Lest We Forget PEARL HARBOR SURVIVORS
President & CEO
Aileen Utterdyke
Board of Directors
Jeff Bell, Chairman
Alma Grocki, Vice Chairman, Michael "Swede" Olson, Secretary
Alan Mattson, Treasurer
James M. Boersema
Noel W. Bragg
Alan Hayashi
Dean Hazama
MISSION STATEMENT
To support the USS Arizona Memorial and other Pacific historic locations through education and interpretive programs, research, preservation, and restoration, to perpetuate the memory of events and honor the people involved in these sites.
Remembrance is published four times a year as a benefit to Friends of Pacific Historic Parks.
Board of Directors (cont.)
Patricia A. Lucas
Edward J. Lynch
Mark Y. Matsunaga
Dr. Ed H. Noh
Theodore "Ted" Peck
Clif Purkiser
Alby L. Saunders
Directors Emeritus
Neil A. Sheehan
Geoffrey M. White
Joachim P. Cox, Legal Advisor
Publication Advisers
Aileen Utterdyke
Edean Saito
Editor Jim McCoy
Layout & Design
Chase Nuuhiwa
Cover Photo: The 74th Commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor
OPRESIDENT & CEO MESSAGE
This issue of Remembrance reflects on the events that unfolded on that fateful Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, when Japanese forces attacked Battleship Row and other military installations on Oahu, drawing America into World War II.
ne of our stories highlights a secret mission that began six years before the attack. In 1935, six recent graduates of the Kamehameha School for Boys, along with a dozen furloughed Army personnel, embarked on a journey from Honolulu to the Equatorial Pacific islands of Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Canton, and Enderbury. Their mission was to colonize these remote islands for future commercial airline routes. Tragically, on December 8, 1941, Japanese forces attacked, resulting in the loss of two Kamehameha students.
We also share the story of one of the eight Japanese American women who were detained at the Honouliuli Internment Camp due to her Japanese ancestry. In 2015, President Barack Obama designated Honouliuli as a National Monument.
In this issue, you will also find a heartfelt eulogy delivered by the daughter of a Pearl Harbor survivor, a gunner's mate aboard the USS Phoenix. Her tribute, presented at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, is reprinted in full.
Our team, in partnership with the National Park Service and the U.S. Navy, is also deeply involved in the planning of the 83rd Commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack. This year's commemoration will host Pearl Harbor survivors, as well as World War II veterans who enlisted in the aftermath of the attack. Additionally, several "Rosies" will be attending, fresh from receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C.
The keynote speaker for this year's event is Nikki Stratton, granddaughter of USS Arizona survivor Donald Stratton. She is the first woman to serve as keynote speaker at a Pearl Harbor
Commemoration, which this year is aptly themed "Forging Ahead."
Nikki is also the sponsor of the future nuclear submarine, USS Arizona (SSN 803), currently under construction in Connecticut. She will be joined by family, friends, and possibly crew members of the submarine that bears the name Arizona and carries her grandfather's legacy.
Friends of the late Lou Conter, the last USS Arizona survivor, will also be present, including members of the "Conterage." At the 82nd Commemoration, Lou’s great-nephew, Marine Fighter Pilot Daniel Hower, delivered a keynote speech, which Lou and his children watched via livestream from his home in California. Sadly, Lou passed away in April of this year and is dearly missed.
As we continue to honor the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation, a delegation of ROTC students will be joining us again this year, embodying our commitment to ensuring their legacy is never forgotten.
Stay tuned to our official commemoration website, pearlharborevents. com, for the latest updates.
Thank you for your ongoing support and donations. Your contributions are essential as we strive to make the 83rd Commemoration another memorable and historic event.
