part of the armed forces defense of the islands for a 7-week period.

However, on January 19, 1942, the Army discharged all the Japanese Americans in the ROTC - and changed their draft status to 4C ... “enemy alien.”  Wanting to serve, one hundred and seventy students petitioned the military governor: “Hawaiʻi is our home; the United States our country. We know but one loyalty and that is to the Stars and Stripes. We wish to do our part as loyal Americans in every way possible, and we hereby offer ourselves for whatever service you may see fit to use us.”  (hawaii-edu)

A year later, the War Department announced that it was forming an all-Nisei combat team - the call for volunteers for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was made.  The Territory of Hawaiʻi raised a total of 10,000-volunteers and so its quota was increased to 2,900 while the mainland quota was lowered proportionately to 1,500.  

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was activated on February 1, 1943 at Camp Shelby Mississippi; the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce held a Farewell Ceremony for Hawaiʻi 442nd soldiers on March 28, 1943, at ʻIolani Palace.  By April 1943, the recruits arrived for training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

The Hawaiʻi-born Nisei, also known as “Buddhaheads,” made up about two-thirds of the regiment. The remaining third were Nisei from the mainland (they came from the Pacific coast, the Rocky Mountain states, the midwest and the eastern seaboard.)  Immediately, the two factions fought with each other (because of different perspectives based on where they grew up.)  (goforbroke-org)

At the time, Japanese in the US were placed in internment camps; more than 110,000-people of Japanese ancestry (including 60-percent who were American citizens) were forcibly “relocated” from their homes, businesses and farms in the western states (about 1,000 were interned in Hawaiʻi.)

Back at the training camp, the Buddhaheads thought the mainlander Nisei were sullen and snobby, and not confident and friendly. Soon misunderstandings turned into fistfights.  In fact, that was how mainlanders got the name “Katonk.” (They say it was the sound their heads made when they hit the floor.)

The Katonks were fairer skinned, and spoke perfect English. The Buddhaheads were darker skinned and spoke Pidgin - a mixture of Hawaiian, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese and broken English.  (goforbroke-org)

Money was another big divider between the groups. The Buddhaheads gambled heavily and spent freely using the cash sent by their generous parents who still worked in Hawaiʻi. They thought the Katonks were cheap. They didn’t realize that the Katonks sent most of their meager Army pay to their families imprisoned in the camps.  (goforbroke-org)

The friction between the two groups was so bad that the military high command considered disbanding the 442nd. They thought the men could never fight overseas as a unit. The Army decided to send a group of Buddhaheads to visit the internment camps in Arkansas (the men thought Camp Jerome and Camp Rowher were little towns with Japanese families.)

But when the trucks rolled past the barbed wire fence, past the guard towers armed with machine guns pointed at the camp residents, past the rough barracks where whole families crowded in small compartments with no privacy - suddenly the Buddhaheads understood. Word of the camps spread quickly, and the Buddhaheads gained a whole new respect for the Katonks. Immediately the men in the 442nd became united - "like a clenched fist."

From May 1943 through February 1944, the men trained for combat; they excelled at maneuvers and learned to operate as a team. In March, Chief of Staff General George Marshall inspected the regiment. Following their training, on April 22, 1944, the 442d packed up and were bound for Italy.

The motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was “Go For Broke.” (It’s a gambling term that means risking everything on one great effort to win big.)

The soldiers of the 442nd needed to win big … they did.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the entire history of the US Military.

In total, about 14,000-men served.  Members of this unit earned over 18,000-individual decorations including 9,486 Purple Hearts and 5,200 Bronze Stars. The Combat Team earned five Presidential Citations, the only military unit ever to claim that achievement.

General of the Army George C Marshall praised the team saying, "there were superb: the men of the 100/442d ... showed rare courage and tremendous fighting spirit ... everybody wanted them." General Mark W. Clark (Fifth Army) said, "these are some the best ... fighters in the US Army. If you have more, send them over."  (army-mil)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "a combat team ... of loyal American citizens of Japanese descent has my full approval, (and) will add to the ... 5,000 ... already serving in the ... (100th Infantry Battalion, and Military Intelligence Service) ... Americanism is not ... a matter of race or ancestry. A good American is one who is loyal to this country and to our creed of liberty and democracy."

