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Rearview: Big Island tsunami survivor recalls harrowing ordeal 75 years later

HAWAII STATE ARCHIVES
                                 Hilo after the April 1, 1946, tsunami.<strong> </strong>
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HAWAII STATE ARCHIVES

Hilo after the April 1, 1946, tsunami.

COURTESY MARSUE MCGINNIS MCSHANE 
                                McGinnis, far left, with her seventh grade arts and crafts class at Laupahoehoe School, months before the tsunami hit.
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COURTESY MARSUE MCGINNIS MCSHANE

McGinnis, far left, with her seventh grade arts and crafts class at Laupahoehoe School, months before the tsunami hit.

COURTESY MARSUE MCGINNIS MCSHANE
                                Leabert Fernandez, left, got a boat and rescued Marsue McGinnis after nine hours in the ocean. They married three months later.
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COURTESY MARSUE MCGINNIS MCSHANE

Leabert Fernandez, left, got a boat and rescued Marsue McGinnis after nine hours in the ocean. They married three months later.

<strong>“I said, ‘Well, it’s doing it again, and I hope this is one of the big ones so I can get a ….’ But, it came and it just kept coming. It didn’t crash. It kept coming and got bigger.”</strong>
                                <strong>Marsue McGinnis</strong>
                                <em>Tsunami survivor</em>
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“I said, ‘Well, it’s doing it again, and I hope this is one of the big ones so I can get a ….’ But, it came and it just kept coming. It didn’t crash. It kept coming and got bigger.”

Marsue McGinnis

Tsunami survivor

HAWAII STATE ARCHIVES
                                 Hilo after the April 1, 1946, tsunami.<strong> </strong>
COURTESY MARSUE MCGINNIS MCSHANE 
                                McGinnis, far left, with her seventh grade arts and crafts class at Laupahoehoe School, months before the tsunami hit.
COURTESY MARSUE MCGINNIS MCSHANE
                                Leabert Fernandez, left, got a boat and rescued Marsue McGinnis after nine hours in the ocean. They married three months later.
<strong>“I said, ‘Well, it’s doing it again, and I hope this is one of the big ones so I can get a ….’ But, it came and it just kept coming. It didn’t crash. It kept coming and got bigger.”</strong>
                                <strong>Marsue McGinnis</strong>
                                <em>Tsunami survivor</em>