As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, I’ve been writing a series of articles about the war, and particularly Hawaii’s connections to it. Here’s the sixth in that series.
Iwo Jima
I’ve heard about the tiny island south of Japan since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I started looking into it that I found out why its eight square miles were so important.
Iwo Jima is a small, flat island about 600 miles due south of Tokyo. It is one-fifth the size of Kahoolawe.
Shortly after the U.S. had taken the Mariana Islands in 1944, the 21st Bomber Command set up bases on Saipan, Guam and Tinian. From there they could reach mainland Japan, an important step in bringing the war to a close.
The Mariana Islands were about 800 miles south of Iwo Jima. Japan’s interceptors from that small island could harass U.S. bombers and alert Japan to impending attacks, said Craig Collins in the Defense Media Network.
Because of the Japanese base at Iwo Jima, U.S. planes had to fly far out of the way. In February 1945, the U.S decided to take Iwo Jima.
The Japanese built a complex of underground, armored fortifications, bunkers and tunnels that made its capture difficult.
Many of the Marines who fought on Iwo Jima had trained for two years at Camp Tarawa on the Big Island.
The battle lasted 36 days. Over 6,000 Americans died and 20,000 were injured. Early in the fighting, soldiers raised an American flag on Mount Suribachi.
Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the photo of the event, making it world famous and winning him a Pulitzer Prize.
Camp Tarawa was named for an atoll in the Pacific halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The camp was in the Parker Ranch area of Kohala on the Big Island. Over 25,000 Marines trained on nearby beaches for amphibious landings. The area also boasted an outstanding artillery range at Pohakuloa.
The 500 residents of Waimea embraced the 25,000 Marines, inviting them to luaus and rodeos. The Marines brought electricity, refrigeration and water storage to the area, and something many locals had heard of but never tried — ice cream.
Amateur historian Fred Greguras wrote about the United Service Organizations (USOs) on the Big Island for the Marines.
“The United Service Organizations offered a touch of home for servicemen during WWII through activities and events such as dances, movies, music and a place to write a letter home or grab a free cup of coffee and a sandwich,” Greguras said.
“Founded in 1941, the USO was created at the request of President Franklin Roosevelt. His call brought six organizations (YMCA, YWCA, Salvation Army, National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board) together to form a private, nonprofit organization to provide morale, entertainment and other support services for U.S. military personnel away from home.
“The busiest and most popular USO was at Barbara (Kahilu) Hall (now Parker School) at Camp Tarawa in Waimea. It was the site of dances with live music played by famous orchestras, entertainment by big-name stars and other recreational activities.”
Zeros and Kates
I was curious about how some of the Japanese planes came to be called what they were, such as the Zeros and Kates. I thought the Zero was named by U.S. soldiers because the rising sun on its body looked like a 0. That’s not true.
The Zero was made by Mitsubishi from 1940-1945. It was designated as the Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” because the plane entered service in the year 2600 of the Imperial Japanese calendar (1940). “0” was the last digit in 2600. Japanese pilots referred to it as the “Reisen” (meaning “Zero”) fighter.
The U.S. Army developed a naming system for Japanese planes. The Navy created a different system, which was confusing.
In 1942, Capt. Frank T. McCoy with Army Air Forces intelligence established a simpler system. Fighter planes were given boy’s names, he decided, and bombers and other planes received girl’s names.
Some of the fighters were called Mike, Nate, Nick, Oscar, Jerry and Jack.
Bombers were called Kate, Betty, Mabel, Pat, Julia and Gwen.
McCoy’s system called the Mitsubishi A6M a “Zeke.” Most of his names were widely adopted, except for the Zero, which is still popular 75 years later.
Allowed to marry
Paul Tognetti, part of the San Jose State football team that was in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, joined the Honolulu Police Department. In 1944 he went to work with Army intelligence.
“We were looking for enemy equipment and documents that would help our armed forces,” Tognetti recalled. “And we didn’t find much, except one Japanese officer we captured on Okinawa.”
The officer had a lot of enemy blueprints, documents, and maps of all the stronghold points in Okinawa. He would talk about them IF the Americans allowed him to marry an Okinawan nurse he was in love with.
Lt. Gen. John Hodge weighed the pros and cons of this unusual request and gave it a green light. “Of course, the troops in the front lines heard about the wedding. They couldn’t believe this and were very upset.
“What this officer gave us saved hundreds of American soldiers’ lives, and this is why we made a deal with him and allowed him to have this wedding.”
“It was played up in Time magazine, and all over the country. So it wasn’t kept a secret, but it was very unusual, to say the least.”
Unique pickup line
Peggy Aurand told me her parents met in Hawaii during World War II. Her mom, Patti Riley, got a job with the Navy at Pearl Harbor. She lived in a cottage in Aiea Heights.
She soon caught the attention of a Navy pilot, Pete Aurand. He would “invite her out” by dropping a note tied to a rock from the bomb bay of his plane into her front yard as it buzzed her cottage.
As pickup lines go, I wouldn’t recommend it, but in this case it worked. They married 20 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Friendly place
Harriet Kuwamoto was a public health nurse during World War II. Her team worked with brothels, prostitutes and their customers to combat venereal disease. I came across an interview with her conducted by the University of Hawaii. She said something I found funny:
“A nurse whom I met in Boston came to Hawaii to work. She was assigned to Kauai public health nursing.” She bought a car from a woman who was leaving the island. As she was driving in her car, men would wave to her, and she thought, oh, what a friendly place Kauai is.
“She found out later that the car she was driving had belonged to a prostitute previously.”
For more information about the End of WWII 75th Anniversary Celebration in Hawaii, see 75thwwiicommemoration.org/victory-in-the-pacific/hawaii-events
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