Holiday Spirit during World War II

Despite the attack on Pearl Harbor just three weeks prior, those fighting in World War II still found time for a little Christmas Spirit while in the Armed Forces. This Santa, complete with a sack full of radios, books, cookies and more, greeted soldiers at Camp Lee in Virginia the day before Christmas, December 1941.

   Receiving their Christmas packages from loved ones in Italy during December, 1943 are (from left to right) S/Sgt. John F. Suchanek; Pfc. Joseph G. Pierro; Sgt. Charles M. Myrich and Sgt. Leon L. Oben. All are members of F. A. Bn., 3rd Div in Pietramelara, Italy.

 Then one foggy Christmas Eve these soldiers came to sing... caroling in Iceland, December 24, 1942 @ Camp Hickham.

Aloha Ladies & Gentlemen!

I apologize for the lack of posts this past week-with a few of our staff out of town, I have been "called to duty" as tour guide for the Home of the Brave Tour daily for the past week. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and are prepared for the upcoming holiday season-the Christmas spirit has already begun to show in our museum with the recent addition of our Christmas tree and a few lights here and there throughout!
Happy Holidays!!!
Aloha,
Duke
homeofthebravetours@gmail.com

The USS Oklahoma & Memorial

One of the most interesting points of interest located on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor is the USS Oklahoma Memorial. The USS Oklahoma (BB-37) was a World War I-era battleship and the twin sister oft he USS Nevada, commisioned together in 1916. They served in World War I protecting Allied convoys on their way across the Atlantic before being "modernized" from 1927-1929 and helped rescue American citizens and refugees during the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

In World War II she was stationed at Pearl Harbor when the attack occurred on December 7th, where she lost 429 sailors when she was sunk and capsized by Japanese bombs and torpedoes within the first 12 minutes  of the surprise attack. In 1943 she was uprighted, but unlike many of the other battleships salvaged from Pearl she was never repaired or returned to duty. Instead, she was stripped of guns and sold for scrap, sinking while under tow to the mainland in 1947.

One of the little known amazing feats of the aftermath of salvaging the attack on Pearl Harbor is that sailors were pulled from the USS Oklahoma more than two days after the initial attack-many of the men on board were trapped inside and rescuers worked tirelessly around the clock to save those who were trapped inside her capsized hull. A wonderful memorial dedicated to all those who lost their lives on board the USS Oklahoma can be found on Ford Island, detailing the ship and listing all the names of the innocent men who passed away that morning when the Japanese suddenly attacked.

World War II in HD

 Last night we turned on the television at about 7pm Hawaii time to watch an amazing documentary called World War II in HD. The History Channel's newest documentary on World War II in the European and Pacific theatres was amazing, bringing full color, high-definition footage never-seen-before and telling the story of "The Greatest Generation" through the eyes of 12 Americans who experienced the war firsthand.

The footage was found after a three year search through rare color archival footage and digitally remastered in High Definition to bring to life the war itself, creating an experience for the viewer that literally feels like they were actually there, surrounded by the real sights and sounds of the battlefields.

Last night we experienced the start of World War II at Pearl Harbor and the next four nights will bring the final 8 chapters in this exclusive High Definition documentary-each night they premiere 2 hours of the 10 hour program. Our Home of the Brave Historian Guides and those within the company highly recommend checking this program out-its not one to miss!!! You can find out more about the program on the History Channels website and even see a few scenes from the film @ www.history.com.

The Japanese Balloon Bomb Attack

The Japanese had many unique ways of attacking enemies in World War II. One of the most entertaining attempts at creating "experimental weaponry" were known as Fire Balloons, or Balloon Bombs.

The idea was simple-utilizing the jet stream that ran through the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese inflated Hydrogen-filled balloons carrying incendiary and antipersonnel bombs that were designed to create chaos when they exploded over American cities, forests and farmlands (including Canada as well!)

Despite being an incredible idea with high expectations, the balloon bombs were relative ineffective as weapons and were used only a few times to attack North America. Between November 1944 and April 1945, the Japanese launched over nine thousand fire balloons, with an estimated success rate of reaching the US & Canada coming in at a whopping 3.3 percent! Around 300 allons were found or observed, killing six people and causing minimal damage to their targets.

Sadly enough the six people killed by a balloon bomb were five children and a woman. A 13-year-old girl attempted to pull a balloon from a tree during a church group picnic in Oregon when the bomb exploded, killing the pastors wife and five local children that had accompanied them on the outing.