AILEEN UTTERDYKE President & CEO
A copy of the latest financial report, registration filed by this organization, and a description of our programs and activities may be obtained by contacting us at: 94-1187 Ka Uka Blvd., Waipahu, HI 96797, (808) 954-8777. Pacific Historic Parks was formed in Hawaii. If you are a resident of one of the following states, you may obtain financial information directly from the state agency: Florida: A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE, WITHIN THE STATE, 1-800-435-7352 (800-HELP-FLA), OR VISITING www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. Florida Registration #CH17306 Georgia: A full and fair description of our programs and our financial statement summary is available upon request at our office and phone number indicated above. Maryland: For the cost of copies and postage, from the Office of the Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401. Mississippi: The official registration and financial information of Pacific Historic Parks may be obtained from the Mississippi Secretary of State's office by calling 1-888-236-6167. Registration by the Secretary of State does not imply endorsement. Nevada: Contributions may be tax deductible pursuant to the provisions of sec. 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. ¤170(c). New Jersey: INFORMATION FILED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONCERNING THIS CHARITABLE SOLICITATION AND THE PERCENTAGE OF CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED BY THE CHARITY DURING THE LAST REPORTING PERIOD THAT WERE DEDICATED TO THE CHARITABLE PURPOSE MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY BY CALLING (973) 504-6215 AND IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/charfrm.htm. REGISTRATION WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT. New York: Upon request, from the Attorney General Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271. North Carolina: Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 1-919-814-5400. The license is not an endorsement by the state. Pennsylvania: The official registration and financial information of Pacific Historic Parks may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Virginia: From the State Office of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23218. Washington: From the Secretary of State at 1-800-332-4483 or http://www.sos.wa.gov/charities/ West Virginia: West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305. Wisconsin: A financial statement of the charitable organization disclosing assets, liabilities, fund balances, revenue and expenses for the preceding fiscal year will be provided to any person upon request. REGISTRATION WITH A STATE AGENCY DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THAT STATE. More information about charity state disclosures and charitable solicitation registrations.
A SECRET COLONIAL MISSION THAT ENDED IN TRAGEDY
TWO YOUNG HAWAIIAN COLONISTS KILLED ON DEC. 8, 1941
By Tamara Zuniga-Brown, PHP Education Specialist
Amelia Earhart was on her famous flight circumnavigating the world and due to arrive on the Equatorial Pacific Island of Howland where a group of young Hawaiian colonists were ready to welcome her. The explanation behind the presence of these recent Kamehameha School for Boys graduates on this uninhabitable and desolate island in the Equatorial Pacific some 5,000 miles away from Honolulu was a sublime indication of the advent of WWII in Western Europe in the mid-1930s and the Empire of Japan’s expanding military occupation across the Pacific.
The colonists had named themselves the Hui Panalā‘au, or "society of colonists”, They had constructed a landing field for her, set up a ‘bedroom’ decorated with curtains sent by one of the colonists’ moms, and had even fashioned a shower head made from a number 10 tomato can. But unfortunately, the performance they had prepared never happened, because Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared on their way to the island on July 2, 1937.
Even though Earhart’s plane never made it, two fleets of 12- twin-engine Japanese bombers and a submarine did. The day after Pearl Harbor was devastated, they attacked the group of Equatorial Pacific Islands of Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Canton, and Enderbury on December 8, 1941, killing two young Hawaiian colonists, Joseph Keli`ihananui and Richard “Dickey” Whaley.
They were American citizens.
Radio silence immediately ensued as America entered into WWII and the retrieval of these young Hawaiian colonists was not a priority. Nevertheless, the islands remained under attack and when they were finally rescued on February 8, 1942, the boys had run out of water and supplies and had been ordered not to talk about their experience.
How could this have happened?
The geostrategic and economic importance of the Hawaiian Islands had been made crystal clear with its’ annexation in 1898. But escalating tensions around the world in the mid1930’s resurfaced the strategically important locations of the remote Equatorial Pacific islands. This time, for transpacific commercial air routes between Australia and the United States, and for military outposts.
President Roosevelt knew that claiming the islands as U.S. territories was essential and that the presence of an activeduty military would have been a violation of international law. So, he decided to colonize them with Americans and appointed the Superintendent of Airways at the Department of Commerce, William T. Miller, to lead the project. It was decided that furloughed military personnel and Native Hawaiian American civilians were to be sent.