The 442d may be best known for its rescue of the Lost Texas Battalion of the 36th Infantry Division, in the forests of the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France, near Biffontaine and Bruyeres on October 30, 1944.

The 442nd and the 141st Texas Regiment were both part of the 36th Division under the command of Major General John Dahlquist. They were fighting in Eastern France, near the German border.  The 141st Texas Regiment advanced four miles beyond friendly forces - the Germans surrounded them.  More than 200 Texans were stranded on a ridge, they were low on food, water and ammo.

Isolated for six days, the Texans had beaten back five enemy assaults. Deaths and casualties mounted.  During the six days, the 442nd fought to rescue the Lost Battalion.  After 34 days of almost non-stop combat - liberating Bruyeres and Biffontaine, rescuing the 211 Texans, and nine more days of driving the Germans through the forest - the 442nd’s total casualties were 216 men dead and more than 856 wounded.

As part of the Allies' Southern Group of Armies, the 100/442d fought in eight campaigns and made two beachhead assaults in Italy and France, captured a submarine and opened the gates of Dachau concentration camp.

It is ironic that this team liberated Dachau, because some of these Japanese Americans were detained in American camps before being drafted into service, and still had family in those US camps. Nisei were denied their property, freedom to move, live in their own homes, work, and learn in the western US.  (army-mil)

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team included the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, 206th Army Ground Force Band, Antitank Company, Cannon Company, Service Company, medical detachment, headquarters companies, and two infantry battalions. The 1st Infantry Battalion remained on the mainland to train new recruits. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions would join the legendary 100th Battalion, which was already fighting in Italy.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was actually composed of two distinct units: the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion.  These two units were formed independently at different times and do not share a common lineage.  The 100th Battalion would eventually become the 442nd's 1st battalion in June 1944.  (the442-org)

Some quotes about the members of the 442:
“You not only fought the enemy … you fought prejudice and won.” President Harry S Truman

“Never in military history did an army know as much about the enemy prior to actual engagement” General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Pacific Theater

“My fellow Americans, we gather here today to right a grave wrong ... now let me sign HR 442.” President Ronald Reagan, Civil Liberties Act of 1988

“The Nisei saved countless lives and shortened the war by two years.”  Charles A Willoughby, General MacArthur's Intelligence Officer

Soldiers wear a wide assortment of insignia, ribbons, medals, badges, tabs and patches.  The distinctive unit insignia for the 442d Infantry Regiment, Organized Reserves Corps (Hawaiʻi) was originally approved on May 22, 1952. It was amended to withdraw "Organized Reserves Corps" from the designation on June 30, 1959.  (Pentagon-mil)

The 442d’s insignia is blue and white, the colors for the Infantry. The taro leaf, from the coat of arms of the 100th Infantry Battalion, is identified with Hawaiʻi, and the Mississippi River steam boat symbolizes the place of activation of the 442d Infantry Regiment (Camp Shelby, Mississippi.)  (Pentagon-mil). (Lots of information here from 442-org, goforbroke-org and army-mil.)

The image shows the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce Farewell Ceremony for Hawaiʻi 442d soldiers, March 28, 1943 at ʻIolani Palace.  In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Worst Possible Place For A Forced Landing In The Islands

While there is no good place to crash land an airplane, in 1941 the crew of the Army’s B-18 Bolo (serial number 36-446, constructors number 1747) found what was described as the “worst place.”

Prior to September 18, 1947 (the time the US Air Force was formed,) military aviation was conducted by the Army or Navy.

But let’s step back a bit.

In 1935, a design competition and "fly-off" was held to select a replacement for the Martin B-10/12 the standard bomber then in service with the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC.)

Douglas developed the B-18 “Bolo” to replace the Martin B-10; the new model was based on the Douglas DC-2 commercial transport.  The B-18 prototype competed with the Martin 146 (an improved B-10) and the four-engine Boeing 299, forerunner of the B-17 Flying Fortress, at the Air Corps bombing trials at Wright Field in 1935.

Although many Air Corps officers judged the Boeing design superior, the Army General Staff preferred the less costly Bolo; contracts were awarded for 82-planes, the order was increased to 132 by June of 1936.

