Here’s one of my favorite photos taken February 28, 1976. Fifty years ago. This for the younger generations who think the opposition to the military control of Makua is a recent phenomenon.
Following a day-long rally across the highway on Saturday, Feb. 28, a group entered property, proceeded past a large Army warning sign, and planted a protest flag. Some of the kids in that photo are grandparents today and might recall their participation.
Here’s a bit of forgotten Honolulu political history from an unusual source–a series of photographs take by an Army photographer in 1970. These few small snapshots were given to me decades later by friend who turned out to have been a member of the Hawaii Armed Services Police at the time.
The story: In November 1970, a 26-year old soldier on R&R in Honolulu went went AWOL and publicly announced he would not return to active duty in Vietnam because of his religious convictions.
Gerald LePage, originally from Connecticut, contacted a local peace group, catholic Action of Hawaii, immediately after arriving in the islands. He then went “underground” with the assistance of catholic Action members, but announced his intention to turn himself in to authorities within 30 days to avoid his absence being considered desertion, which would be punished by much harsher penalties.
This was not Hawaii’s first experience with sanctuary and dissent by active duty military personnel. Dozens of soldiers had taken sanctuary at the Church of the Crossroads in August 1969 to protest the war, and held out until the church was raided by about 40 military police on September 12.
After a month “underground,” LePage publicly announced he would attend a Christmas Eve service at the Wesley Foundation on University Avenue near the University of Hawaii campus, and then turn himself in to HASP at the U.S. Army Military Reservation at Fort DeRussy, located at the edge of Waikiki.
Following the church service, LePage was being driven to DeRussy followed by a caravan of supporters when military police stopped the group along McCully Street within sight of their destination.
Although the photographs I received were not in very good condition, they provide a candid look at this moment in Hawaii’s movement in support of peace and nonviolence. I’m the bearded guy in this photo, with prominent activist and author Emmett Cahill standing just behind me.
A number of other prominent activists during that period can be seen in this and other photos in the series.
Okay, here’s another one from an old photo album. It’s the “official” photo of my 5th grade class at Kahala elementary School in 1958. Our teacher was Mrs. Lau.
This is a repeat of a post that first appeared here almost 12 years ago.
The terrible thing is that I don’t have any recollection, good or bad, of Mrs. Lau. That contrasts with my vivid memory of Miss Yamasaki, my 6th grade teacher, who told me I would “never amount to anything” because I was lazy and didn’t work hard on my homework. She was right on the last count. I was bored and didn’t spend much time on homework. But I was avidly reading and asking questions about how things work that my mother would deflect by pointing to the set of World Book encyclopedias where I was supposed to look up the answers. And, as I recall, I did. But homework? Not so much.
But back to the class photo. I’ve attached the somewhat incomplete list my mother typed at the time identifying most students in the class. She luckily saved it with the photo, and I found it many years later. .
I’m sure you can find me without resorting to the crib sheet. Or can you?
And maybe someone knows others whose names are missing? If so, share some info about them, please.
Click on the photo to see a larger version.
I learned this week that the State of California has now officially designated the site of the First National Surfing Championship held in November-December 1938 in Long Beach, California, as an official Point Of Historical Interest
The historical designation was approved by Armando Quintero, director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, in April 2024.
My dad, then a 23-year old active in the Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce, was one of the key organizers of the 1938 event. He learned to surf while a junior lifeguard in Long Beach. At the end of his life, he told me he had never been a good surfer. But he was an excellent and enthusiastic organizer who pulled together the Long Beach Surf Club and then drew the Junior Chamber into sponsoring a forward-looking First National Surfing Championship held in Long Beach in November and December 1938.
Conducted over two days in November and December 1938, the contest was the region’s first surfing and paddleboard competition billed as a national event. The Championships was both a successful visitor attraction for the city and a notable contest for Southern California pre-war surfers and paddleboarders. The event brought 50,000 visitors to Long Beach’s West End shoreline to watch more than 100 competitors.
Check out more of my dad’s photos of the 1938 event.
There were no waves, at least on the first day of the event, but as the caption on one of his photos of the event noted, it was “a good day for paddling,” and they made do with surfboard and paddleboard races and other events. And with major press coverage by the Los Angeles Times and the Long Beach Press Telegram, the event drew crowds!
Congratulations to the sponsors of the historic designation, the San Diego-based nonprofit Sea of Clouds, and the Surfrider Foundation, Long Beach Chapter.