The jet touched the runway at the Daniel K. Inouye International airport in Honolulu. I could almost smell the familiar scent of water as I peered out through the window of the aircraft. Finally, I was in Hawaii!
I always wanted to visit Hawaii. My stints in Fiji, Kiribati, Sri Lanka and constant vacations in Thailand could never diminish my desire to feel Honolulu in person. In mid 1970s during my girlhood days when we had only one TV channel in Dhaka, right after the English news (prime time) “Hawaii Five O,” an American TV series used to be broadcast, once a week. With my sisters, I anxiously waited for it. Jack Lord played the part of detective Steve McGarret––the head of a special state police task force. At the opening scene, his face dominated the screen (24 inches, the largest available to us at the time), he looked directly at the camera and with a hint of a smile––sort of swaggered his face at us as a lock of hair flickered on his forehead. The camera froze at that point and the title of the series came up––Hawaii Five O.
His swagger swayed my heart. And that of my sisters’. No one could, ever, take his place. (Lo! I just gave up my long held-secret).
My niece joined me from Seattle–– a computer and electrical engineer from MIT. She has the right balance of tech cells and creativity in her brain. She came with painting materials and passion. We drove around the island . . . at first, I thought I just wanted a peaceful vacation, forget stress––refused to visit the Pearl harbor. Sadly, on amazing islands, the fiercest, bloodiest battles were fought: the battle of Tarawa (more on it later) . . . and the bombing on Pearl Harbor. After a good night’s sleep, I decided I should write about my feelings about the attack, the tragedy, and the legacy of shame that followed afterwards.
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December 7, 1941––a Sunday morning, the turquoise water of the Pacific held the reflection of the sky, some soft waves foamed and broke on the sands . . . The stillness of the dawn was broken by the hum of Japanese war planes headed to O’ahu, Hawaii––the first shots were fired by American soldiers before the surprise attack began. It lasted one hour and fifteen minutes, killing 2,403 US soldiers/sailors and civilians, wounded 1,178 people, destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels and 300 airplanes. . . 129 Japanese soldiers were killed.
And the US formally entered the World War II. However, the Japanese failed to cripple the US Pacific fleet.
America decided to punish the Japanese further. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) imposed executive order 9066 that incarcerated people of Japanese descent, including Japanese Americans born on the US soil. From 1942 to 1945 about 120,000 of them from the west coast were forcibly thrown into internment camps that offered sub-human living conditions. They were deprived of personal freedom, their lives changed overnight––they were treated with suspicion, hatred and cruelty. Their properties, finances and personal belongings were all gone.
Japanese Americans made up nearly 30% of the population in Hawaii. Over 2,000 people of Japanese descent were jailed due to suspected disloyalty, without any proof. The first lady of Hawaii was under suspicion and lived in fear when her uncle, Ariyoshi was arrested and held in detention by FBI (12 December, 1941). His guns, radios, flashlights were confiscated.
. . . Suspicions transformed into racism over the years, possibly. I was struck by a sign (see below in photo) at the aquarium we visited 2 days ago.
“Why this sign?” I wanted to understand.
“Because people say bad things,” the young Hawaiian-American receptionist of Japanese descent told me.
“To you?” She nodded.
“What bad words they use? Who are these people?” My curiosity knew no bound.
“White people. . . they say- go back to your country,” the young lady calmly stated.
So disgusting, so shameful! It’s her land; it’s the land of her ancestors . . .
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me . . .”
I remembered the lyrics of the American song.
More on American-shame . . . August 6, 1945, the US used the atomic bombs in Hiroshima, Japan, killing about 80,000 people and three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki that killed 40,000. Millions were impacted by radiation, and many more deaths happened later due to exposure to radiation . . . brutal victory for America???
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