Although designated a reconnaissance and bomber aircraft, the Douglas B-18 flew other important missions.  Hickam B-18s towed targets for gunnery practice by the coast artillery ground troops.   The targets were attached to steel cables and reeled several hundred feet aft of the aircraft.   (Trojan)

Though equipped with inadequate defensive armament and underpowered, the Bolo remained the Air Corps' primary bomber into 1941. Thirty-three B-18s were based in Hawaiʻi with the 5th Bombardment Group and 11th Bombardment Group.

One of those Hawaiʻi B-18 Bolos, piloted by Boyd Hubbard Jr, took off from Hickam Field at 7 pm February 25, 1941 for a routine inter-island night instrument-navigation training flight.  Three other B-18s trained with them that night.

Their flight path took them over the Island of Hawaiʻi.  While flying on instruments at 10,000-feet, Hubbard’s B-18 suffered a main bearing failure in the left engine.  Hubbard headed to Suiter Field, the Army’s auxiliary field (it is now known as Upolū Point Airport.)

Although all possible fuel and cargo was jettisoned, the aircraft was too heavily loaded to maintain altitude on one engine.  As the aircraft descended the other engine began sputtering.  The crew believed they were over the ocean at the time in heavy fog during the dark night.

Hubbard made a last split-second correction prior to the crash. As he later described it, the mountain just loomed up before him in the darkness and he just reacted. He pulled back hard on the wheel and the aircraft stalled and belly flopped into the thick underbrush.

The undergrowth was so dense the plane settled into it and did not slide forward very far.  The crew felt the plane hit the tops of some trees and skid for about 75 yards before coming to rest at about the 3500-foot elevation in a gulch on the side of the Kohala mountain.  (Trojan)

Lee Webster, a Flight Engineer on one of the other B-18s in the group, reportedly gave this account of the accident, “I was just becoming accustomed to the eerie feeling of night flying by the time we started our second leg of the triangle toward a point somewhere off the northern tip of the island and to this point radio contact led us to believe we were in good shape.”

“Suddenly that was shattered by a report from one of the other planes having engine problems and then soon after a report of engine failure and that they were losing altitude. We immediately broke off our mission to accompany the disabled aircraft into Hilo airport, but to make matters worse we flew into some very bad weather. After what seemed a short period of time we lost radio contact with them and when attempts to locate the lost plane became futile we returned to Hickam Field.”  (Trojan)

The next morning at dawn a search was launched from Hickam Field using 24 bombers.  The wreck was soon spotted and an airdrop from Army planes provided the downed crew with blankets, food and hot coffee.

At dawn the following day (Thursday, February 27,) a rescue team departed from Suiter Field (Upolū.)  Members of the rescue party included Fred C Koelling (leader,) Ronald May, Leslie Hannah, Melvin Johnson and Hiroshi Nakamura.  (Pacific Wrecks)

They took the Kohala Ditch Trail on horseback for 2 ½-hours, then had to cut a new trail on foot for 8-miles through marshland and heavy brush for another 4-hours before nearing the crash site.

Firing pistols into the air to attract the downed fliers’ attention; the air crew responded with a burst of bullets and shot flares into the air; after 12-hours, they reached the downed plane.  (Veronico)

Remarkably, only minor injuries were sustained by Hubbard and the crew (crew members were Co-Pilot 2nd Lt Francis R Thompson; Engineer SSgt Joseph S. Paulhamus; Radioman Pvt William Cohn; Crewman Pvt Fred C Seeger and Crewman Pvt Robert R Stevens.)

Airmen from Hickam later described the site as the “Worst possible place for a forced landing in the Islands.”  (Trojan)

Hubbard continued on with a distinguished career in the Army, retiring as Brigadier General and earning Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster; Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster; Bronze Star Medal and numerous other medals, badges and citations.  (He retired March 1, 1966; he died February 15, 1982.)

The plane sat since on the side of Kohala mountain, just west of Waimanu Valley.  While various internet reports suggest Pacific Aviation Museum acquired the plane and has plans to restore and display it, the Curator of the Museum noted to me that “the plane is not ours”.  It continues to sit on the slopes of Kohala in Hāmākua.

