Key Takeaways
- The attack on Pearl Harbor was 84 years ago, but new information is still being uncovered, including a previously unknown Navy logbook and accounts from the youngest witnesses.
- Historians have discovered that many residents of the Honouliuli Internment Camp were Koreans and Okinawans, not just Japanese-Americans.
- The granddaughter of Otto Kuehn, a German immigrant, has published a book revealing her family’s involvement in spying for the Japanese government during World War II.
- The stories of children who witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor are being collected and preserved, providing a new perspective on the event.
- New research and discoveries are helping to shed light on the events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath.
Introduction to New Discoveries
The Dec. 7 bombing was 84 years ago, but new information is still coming out, including accounts of the youngest witnesses. Even as Honolulu’s annual remembrance of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor takes place, new details about the original assault and its aftermath keep coming to light. In the past year, World War II historians have uncovered a previously unknown Pearl Harbor Navy logbook and advanced new research on prisoners who were held at Honouliuli Internment Camp. Meanwhile, as the last of Pearl Harbor’s aging service members pass from the scene, a new set of veterans is coming to the fore as local historian Jessie Higa reveals the hidden story of the true last survivors — children of service members who were living on Hawaiʻi’s military bases at the time of the attack and became traumatized eyewitnesses to shocking scenes of destruction that have gone on to haunt their adult lives.
The Discovery of the Lost Logbook
In August, the National Archives in Washington, D.C., announced the recovery of a long-lost logbook from Pearl Harbor, complete with handwritten entries of troop ship activities from March 1941 through June 1942. It details some of the events that occurred in the harbor on Dec. 7, 1941: “0755 Japanese aircraft and submarines attacked Pearl Harbor and other military and naval objectives …” The logbook survived because, sometime in the 1970s, Oretta Kanady, a civilian employee at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California, spotted an intriguing bound volume dumped in the trash bin at work, pulled it out and took it home. Fifty years passed, and Kanady’s son decided to try to sell it, but when the National Archives learned of the logbook’s existence, they nixed the prospect of a sale and claimed it as part of the national patrimony.
New Research on Honouliuli Internment Camp
In September, a lecture series at Honouliuli Internment Camp unveiled new research showing that many residents of the camp were actually Koreans whose country had been colonized by the Japanese and who were detained by American forces that encountered them in battle. Another large group held at the camp were from Okinawa, which had been annexed by Japan in 1879. This new research helps to shed light on the complex history of the camp and the people who were held there.
The Stories of Child Witnesses
Jessie Higa, a historian and tour guide, has been studying the Pearl Harbor attack since 1991, when she worked as a park ranger at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. For decades she has examined the lives and experiences of the veterans who served at the bases that bore the brunt of the attack, which left more than 2,400 dead. But as that generation dies away, Higa’s research has shifted to studying the children of service members, many of whom were living on base that day. It is not known how many of them still survive. Families living on Ford Island confronted a ghastly panorama as oily smoke billowed across their entire field of view, exposing the surreal hellscape of battleships sinking only hundreds of feet away.
The Story of Otto Kuehn and His Family
The granddaughter of Otto Kuehn, a German immigrant, has published a book revealing her family’s involvement in spying for the Japanese government during World War II. Kuehn had vehemently denied being a spy during his lifetime, but his granddaughter’s book confirms that he was indeed involved in espionage. The book, "Family of Spies," has finally been released for sale, and it provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of a man who was living a double life in Hawaiʻi during World War II. The house where Kuehn lived, in Kailua, had dormer windows that were added by Kuehn himself, which were used to signal Japanese submarines off the coast.
Conclusion and Reflection
The stories of the attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath continue to unfold, even 84 years after the event. The discovery of the lost logbook, the new research on Honouliuli Internment Camp, and the stories of child witnesses all help to shed light on the complex history of the attack and its impact on the people who lived through it. As the last of the Pearl Harbor survivors pass away, it is more important than ever to collect and preserve their stories, as well as those of the children who witnessed the attack. By doing so, we can gain a deeper understanding of this pivotal moment in history and its ongoing impact on our world today.
