Sacred Hearts Academy is one of the seven schools chosen to participate in a

visit to Honouliuli, the site of an internment camp on Oahu during World War II. Juniors inU.S. History and AP U.S. History classes will be participating in this unique learning experience, beginning on Jan. 28.

U.S. History teacher Wendi Vincent said, “The decision to intern Japanese Americans during World War II has fascinated me for a long time. Previous work that I had done with my students on the internment experience actually was the basis of the History Teacher of the Year award I received in 2010. So to have the opportunity to actually visit one of Hawaii’s internment camps with my students was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. On behalf of the school, I applied for and was ultimately accepted into a program being coordinated by the Japanese Cultural Center and the National Park Service. Sacred Hearts is one of seven schools that will be participating in the excursions to Honoluliuli. Because I teach U.S. History to the juniors, visiting the site will be a unique supplement to our study of World War II.”

Honouliuli, a U.S. Army internment camp, was the largest, last occupied confinement site in the Hawaiian Islands. The camp opened in March 1943.

Honouliuli also was the largest prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Hawaii with more than 4,000 soldiers and labor conscripts from Okinawa, Japan, Korea, Italy, and Taiwan.

Vincent said, “We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit a live archaeological site. The schools and students’ support of this exciting and enriching experience is appreciated.”

The Japanese Cultural Center also spoke to Academy juniors and shared a documentary about the camp. The documentary included history about the internment camps as well as stories from internees and relatives.

Junior Kauionalani Kekuawela said, “ After watching the documentary, it got me more excited about visiting the camp. It also intrigued me because the Honouliuli camp site was destroyed so I am curious what we are going to be participating in during the field trip.”

Vincent said, “The internment of Japanese Americans is a subject often glossed over in mainstream American textbooks. When Executive Order 9066 was issued in 1942, the threat of a Japanese invasion had virtually been eliminated with the Allied victory in the Battle of Midway. Arguably, a history of racism and nativism fueled the call for internment, rather than a need to protect the country. We were engulfed in a war to preserve democracy, yet we were denying citizens liberty in their own country. This event remains a delicate subject. Most people have only a basic understanding of what the internment experience entailed, and many people are unaware that we even had internment camps here in Hawaii. One of the big questions my students are confronted with in their studies of U.S. History is whether or not it is ever acceptable for the American government to violate civil rights. Hopefully this experience adds a new dimension to their analysis of this question.”

The visit to the camp is being sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Center and the National Park Service.