The image shows the downed B-18 in the Hāmākua wilderness (Beeder.)  In addition, I have added related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Buffalo Soldiers

Before the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, stationed at Schofield Barracks on Oʻahu (formed in 1941,) for a while during the time of World War I (1913 - 1918) Hawaiʻi had the Army’s 25th Infantry Regiment.

The Division is known as the “Tropic Lightning;” the Regiment was known as the “Buffalo Soldiers.”

In 1866, Congress created six segregated regiments which were soon consolidated into four black regiments. They were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry.

"The officers say that the negroes make good soldiers and fight like fiends … the Indians call them 'buffalo soldiers' because their woolly heads are so much like the matted cushion that is between the horns of the buffalo." (Roe, Army Letters from an Officer’s Wife, 1871-1888)

Although African Americans have fought in America’s wars since the Revolution, they weren’t allowed to enlist in the Regular Army until after the Civil War (and, from July 28, 1866 - February 3, 1946, America’s Army was segregated.)

While the Buffalo Soldiers fought in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars at the turn of the century, they did not see combat in World War I (1914 – 1918.)

At the time, the National Park Service did not exist, however a few National parks had been created: Yellowstone (1872,) Sequoia (1890,) Yosemite (1890,) Mount Rainier (1899,) Crater Lake, 1902,) Wind Cave, (1903,) Mesa Verde (1906,) Glacier (101) and Rocky Mountain (1910.)

Rather than fight, the Buffalo Soldiers and other Army regiments were assigned to duties at some National Parks.

The US Army served as the official administrator of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks between 1891 and 1913; Buffalo Soldiers, like their white counterparts in US Army regiments, were among the first Park Rangers, and created a model for park management as we know it today.  (NPS)

In addition to bringing law and order to the mountain wilderness, their accomplishments included the completion of the first usable road into Giant Forest and the first trail to the top of Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the contiguous United States) in Sequoia National Park in 1903; and the building of an arboretum in Yosemite National Park near the south fork of the Merced River in 1904. One scholar considered the latter area to contain the first marked nature trail in the national park system.  (NPS)

Starting in 1906, George Lycurgus (operator of the Volcano House) and newspaperman Lorrin Andrews Thurston were working to have the Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes area made into a National Park.  In 1912, geologist Thomas Augustus Jaggar arrived to investigate and joined their effort.

Jaggar had tried to lead several expeditions to the top of Mauna Loa in 1914 but was unsuccessful due to the elevation (13,678 feet) and the harsh conditions: rough lava, violent winds, noxious fumes, shifting weather, extreme temperatures and a lack of shelter, water and food.  (Takara)

About 800 Buffalo Soldiers from the 25th Regiment had been assigned to garrison duty in Hawaiʻi at Schofield Barracks.  Given their experience in Parks on the continent, some of the soldiers were called upon to assist at the volcanoes on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

In September 1915, Jaggar, Thurston and a US Army representative conducted a survey to determine a route for a trail up Mauna Loa.

The following month, a local paper noted, “Soldiers Building Mountain Trail.  Negro soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Infantry to the number of 150 are at work constructing a trail from near the Volcano House to the summit of Mauna Loa. It is estimated that three or four weeks will be devoted to this work. The soldiers are doing the work as a part of their vacation exercises.”  (Maui News, October 29, 1915)

The Buffalo Soldiers built the 18-mile trail to the summit of Mauna Loa. They also built the ten-man Red Hill Cabin and a twelve-horse stable, so scientists could spend extended periods of time studying the volcano.

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th National Park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park.  At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.

The National Park Service, within the federal Department of Interior, was created on August 25, 1916 by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act.

The experience of working with the Army did not end with the construction of the Mauna Loa Trail, and Thurston's energy did not seem to wane. He continued to promote the Kīlauea area to the public and the military who he thought could benefit from, and would be a benefit to Kīlauea.  (NPS)

In 1916, Thurston, recognizing the long tradition of soldiers and sailors who had visited the area, proposed the establishment of a military camp at Kīlauea. Thurston promoted his idea and was able to raise enough funds through public subscription for the construction of buildings and other improvements.  By the fall of 1916 the first group of soldiers arrived at Kīlauea Military Camp (KMC.)  (NPS)

Later, in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built research offices, hiking trails and laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads within the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes and other parks across the country.