To move the project forward, Miller met with Albert F. Judd, Trustee of both Kamehameha Schools (KS) and the Bishop Museum. At the time, KS was a military school, and it was agreed that students and recent graduates would be ideal colonizers because “they could "fish in the native manner, swim excellently, handle a boat, be disciplined, friendly, and unattached."
They were correct.
On March 26, 1935, six KS graduates and 12 furloughed Army personnel secretly boarded the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Itasca and set sail from Honolulu. The young high school graduates were to be paid $3/day to colonize the Equatorial Pacific islands for commercial airline use in teams of five for 3-months stays.
Home to millions of seabirds and rats only, the boys were left with ample supplies of canned goods and three fifty-fivegallon drums of fresh water for drinking and cooking because fresh water wasn’t available.
On Jarvis, the resourceful young Hawaiians had constructed a makeshift town named “Millersville” by morphing their initial cluster of tents into wooden shacks for shelter and surfboards for relaxation from the remains of the 1913 shipwreck of the Amaranth.
In a few short months, the Hui Panalā‘au had done such a stellar job they replaced the furloughed Army men. On May 13, 1935, President Roosevelt was able to issue Executive Order 7368 and bring the islands officially under the jurisdiction of the U.S
By March 1936, American flags were planted on each island and graven lead plates were mounted on cairns of stones that read: “In the name of the United States of America NO TRESPASSING ALLOWED.”
The Hui Panalā‘au had been trained and ordered to maintain a daily log of weather conditions- temperature and barometer readings, wind velocity, and cloud formations. The colonists were required to “plant and cultivate coconut trees, vegetables, and flower seeds” and to keep a record of the types of fish they caught and the bird life they observed, encountered, and ate.
(L-R) Elvin Mattson, Dickey Whaley and Joseph Keli‘ihananui a few months before the Dec. 8, 1941, Japanese air attack on Howland Island that killed Whaley and Keli‘ihananui.
Photo: Courtesy of the Mattson ‘Ohana
A tractor is used to haul water drums and supplies to the camp on Howland Island. The Pacific Equatorial Islands do not support human habitation as the islands have no freshwater sources.
Photo: Courtesy of Pearl Harbor National Archives
Their tasks also included collecting specimens for the Bishop Museum on O’ahu.
Over the seven years of occupation from June 1935 to 1942, the group of 130 mainly Native Hawaiians were additionally trained to spot military enemy planes and report locations. They were never issued any weapons or any means of protection and became sitting ducks in the Pacific.
Reports document that a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Harry G. Hamlet, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District, requested to pull the Hui Panalā‘au back to Honolulu, but his request was denied. Moreover, a decision was made not to warn the boys of the attack on Pearl as ‘radio communication would have disclosed their location.’
By July 1943, an Army Base was established on Baker Island to prepare forces for the grueling operation on Tarawa-Makin.
The scope of the sacrifice of the Hui Panalā‘au was additionally overlooked because the bodies of Joseph Keli‘ihananui and Richard "Dickey" Whaley weren’t retrieved for their families until 1954- after colonists had formed an association to advocate for their service and sacrifice to Hawai‘i and to the United States. The bodies that had once been wrapped in blankets and put in one of the 10-foot bomb craters the day of the Japanese attack by friend, colonist Elvin Mattson, were finally buried at Schofield Barracks.
On December 8, 2003, they were appropriately reinterred properly at the Hawai‘i State Veterans Cemetery in Kāne‘ohe,
and honored with traditional Hawaiian ceremonies. However, there was no resolution or compensation for their families until a Congressional Resolution was introduced in the U.S. Senate on July 26, 2011, and Senate Resolution 109 passed in May 2015.
Not only did these young Hawaiian colonists ‘set the stage for the islands' conservation status as National Wildlife Refuges and a Marine National Monument in 2023’, but as noted historian Dr. Davianna Pōmaika‘i McGregor declares, has [made important] the ‘understanding of the complexities of Hawaiian identity politics and agency, especially during Hawai‘i’s territorial period [1900-1959].’
