COMMUNITY COMMENTARY
by Sue Wagoner
Maui’ s Day of Infamy
I heard the bombs; I was five years old and it was December 7, 1941. The screaming sound of the incoming artillery and their ultimate explosion was the most frightening thing I had ever heard. The villagers of Spanish“ B” Camp at the Sugar Plantation had no idea what was happening. I remember my parents pushing us kids under the bed with two mattresses piled on top. There was not a sound from house # 400 as the missiles continued their whizzing sound between us and the Robello’ s home next door. Later that morning when the bombing had stopped, we all gathered around the upright Zenith Radio – our only source of information. We learned that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and that thousands had been killed. Their submarines had entered Kahului Harbor and had made an effort to take out the Pineapple Factory and the Sugar Mill. I don’ t think any of their artillery did any damage to either of the intended targets. However they gave us a scare we will never live down. As a child I understood that we could not let any light escape from our home and all our window panes were painted black. Everyone had to be inside their home by 8 PM each night. It also meant that I had to carry an ugly heavy gas mask to school and carry an ID Card everywhere I went. For two years we had a sad Christmas because there were no toys or Christmas trees with lights. The Plantation Grocery Store was bare with no spam, Vienna sausages, corn beef, pork & beans, sardines or salmon. These were basic items in the plantation diets and there were no goodies in the candy store. My fears lessened when the American Troops set up camps in various parts of Maui. It was a comfort and security for us knowing that we would not be attacked again and that these men would protect us. My favorite camp was at the rear of Puunene School. Each day when I walked home I would encourage my classmates to join me at the chain link fence so we could thank them for protecting us. They welcomed talking with the local children and the soldiers always gave us lemon and lime candies. Without exception, they wanted to know if we had older sisters or aunts. For many months thereafter I would wake up in the morning to the sound of the troops marching through our village road. It was so reassuring. I will always remember the unity and love of country that America possessed at that time. I pray for a return of that reassurance.
WISE WORDS
“ A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy,( which is) always followed by a dictatorship."
-Alexander Tyler, Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, 1887
Pono Press, May 2013, Page 7