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Oh, one more thing … another lasting legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers to the National Parks is the Ranger Hat (popularly known as the Smokey the Bear Hat) - with it the Montana Peak (or pinch) at the top of the hat; a recrease of the Stetson hat to better shed water when it rains.

The image shows members of the 25th Infantry Regiment while deployed to the Philippines (1899.)  In addition, I have added related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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World War II - Italian POWs

On July 7, 1937, Japan invaded China to initiate the war in the Pacific; while the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, unleashed the European war.

World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that was underway by 1939 and ended in 1945.

 Italy entered World War II on the Axis side on June 10, 1940, as the defeat of France became apparent.  On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor and the US entered the conflict.

World War II was fought between two sets of partners: the Allies and the Axis. The three principal partners in the Allies alliance were the British Commonwealth, the Soviet Union and the United States; the three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy and Japan.

During World War II, American forces captured 50,000 Italian soldiers and sailors.  5,000 Italian prisoners of war were sent to Hawaiʻi and held at Schofield, Kāneʻohe, Kalihi Valley and Sand Island.

Japanese Americans were also incarcerated in at least eight locations on Hawaiʻi.  On December 8, 1941, the first detention camp was set up on Sand Island.

The Sand Island Detention Center held war captives as well as civilians of Japanese, German or Italian ancestry who were under investigation.

This Italian prisoner contingent was highly skilled in construction and engineering, and as a voluntary effort they were used extensively on many construction projects around the island where skilled labor was, at that time, in short supply, particularly around Honolulu Harbor, Sand Island, etc. (Ponza - Army-mil)

"For the most part, the US Army welcomed their labor and skills in construction of needed military facilities."  (Moreo)

"At the end of each day, the Italians would salvage whatever waste materials were about as well as scouring and scooping up cement from spillage."  (Moreo)

With this salvaged material the Italian POWs built buildings and works of art (fountains and statues) at various locations on Oʻahu (these pieces are at Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter, Sand Island and the Immigration Building.)

The Mother Cabrini Chapel, designed by POW Astori Rebate, “was huge, with an alter, and two large paintings of Mother Cabrini all done by the POWs.  The chapel had a full basement for vestments and religious articles.  Out in front of the chapel, the area was paved and filled by ‘well constructed benches acting as pews for a thousand or more worshippers.’”  (Moreo)

The Italian POWs "decided to dedicate to the memory of Mother Cabrini, who was at that time being considered for sainthood for her earlier good works in the United States, and who was subsequently canonized as the first American saint by the Vatican around the year 1946."  (Ponza -army-mil)

Upon the chapel's completion, Sunday mass was celebrated every week with the prisoners exiting the prison compound in order to attend the services, seating themselves in the open air pews. As word spread to the adjoining areas, Pearl City, Honolulu, Nanakuli, and even as far as Waikiki, a small group of Catholic worshipers started to drive up to the chapel on Sunday mornings to attend the services."  (Ponza - army-mil)    In the way of Kamehameha Highway construction, it was torn down in 1948.

At Sand Island, "(a)t sunset, hundreds of Italians formed a male chorale and sang for an hour. It became widely known and so popular that visitors came in the evening to listen and applaud."  (Moreo)

At Fort Shafter, a fountain crowned with pineapples was designed and crafted by POW Alfredo Giusti, with winged lions and topped with pineapples.  (Reportedly, Giusti inscribed his name and address on the north side of the fountain.)

Dedicated to give hope to those without hope, Giusti also crafted two statues, “The Hula Dancer” and “The Bathing Beauty,”) which now sit outside the Coast Guard administration building on Sand Island.

A hard-to-see fountain crafted by the Italians is within the secured Immigration Center on Ala Moana Boulevard (you can see it through a chain link fence on the makai/Fort Armstrong side of the facility.)

The war ended in December 1945 and the Italian POWs were repatriated in 1946, having left some lasting legacies of the war and their time in Hawaiʻi.  (Unfortunately, due to increased security concerns, access is restricted at the facilities where their work is located.)

The image shows the Giusti fountain at Fort Shafter.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Tripler Army Medical Center

Some suggest the building got its pink color because the color and other design elements were borrowed from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel down in Waikīkī.

