Throughout February, U.S. History classes participated in the unique experience of discovering a World War II internment camp located in Honouliuli on the Ewa plain. The camp was only recently discovered and is now being excavated by archeologists.
Honouliuli opened 16 months after the Pearl Harbor bombing and housed German and Italian prisoners of war in addition to Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans.
The Japanese Cultural Center and National Park Service are coordinating to protect and preserve the historical site. Volunteers assist in the search for structural remains that could give clues to what life of detainees entailed.
Junior Madilynne Wiggins said, “Being able to walk on the old site of the camp mess hall was my favorite part of the entire experience. To stand where previous detainees lived brought the reality of their situation to light.”
Ongoing research allows unknown parts of Hawaii’s history to be discovered and the opportunity to learn from the past.
Junior Kaela LaBang said, “I loved having the opportunity to learn more about World War II that is generally not known by the public. The experience was unique, allowing us to look at the site like archeologists and make our own conclusions.”
Since the WWII generation is quickly disappearing at about 800 veterans a day, it is imperative to take advantage of living sources and expand current knowledge of historical events.
Junior Megan Wellman said, “I previously had no idea that Hawaii participated in the detainment of Japanese-Americans. Discovering the harsh conditions they suffered through led me to sympathize with those detained. It was a true injustice; innocent men were punished due to their ethnicity.”
Siobhan Neeson • Apr 17, 2013 at 12:40 pm
I think that this type of experience is amazing. I hope that there was a lot of history learned. I think that it’s amazing to see a piece of history still left intact and being able to actually see it in person.
Hōkū Rutkowski • Mar 21, 2013 at 9:36 am
I thought this was a very tiring field trip to be honest but it really shocked me because i didn’t even know that we had internment camps on our island. I felt like it was kind of like an honor to stand on the grounds on what was once filled with many internees and families who were mistreated. I learned a lot in just a matter of like three hours.
Alyshia • Mar 21, 2013 at 9:31 am
Being able to actually go to Honouliuli was amazing. To see what little remains was touching and hard to believe something so significant could be forgotten. I couldn’t even imagine “living” there daily, the heat for the short time we were there was already too much.
Sidney Palea • Mar 21, 2013 at 9:26 am
As a junior who participated in this field trip, I am glad someone took the time to show other students or whoever else views Ka Leo that there are things in Hawai’i that have made a huge impact that a lot of people do not even known about. I haven’t even heard of it before I went to Honouliuli. I strongly encourage people to learn about it; maybe something similar can happen in the future, you’ll never know.
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Ahmyia Cacapit • Mar 6, 2013 at 12:52 pm
I think that the field trip to the interment camps is be an enriching way to understand more about what happened during WWII with the Japanese.
Samantha Ishihara • Mar 6, 2013 at 11:49 am
I think that it would be cool to go to a site like that when I’m a Junior. It would be a very fun experience.