HOW KALAUPAPA LEARNED PEARL HARBOR WAS ATTACKED by Sister Alicia Damien Lau
This past December 7, 2021, was the 80th commemoration of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. If you asked anyone where they were on December 7, 1941, most would remember. Ten year old Henry upon admission to Kalihi Hospital
Portrait of Uncle Henry 1995
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REMEMBRANCE SPRING 2022
M
y parents were just married on December 6, so everyone was still partying when the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor. Wondering about Kalaupapa, I found that many of the children with leprosy, were at the Kalihi Hospital in Honolulu and witnessed the bombing themselves. In Kalaupapa, Uncle Henry Nalaielua was here when the bombing happened. He tells of the account in his book, “NO FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND - A Memoir of Kalaupapa.” It was a Sunday morning, and they had just finished their breakfast, Uncle Henry’s favorite - “steak and eggs with rice and coffee.” He says, “the oldest guy at Baldwin Home, Hayashi, had a radio turned on in the dorm, tuned to his favorite Honolulu station. But instead of hearing music, we found out that the Japanese Imperial Navy had just made an unprovoked sneak attack on Pearl Harbor wreaking havoc and destruction on all Hawaiian military bases but especially Pearl Harbor Naval base where the battleships were being bombed relentlessly. We all crowded around Hayashi’s radio, listening to sirens in the background of the news report.”