However, an engineering booklet related to its design notes, “the layout of the buildings was planned to create an easy, informal environment, avoid an institutional atmosphere and create the impression of a residential community.”  (army-mil)

“Therefore, the hospital building, nurses’ quarters, fire house, chapel, bachelor officers’ quarters and mess, theater and enlisted men’s barracks will be of pink stucco finish.” (army-mil)

Let’s step back a bit.

In 1898, the Spanish American war was going on, including in the Pacific (primarily in the Philippines) – Hawaiʻi became involved.  The US Army set up Camp McKinley in Kapiʻolani Park and soon realized an urgent need for a hospital in Hawaiʻi.

The Army's first medical facility in Hawaiian Islands opened in 1898; it was a 30-bed hospital for soldiers and sailors in transit to and from Manila located in the Independence Park Pavilion (an old dance pavilion at the intersection of King Street and Sheridan.)  Field medical tents at Fort McKinley added support to the hospital.

Casualties were streaming into Hawaiʻi from the war in the Philippines. The hospital on King Street rapidly grew into a 100-bed operation and was visited by more than 21,000 troops during the Philippine Insurrection following the war with Spain.

Later, in 1907, Department Hospital, a wooden post hospital facility consisting of a single hospital building and mess hall, was constructed at Fort Shafter.

Department Hospital was re-designated “Tripler Army Hospital” on June 26, 1920, named after Brigadier General Charles Stuart Tripler (1806-1866) - in honor of his contributions to Army medicine during the Civil War (he authored of one of the most widely-read manuals in Army medical history, the "Manual of the Medical Officer of the Army of the United States.")

Then, the US Army Health Clinic, Schofield Barracks, a 500-bed hospital, was completed in 1929. It was activated as the Station Hospital, Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaiʻi.

The attack on Pearl Harbor led to the construction of Tripler Army Medical Center. At the outbreak of World War II, the hospital at Fort Shafter had a 450-bed capacity which, over the years, expanded to 1,000 beds through the addition of one-story barracks-type buildings.

Plans for a new Tripler hospital atop Moanalua ridge were drawn in 1942, construction was authorized in June 1944; the ground was broken August 23, 1944; actual construction began in 1945: and construction was completed in 1948.

When it was completed, Tripler was the tallest building in the Pacific region.  (Three additional wings to the hospital were completed in 1985 with other additions/renovations over the years.)

Tripler was dedicated on September 10, 1948 and has been a visible and valuable landmark in Hawaiʻi.  It is the largest military medical treatment facility in the entire Pacific Basin.

In 1961, Tripler US Army Hospital became known as US Army Tripler General Hospital, and finally in 1964, the name changed to Tripler Army Medical Center.

In a cooperative agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1992, the Spark M Matsunaga Medical Center was added at Tripler.

Located on a 375-acre site, Tripler Army Medical Center’s geographic area of responsibility spans more than 52-percent of the earth’s surface, from the western coasts of the Americas to the eastern shores of Africa (encompassing three million square miles of ocean and more than 750,000-square miles of land mass.)

Nearly 800,000-beneficiaries in the Pacific Basin are eligible to receive care at Tripler; this includes active-duty service members of all branches of service, their eligible families, military-eligible retirees and their families, veterans, and many residents of Pacific Islands.

In a typical day, more than 2,000-patients are seen in outpatient clinic visits, more than 1,500-prescriptions are filled, more than 30-surgical procedures are performed, and more than 30 patients are admitted. There are more than 200-births each month.  (In August 1955, 427-babies are born at Tripler, setting a record for one-month deliveries.)

The image shows the initial Tripler Hospital at Fort Shafter (army-mil.)  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Fort Kamehameha

Established in 1909, Fort Kamehameha played an important role within a system of coastal defenses of the Army Coast Artillery Corps that served as a key component of the national defense of the United States in the early 20th century.

In a public address on June 11, 1911, Brig. Gen. M. M. Macomb (Commander, District of Hawai‘i) stated that Oʻahu would be encircled with a ring of steel, with mortar batteries at Diamond Head, big guns at Waikīkī and Pearl Harbor, and a series of emplacements from Koko Head around the island to Waianae.