Dangers of balloon bombs still may exist today. Hundreds of the balloons were never found and are still constituted as unexploded ordnance!

The Home of the Brave Railroad is a G-Scale layout oval-track train in the Home of the Brave museum. It's well served purpose is to attract and depict the extremely important Military role that the US Railroads provided during World War II. Inside the museum is this very basic yet eye-catching, 12x20 foot overhead oval track connected by a large LGB steel bridge. They provide the support for two steam vintage locomotives and related US Military rolling stock.

The Pacific Santa Fe 44-6-2 pulls heavy weight and olive drab interior lighted passenger, dining and observation coaches, all resembling a typical World War II Train. The alternate train consists of a five car combine consisting of a US Army flat car with jeeps, a piggy back car with Army trailers, a Navy ammunition box car, an Air Force tank car and Army caboose, indicative of bygone Military freight rail conveyances.

The train was installed by Glen and provided by Bud Layman of Above All Railways in Tarzana, CA. Bud can be contacted at (818) 996-1101.

John William Finn, Medal of Honor Recipient for heroism during the attack on Pearl Harbor

Lieutenant John William Finn is a retired officer of the United States Navy who received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his heroism when the Japanese attacked the Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station on December 7th, 1941.

As a chief aviation ordnanceman, he was in charge of twenty men whose primary task was to maintain the weapons of a PBY Catalina flying boat squadron. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Finn was at his home, about a mile from the aircraft hangars, when he heard the sound of gunfire. He quickly drove to the hangars seeing Japanese planes in the sky on his way to the Naval Station and found the airbase was under attack, with most of the PBYs already on fire.

His men were trying to fight back by using the machine guns mounted in the PBYs, either by firing from inside the flaming planes or by detaching the guns and mounting them on improvised stands. One of the first things he did was take control of a machine gun from his squadron's painter. "I said, 'Alex, let me take that gun'...knew that I had more experience firing a machine gun than a painter."

Finn then found a movable platform used for gunnery training, attached the .50 caliber machine gun, and pushed the platform into an open area, from which he had a clear view of the attacking aircraft. He fired on the Japanese planes for the next two hours, even after being seriously wounded, until the attack had ended. In total, he received 21 distinct wounds, including a bullet through the foot and an injury which rendered his left arm numb.

 Despite his injuries, he returned to the hangars later that day, after receiving medical treatment, and helped arm the surviving American planes.

For these actions, Finn was formally presented with the Medal of Honor on September 14, 1942, by Admiral Chester Nimitz. During the remainder of World War II, he served as a Limited Duty Officer Ensign and eventually as a Lieutenant with Bombing Squadron VB-102 and aboard the USS Hancock. He retired from the Navy in the rank of Lieutenant in September 1956.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, Finn's decorations include the Purple Heart; Navy Good Conduct Medal with two bronze stars; American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; and the Navy Occupation Service Medal 

 At age 100, Finn is the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient and is also the only living Pearl-Harbor-Day Medal of Honor recipient. He currently lives in on a ranch in Live Oak Springs, near Pine Valley, California.

John is a close friend of Home of the Brave-we remember his heroic actions through out interactive exhibit found in our very own Home of the Brave Museum!

 

US Navy Semaphore Signal Light

In our museum you can find a World War II US Navy Signal lamp, also called an Aldis lamp, which is a visual signaling device for communication, typically using morse code. Basically, its a focused lamp with shutters that produces pulses of light!

It is named after its inventor Authur C W Aldis and the pulses are achieved by opening and closing shutters mounted in front of the lamp, either via a manually-operated pressure switch or, in later versions, automatically. The lamps were usually equipped with some form of optical sight, and were most commonly used on naval vessels (like the one in our museum!) and in airport control towers, using color signals for stop or clearance to airplanes waiting to take off or land.

The Home of the Brave Safe

This gorgeous and vintage safe originally came from San Francisco in the late 1800s on a clipper ship bould for Honolulu for C. Brewer and Co. C. Brewer & Co. was one of the original "Big Five" firms, which at one time essentially controlled the islands of Hawaii.

It was founded by James Hunnewell, an officer on a ship named the Thaddeus which had brought the first missionaries here to the Hawaiian Islands in 1820. Hunnewell returned in 1826 to set up a trading company which was later traded to Captain Charles Brewer who gave the company its lasting name. After the sugar industry died out, C. Brewer & Co. branched into diversified agriculture and specialty products like Kona Coffee and Maunaloa Macadamia Nuts.