The State of Hawai‘i’, Kamehameha Schools, the Bishop Museum, and the University of Hawai‘i (UH) system in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, archives millions of documents about the US governments’ secret colonization project- as does The National Archives in College Park, MD.
The poignant story of the young Hawaiian colonists can be further explored in the 2014 documentary Under a Jarvis Moon. It was researched by advocate and historian Noelle Kahanu, granddaughter of colonist George Kahanu.
Today, “The Hui Panalā‘au Digital Collection” community project is underway to provide an open access web-based digital collection with a comprehensive searchable database. It is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and led by the Pacific American Foundation. It will be unveiled later this year.
Graduates and students of Kamehameha School onboard the Itasca, 4th expedition, January 1936. Back row, left to right: Luther Waiwaiole, Henry Ohumukini, William Yomes, Solomon Kalama, James Carroll. Front row, left to right: Henry Mahikoa, Alexander Kahapea, George Kahanu, Sr., Joseph Kim. Image courtesy of George Kahanu, Sr.; credit: Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.
A RELIGIOUS LEADER’S TIME IN HONOULIULI
By Tamara Zuniga-Brown Pacific Historic Parks Program Specialist
Takahashi founded the Konkō Mission of Wahiawa on January 14, 1940. Her ministry aimed to “fulfill and meet the cultural and religious needs” of the early Japanese immigrants who had come to labor on the plantations in Hawaii in search of a better life. Born in Kohala, on the Big Island of Hawai‘i on April 23, 1910, Haruko was Nisei, or second generation Japanese American. And even though Hawai‘i was a US Territory and Takahashi held dual citizenship, she was taken into custody on December 14, 1941, in compliance with Martial Law
A religious leader and Konkō priestess of the Japanese American community in Hawai‘i, Rev. Takahashi had been listed on the US Army’s custodial detentions lists along with 400 local mostly first generation Japanese immigrant community leaders, who by law, were barred from U.S. citizenship. On this list were also a small group of citizens and residents of European ancestry also suspected of disloyalty. It seems a trip she had made to Japan in 1933 to become a faith minister at the Konkō-kyō Gakuin Seminary landed her on the list.
Takahashi spent almost a year at Sand Island detention center and was then transferred to the newly opened Honouliuli Internment Camp near Waipahu almost a year later on March
It is an honor to share the story of Hawai’i-born Reverend Haruko Takahashi, one of eight Japanese American women among thousands who were held at Honouliuli Internment Camp following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. Learning her story can endow us with knowledge foundational to understanding and transforming the uncomfortable truths that wars indiscriminately wield upon communities. And perhaps more importantly, be a tool to help us navigate the challenging labyrinth of peace and reconciliation.
1, 1943. Honouliuli was the largest of the 13 internment camps across the Hawaiian Islands and was isolated deep within a relentlessly hot and humid gulch on land that had previously served as a sugarcane and pineapple farm. Honouliuli encompassed 160-acres, contained 175 buildings, 14 guard towers, and more than 400 tents. It also served both as a base camp and as a transfer point for 4,000 POW enemy soldiers and non-combatant labor transcripts from Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Italy.
The internees called it “Jigoku Dani”, or “Hell Valley”.
Rev. Takahashi was interned in Honouliuli when she was 33 years of age- a remarkable year in Japanese culture because it is considered a very unlucky year for women. It is called a ‘Yakudoshi’ year, and written with the traditional kanji character 厄年, means the ‘year of misfortune’. However, the founder of the Konkō faith, Konkō Daijin, wrote ‘Yakudoshi’ using a different kanji character: 役年. This kanji meant “a year of having an important role or task to perform for others or the society.”