Between 1911 and 1914 the Army Corps of Engineers built four batteries at Fort Kamehameha (Selfridge, Hasbrouck, Hawkins, and Jackson), adding a fifth one (Battery Closson) in 1920.

These batteries were key sections of Oahu's "ring of steel," which included Forts Armstrong, DeRussy and Ruger, along with Ford Island Military Reservation.

The Army fortified O‘ahu's harbors with a system of gun emplacements employing mortars and long-range rifled guns.  Although its guns are gone, the old batteries are still there.

Battery Selfridge was 500' x 90', the largest of the batteries. With an earth berm concealing the makai side, the massive two-story concrete structure was built to support eight 12-inch mortars (four to a pit).   The 12-inch guns could send a 1,046-lb. projectile approximately 17,000 yards.

Battery Hasbrouck was a one-story concrete structure with a total area of 470' x 100'.  Battery Hasbrouck supported eight 12-inch mortars placed in quads of four per pit; each could send a projectile approximately 15,200 yards.

Battery Hawkins was located along the water at the south-eastern edge of the Fort Kamehameha.  It supported two 3-inch rapid-fire rifled cannon-mounted pedestals.  Each gun had a range of 11,100 yards when firing a 15-pound projectile. These guns were meant to cover the entrance to Pearl Harbor, where submarine mines would be activated in time of war.

Battery Jackson is the smallest of these coastal batteries. This single-story concrete structure includes three magazine sections, with a total area of 73' x 86'.  It supported two 6-inch rifles mounted on disappearing carriages. These breech-loaded cannon could send a 106-lb. projectile a maximum of 14,600 yards.

Battery Closson supported two 12-inch rifles mounted on barbette carriages with a 360-degree field of fire. These guns could cover all but the northern-most Oahu beaches. These guns could be fired at elevation angles up to 35 degrees, and the range of the 12-inch guns was increased to 30,100 yards (17.1 miles) firing a 975-lb. projectile.

OK, that’s the armament part of the story, but there’s more to this than early-1900s military defenses.

The land, once the site of Queen Emma's home, contained three shallow fishponds, groves of trees and a marsh when the Army purchased it in 1907 and built the first gun battery.

Today, the area has been recognized as an historic area.  In addition to the armaments, Fort Kamehameha historic area encompasses a flagpole, chapel and 33 homes built in 1916.

The bungalow style homes are in two styles, four in a large H-shaped plan and 29 in a smaller U-shaped footprint.

Whenever you land at Honolulu International Airport, you fly over Fort Kamehameha and these homes.  They are an intact residential complex with a neighborhood feel of mature trees, large expanses of grass and open space, access to the waterfront, and a children’s playground.

A burial vault houses iwi of kūpuna who were disinterred during the construction of the nearby Pearl Harbor wastewater treatment plant.  The vault is maintained and visited by Native Hawaiian organizations with cultural and lineal ties to the area.

The Air Force has issued a notice that it intends to dispose of the Fort Kamehameha Historic District through adaptive use, relocation and demolition.

The proposal to dispose of Fort Kamehameha is the result of an Air Force regulation that limits the uses that can occur along the flight path of runways at nearby Honolulu International Airport, which shares the runways with the Air Force and Hawai‘i Air National Guard.

While at DLNR, I had the opportunity to visit Fort Kamehameha, both the military armament sections, as well as the residential area.  (At the time, I was serving as the State Historic Preservation Officer.)

I believed then, as I believe now, that this assemblage of homes needs to be preserved – they tell an important story about Hawai‘i.  I think relocation and assemblage in a different area is probably the most practical.   (Destruction is not.)

In 2008, Historic Hawai‘i Foundation put Fort Kamehameha on its Most Endangered Historic Sites in Hawai‘i list.  I concur with their assessment.

We need to remember, the homes were built in 1916; Luke Field on Ford Island started in 1919; Honolulu International Airport (HNL) opened in March 1927 as John Rodgers Airport and Hickam Field started in 1934.

The homes were there first, before any airfield in the area.

The image shows the layout of Fort Kamehameha.  I think the layout will remind you of the quaint neighborhood of homes that you fly over coming into HNL.  In addition, I have included some images (military and residential) of the uses at Fort Kamehameha in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii