There was something very familiar about the top photo showing damage in an undisclosed location “near Kahana” following the 1946 tsunami.

The photo was included in a set of pictures showing damage caused by the tsunami in the area in and around Kaaawa which was posted here last week.

It actually didn’t take long for me to figure out why it looks familiar. I realized it shows our section of Kaaawa, including the place we now live. The photo appears to show the Kaaawa Military Reservation, reportedly known then as “Camp Kaaawa.”

Kaaawa Military Reservation included nearly four acres of public land “set aside” by presidential executive order in 1927 for military use. During WWII, it was the support base for the Jungle Warfare Center in Kahana Valley, just up the road a short distance. It was returned to the Territory of Hawaii in 1953 by a subsequent executive order.

Our house is immediately adjacent to the upper side of the former military camp, which is now leased by the state to the nonprofit Windward Retreat Center, currently under construction.

You can compare the 1946 with the modern photo (below) made using GoogleEarth. I was able to maneuver around to get approximately the same point of view. I’ve marked our house with a yellow check mark (?), which might not be easy to see unless you click for a larger view.

Most of the landmarks line up. In the foreground is Kamehameha Highway, with old buildings damaged by the tsunami, in what is now Swanzy Beach Park. The location of the current Kaaawa fire station is along Kam Hwy in the lower right of the photo. Lihimauna Road, which now runs from behind the fire station up on a diagonal until it hits Olohu Road and heads up the hill, appears in the 1946 photo as a white coral road running from lower right to middle left. Makaua Stream, or at least the Makaua Stream bed, runs up along the right side of the photo.

You can see in the top photo that there was a big “bowl” in the open area. We’ve been told this was used as a natural amphitheater where USO shows were put on for men stationed at Camp Kaaawa. It’s now right below our house, and is now the hunting ground for at least one of our cats.

It’s the first photo I’ve found depicting the former Camp Kaaawa.

You can click on either photo for a closer view.