Rev. Takahashi’s life is the personification of this meaning. She had been kicked in the head by a horse when she was a child. Her eyes had been severely damaged and she suffered from
nearsightedness. In her autobiography Haruko Takahashi described her eyes as looking “just like the bulging eyes of a dead fish”. When she was a teenager, she sank into a deep depression and in accordance with the religious practices of Odaishi-sama and Oyakushi-sama (branches of Buddhism), avoided fish and meat for a year hoping it would help. But nothing did. Her family prayed and prayed, and at the age of 16, Haruko underwent mild corrective surgery.
It was while she struggled through her physical challenges during recovery that she began to study dressmaking as most young Japanese women did at that time. It was her sewing teacher, Mrs. Kusunoki, who inspired young Haruko to find hope in faith and introduced her to Rev. Masayuki Kodama of the Konkō Mission of Honolulu.
Rev. Kodama taught Haruko about the Konkō faith, its’ Founder, Konkō Daijin, and Tenchi Kane No Kami- the blessings of the universe that emphasized indebtedness to the earth.
Konkō is a sect of Shintō and places a focus on Tenchi Kane No Kami. It is not dogmatic and has equal respect for all deities. It also “allows flexibility within the religion, strengthens self-discipline, broadens views, and embraces acceptance”. This means that interpretations and understandings regarding the connection to Shintō varies between individuals and regions. Shintō, which means ‘way of the gods', is considered the indigenous religion of Japan that has remained continuous from prehistoric times to present day. It has no founder or prophets and there is no major text or doctrine which outlines its principal beliefs. Its’ key concepts include purity, harmony with nature, honoring one’s ancestors, and placing community before the individual.
What is essential to understand is that these philosophies are mutually interdependent, circular, and integral to Japanese language and culture, and that it the commitment to her new Konkō faith that Rev. Takahashi credits the “miraculous recovery of her eyesight”.
This knowledge helps us better understand one of the factors behind Rev. Takahashi’s, and other Japanese American’s, prolonged internment. During the interrogation at her hearing, she was not allowed an attorney or a translator. The Board of Officers and Civilians asked questions about her education and religion, and she answered in patterns of speech reflective of her Japanese culture: circular reasoning and answers as opposed to the linear reasoning and answers that were integral to the cultural norms of the interrogator.
Rev. Takahashi credits her faith as the source of her resilience during her detention and subsequent years of internment. The many letters and poems she wrote reflected her multiple and conflicting cultural identities: a Japanese American woman born in the American Territory of Hawai‘i.
It is just like a trade-wind, always going around.
When we wear our shoes and walk on the street
We came here, but don’t sit here like a dummy.
Think fast like an arrow, but don’t think what they say.
Thank that what you have been taught, but don’t cry, be strong.
You will obey orders, but obey the right ones.
— Takahashi, 1945
Yet another essential fact to understand is that Reverend Takahashi was an American citizen, which precluded her from being taken to the continent for internment. Unlike her father, Zenji Takahashi, a Japanese immigrant or issei, who was shipped from Hawai‘i on June 21, 1942, and interned at a camp in Santa Fe, NM, leaving the Takahashi family without their primary source of income and their eldest daughter. Zenji was not returned to his family until November 1945.
Rev. Takahashi applied for parole three times but was denied because she would not comply with the stipulation to give up her Konkō faith. She was finally released on parole from Honouliuli on July 7, 1944, and reopened the Konkō Mission of Wahiawa on January 1, 1948.
Haruko-sensei resumed her work and continued to serve her faith community for 32 more years. Before she passed away on Christmas Eve, 1972 at the age of 62, she made one more pilgrimage to Japan to visit the Konkō-kyō Headquarters in Okayama in August 1953 to honor the 70th anniversary of the founder’s passing.
The story of Rev. Takahashi is but one of the compelling stories of the people of the Hawaiian Islands who were catapulted into collateral damage when the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor happened. Therefore, knowing the story of her internment at Honouliuli is important to understand the complexities inherent in the intersection of the myriad of cultures in Hawaii; especially under territorial governance and the legal systems that impacted economic policies, labor practices, land ownership, agricultural production, and social structures.