The Home of the Brave Museum acquired the safe through Lion Coffee Co. who recieved it from Rick Ralston, the founder of a popular t-shirt company called Crazy Shirts Hawaii. The outside doors are unlocked but the inner chamber has never been opened since the museum has acquired it...even we are curious as to what may lie inside its iron inner chamber!

 

Fort Shafter, command center of the United States Army Pacific

Fort Shafter is where the Home of the Brave Tour visits for an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at the Hale Ikena (translates to House with a View on the golf course on base) and a stop along the historic Palm Circle and a visit inside the USARPAC (United States Army Pacific) VIP Headquarters entrance. 

Construction began in 1905 and when the post opened in 1907, it was named for Major General William Rufus Shafter, who led the United States expedition to Cuba in 1898.

War came to Fort Shafter on 7 December 1941, where the Hawaiian Department commander, Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, lived. One soldier, Corporal Arthur A. Favreau, was killed on post by an errant Navy shell. Fort Shafter became a busy headquarters and the barracks on Palm Circle were converted to offices. The major headquarters was named successively U.S. Army Forces, Central Pacific Area (1943-44); U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (1944-45); and U.S. Army Forces, Middle Pacific (1945-47). In 1944 the Army Corps of Engineers erected the "Pineapple Pentagon" (buildings T-100, T-101, and T-102) in just 49 days! The photo below shows Richardson Hall, named after General Robert Richardson who ended marshall law in the Hawaiian Islands and instilled the US Army Art Project which you learn about and see aboard the tour!

Today Fort Shafter remains the focal point for command, control, and support of Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Brave Sailors of the USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91)

Here is an amazing "Then & Now" couple of photos donated to our Home of the Brave Museum and currently on display. Though we do not know the real names of these brave men, we do know they were all still alive in 1998 for their reunion and still playing poker with each other as they did 53 years prior! 

These men were on board the USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91), a Casablanca class escort carrier in the United States Navy. During these brave sailors time on board the ship, they saw a lot of action in the Pacific, providing air support for American ground troops during the battle of Okinawa-the air support brought devastating airstrikes against enemy gun emplacements, ground installations and airfields on the island. Her planes were credited with shooting down four enemy aircraft as well. The USS Makassar Strait received two Navy battle stars for her service in World War II! 

The Home of the Brave Museum is proud to have Dago, Bags, Squeaky and Olie on our Wall of Fame and will always remember the brave sailors that sailed aboard the USS Makassar Strait in World War II!!!

The Heroic American Crew of a B17 Bomber in the 849th Bomb Squadron

Here is an amazing photo donated to our Home of the Brave Museum by the men assigned to the 490 Bomb group (H), 849th Bomb Squadron located in Eye, England. The number you see, 8557, was their assigned crew number for training purposes during their time in the United States. These brave men flew B-17 bomber aircraft and had the callsign "Abrade" during their missions throughout the many countries in Europe like Germany, France, Holland, Czechoslovakia and more!.

In the top row from left to right you have Wendell S. Snyder, the flight engineer-Peter Malires, the radio operator-Robert A. Johnson, the waist gunner-Carl B. Johnson, Jr. the ball gunner and Newton B. Parker, the tail gunner. In the bottom row from left to right you have Robert A. Norvell, the aircraft commander-Lorenzo G. Smith, Jr. the Co-pilot-Gordon P. Lake, the navigator and finally Leo L. Borden, the bombardier.

King Kamehameha Statue

The King Kamehameha statue is another drive-by stop on our Home of the Brave tour. It stands in front of Ali'iolani Hale in downtown Honolulu.

The idea to build a statue to memorialize the great King Kamehameha the first came in 1878, but the statue was actually lost at sea on its way over to Hawaii near the Falkland islands. The second statue was created and put into place in 1883, and when the first statue was recovered it was placed on the Big Island in Kohala, where Kalani Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea (The Great Kings real name!) was born.

He was known for conquering the Hawaiian islands and formally establishing the kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. He is also remembered as the man to have established Kanawai Mamalahoe, or the "Law of the Splintered Paddle". During wartime and times of battle, human rights of non-combatants were protected under this provision set forth by the great King. Believe it or not, the statue is said to be life size-he stood a whopping seven feet two inches tall!