And, because it is time itself that is important as it provides us with opportunities to purposefully engage in the pursuit of the transformational knowledge required to remain vigilant as we build paths of peace and reconciliation and shed the sorrow and regret- and shame associated with internment; especially in light of the fact that fewer than 1% of Hawaii’s ethnic Japanese- American community leaders were interned in contrast to the mass internment of entire families of JapaneseAmericans approximately 120,000, on the West coast.
Since 2002, religious leaders at the Konkō Mission of Wahiawa, community partners in Hawai‘i and on the
continental US, dedicated education, docent staff and countless volunteers have been instrumental to documenting and understanding the story of Honouliuli Internment Camp and those interned whose lives were irrevocably changed with the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The remarkable story of the Reverend Haruko Takahashi is one of many quintessential to the arduous process of peace and reconciliation through inclusion.
The National Park Service is equally dedicated to mindfully preserving public lands to honor and respect the past to better serve future generations: “tell(ing) the story of incarcerations, martial law, and the experience of prisoners of war in Hawaii during WWII…..[Honouliuli] will be a place to reflect on wartime experiences and recommit ourselves to the pursuit of freedom and justice.”
On February 19, 2015, President Barrack Obama signed the Presidential Proclamation making Honouliuli a National Monument. It was Reverend Haruko Takahashi’s nephew, Konkō Priest, Reverend Dr. Todd Takahashi, who performed the blessing ceremony on March 31, 2015.
Four years later, Honouliuli was redesignated a National Historic Site and the Konkō Mission of Wahiawa on Muluwai Street still meets to this day. It appears Reverend Haruko Takahashi did indeed have an important task to perform for others.
• PHP is grateful for the invaluable personal communications with leaders at the Konkō Mission of Wahiawa: Rev Y. Yano (Head Minister), Rev. R. Yano (Assistant Minister), Reverend E. Matsuoka (Assistant Minister), August 8 and September 22, 2023.
A Daughter’s Heartfelt Sendoff to a Pearl Harbor Survivor
By Jim McCoy, Pacific Historic Parks
Pearl Harbor survivor Francis J. Hanley was laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on September 25, 2024. The gunner’s mate who served aboard the USS Phoenix joined fellow Pearl Harbor survivors at these hallowed grounds.
“It was very moving, very touching, very well deserved by my dad,” his daughter Gina Wilkins said in an interview following the service. “This is exactly what he wanted, he’s back home and I feel very at peace.”
Her father died nine years ago in California. “He actually donated his body to science upon his death. It was something he had planned to do as that was his way of life, he wanted to be as useful as possible, and he said I’m not going to need my body anymore, maybe some use could come out of it so he donated his body to Stanford and I’m not sure exactly what purpose they used him for but we had his cremains back to us in about a month’s time.”
His ashes were delivered to her sister while the family decided where he should be buried. It was a busy and emotional time for the family that included a cancer scare in Gina and her husband Michael’s family and the Covid years.
“There was some talk of one point of Arlington, but initially it was Punchbowl, Arlington was brief, it came back to Punchbowl and towards the end of his life I said you really need to make it clear dad, what would you like. Whatever
you want we will make it happen. And he said I don’t know, surprise me. So the surprise to us is that this is the Arlington of the Pacific and it’s absolutely perfect. We are thrilled to have him here because he’s a Pearl Harbor survivor and served in the Pacific theatre during so many years in World War II it made sense for him to be here.”
Gina acknowledged that she wasn’t always aware of the significance of Pearl Harbor..
“When I got my first car when I was 16 my dad got me a bumper sticker Pearl Harbor Survivors….Lest We Forget and I was so embarrassed because I was stupid and 16 and I thought I’m supposed to put this on my car. I look back and I think, oh, I want to slap that young girl,” she said.
“He was always very proud of it but never one to brag, never one to talk about himself or his accomplishments And it was really just in his later years where we got to spend time together and talk about his experiences I became more aware of wow, this was huge That date changed the course of world history, and he was a part of it….I’m very proud of everything he was.”
Her husband Michael agreed. “Frank was stoic, solid, dependable, reliable, very humble and an example for both of us and our kids in so many ways and I’m just proud to have known him and happy to be here to help in in his final resting place.”
THE EULOGY
Thank you for coming today as we place my father, Francis J. Hanley, in this most distinguished place. The honor that you demonstrate by your presence is incredibly heartwarming, given you never had the good fortune of knowing him. To remedy that, please allow me to share just how remarkable he was.
It is said that from humble beginnings come great things, that success isn’t handed to us, that we have to work for it through grit, determination, generosity, and sacrifice. All true of my Dad.
He was born into a family of little means in 1913. By age 5, Dad had survived more than one life-threatening illness. At age 9, he was stuck by a car sustaining multiple broken bones and a serious head injury. He was in a coma for 4 days and received the last rites because he was not expected to live yet he went on to make a full recovery. His mother often wondered if he’d reach adulthood. As it turned out, he lived to 101 ½, longer than any other member of his family, remaining strong and sharp until the day he died.
Though born in OK, Dad called Pueblo, CO home because his family moved there when he was very young. Pueblo is nicknamed the “Home of Heroes” because more Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients hail from Pueblo than from any other town in America. President Dwight Eisenhower once remarked, “What is it, something in the water out there? All you guys turn out to be heroes!”
Dad came of age during the Great Depression and worked hard, even as a teen, to help support his family. At 24, Dad enlisted in the US Navy and began a career that spanned 22 years. As fate would have it, he was on the USS Phoenix in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
That infamous day changed the course of world history and was truly a defining moment in Dad’s long life.
For his 100th birthday, we had a big party. Dad was never one for attention or fanfare, but we insisted that such a rare milestone deserved a proper celebration. Shortly before the party, a journalist from the local paper, the San Jose Mercury News, interviewed Dad about his life. The article made the front page of the Local News Section. While it touches on many subjects, it’s his Pearl Harbor story that is the highlight. In the article, Dad says:
Shortly before 8 am on Sunday, December 7, 1941, I was getting dressed for church services to be held aboard the USS California battleship. Word was passed to close all watertight doors. I thought: A drill? On Sunday? Never heard of that before.
When I emerged from below deck, I realized this was no drill. I saw planes with the rising sun painted on their wing tips, and I knew we were under attack by Japan.
From my battle station in sky forward, I could see the pilots. One came in so close to us that he appeared to be smiling. But a guy on our ship was firing a 50-caliber machine gun, and I think he hit the pilot. The plane drifted away and crashed into the hills.
About 200 yards away, the USS Arizona had become an inferno. A bomb penetrated down to the magazine, and the ship blew up. I couldn’t hear the explosion, but I remember the thick, black cloud of smoke that came out of the ship.
The article then moves on to other events in Dad’s life, but much of that fateful day is recorded in our nation’s history books. One book in particular, “American Cruisers of WWII,” by Steve Ewing, recounts:
The Phoenix was in Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, 1941. She finished the day’s battle with only a single bullet hole inflicted upon her. A robust anti-aircraft fire from her guns helped the Phoenix to provide one of the few bright spots for the US Navy that day.
And that robust anti-aircraft fire was Dad’s job. As a gunner’s mate, it was his job to fire at the enemy planes. True to form, Dad never mentioned this to anyone. I only made the connection by reading the book.
Dad’s humble demeanor masked great courage and resilience. His patience and optimism throughout his long life were inspiring. He delighted us with his witty, gentle sense of humor. His unfailing work ethic, and his kind, generous, appreciative spirit proved that he was truly a member of the Greatest Generation. He was the finest example of a life well lived.
Thank you for listening and for being here to honor and respect him. I assure you he is very deserving of it. I appreciate the gift of your presence, and now gift you with his presence here in his sacred final resting place.
Grants Help Chronicle World War II Stories
By Jovannalyn Mafnas, PHP-AMME Education Specialist
The National Park Service (NPS) and Pacific Historic Parks (PHP) at American Memorial Park were awarded $100,000 through the National Park Foundation Inclusive Storytelling Grant. As part of the Deferred Storytelling Initiative, the goal of the Inclusive Storytelling Grant is to support projects that help the National Park Service share more inclusive and comprehensive narratives. The project at American Memorial Park is titled, “Maila Ya Ta Fan Estoria/Ito Sibwe Titilap/Come Tell Stories: WWII Stories from the Indigenous People of the Northern Mariana Islands”.
This year, in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the battles that took place on Saipan and Tinian, PHP Education Specialist Jovannalyn Mafnas and Ranger Brooke Nevitt are working with Project Coordinator Oceana Songsong and Videographer Jojo Alepuyo to capture the stories of World War II from the Northern Mariana Islands. At American Memorial Park, the Marianas Memorial displays the names of over 900 indigenous people from the Northern Mariana Islands who lost their lives during the Marianas Campaign of WWII. This project aims to collect the stories of the indigenous civilians who lost their lives, and the stories of those who survived the war and shared their experiences. These stories are collected from first-hand accounts of those who were alive during WWII and second-hand stories from
the family members who are willing to share the difficult memories of war experiences. During this time, families suffered but worked together to rebuild their lives. Their stories of both hardship and resilience before, during and after the war will help the next generation have a better understanding of the history that took place in these islands and the people who rebuilt after the war.
Planning and preparation for the project began in the late fall of 2023 and interviews started in January 2024. PHP and NPS are working together to conduct these interviews for the next couple of months and are working towards collecting 40 filmed oral histories to have available as an educational resource once the project is completed in the spring of 2025.
LEFT: (L-R) Project Coordinator Oceana Songsong, PHP Education Specialist Jovannalyn Mafnas, Storytelling Grant Participant Juan L. Babauta, Ranger Brooke Nevitt and Project Videographer Jojo Alepuyo at the American Memorial Park Visitor Center. Credit: Barbara Sarmiento RIGHT: First interview project participant, Juan L. Babauta. Credit: Jojo Alepuyo
Pauline Ahulau Chow Celebration of Life
Celebration of life for Pauline Ahulau Chow, 90 years young, was held in Kalaupapa on October 17, 2024 with family friends, DOH and NPS staff. Services were heard at St Francis Church. A patient of Kalaupapa for 64 years, she met the love of her life, George, and settled in Kalaupapa. She lived life to the fullest enjoying music, and knew every song that was ever written. Being great with words, she challenged many of the staff to a game of scrabble and gave them a run for their money. Being well read, she could cite history, politics and current events to anyone who wanted to know.
She is one of the 8,000 patients with Hansen's Disease who were sent to Kalaupapa from 1866 to 1969. The remaining seven patients still call Kalaupapa their home.
Aunty Pauline, we love you and miss you “a hui Hou kakou”, that is, until we meet again.
Prayer for the Dead
“Eternal rest grant unto them and let perpetual light shine upon them and may they rest in peace.”
Francis Joseph Hanley, 101 USS Phoenix Cupertino, CA
Elmer Calvin Smith, 101, Wheeler Army Airfield Middletown, OH
You Make it Happen!
The Legacy Society
Createalegacythatwillensurehistorywillneverbeforgotten
Since 1980, millions of people from every state of our nation and from 40 countries around the world have seen, experienced, and been inspired by the valor and sacrifices of the Greatest Generation at Pearl Harbor and throughout the Pacific Basin. The Legacy Society was created to acknowledge and celebrate family and friends who desire to keep history alive and to honor the sacrifices of the World War II generation. Members have affirmed Pacific Historic Parks in their estate plans or through other planned gifting arrangements.
Planned gifts provide a unique opportunity to preserve our country’s military heritage through supporting Pacific Historic Parks while possibly receiving tax benefits on income.
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Photo provided by Gina Wilkins, daughter of Pearl Harbor Survivor Francis Joseph Hanley, circled with other members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Chapter 7, San Jose. PHSA disbanded in 2011