Hawaii

All posts tagged Hawaii

Behind the Scenes, part 1

Posted by sdmahaney on August 20, 2015
Posted in: History, References. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

It must be emphasized that X-Day: Japan is not an academic work. Still, we’re proud of the research and detail that went into it. Some readers have asked for more information about certain details, or for a longer list of references than in the bibliography.

In the margins of the main manuscript can be found links to many of the little facts that decorate the novel. We’ve compiled them into a list, sorted by the Tuttle journal dates in which each was found. A bunch of them are given below. The list will be completed in later installments.

July 16, 1945
FM 30-26 Regulations for Correspondents Accompanying U.S Army Forces in the Field,
– archive.org

July 19, 1945
Macarthur’s personal plane, and his assistants,
– donmooreswartales.com
– ozatwar.com
Flying across the Pacific in a hurry,
– wikipedia.org
– wikipedia.org
– uswarplanes.net

July 22, 1945
USO,
– archive.org
Hawaii – it’s history, economy, defenses, and outlook – as of late 1940,
– fortune.com
Prostitution in Hawaii,
– library.manoa.hawaii.edu
Actual USO show,
– gvnews.com
– abebooks.com

July 23, 1945
Training on Hawaii up in Camp Tarawa,
– Chuck Tatum, Red Blood, Black Sand
DE’s by class and commissioning year,
– ibiblio.org/hyperwar/

July 26, 1945
NATS,
– wikipedia.org
– vpnavy.org
FDR’s line crossing ceremony,
– ww2db.com

July 27, 1945
Marpi Airfield, Saipan,
– airfields-freeman.com

July 28, 1945
SB2C Helldiver,
– wikipedia.org
Marine close air support,
– ibiblio.org

July 29, 1945
Facilities and engineers in the Marianas,
– ibiblio.org
Floating dry-dock example,
– navsource.org
– navsource.org
Log of bombing missions from one group,
– 39th.org

July 30, 1945
458th Squadron, 33th Bomb Group,
– rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ny330bg/
mission log including radio report from Ray Clark,
– rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ny330bg/

August 3, 1945
Baseball in wartime,
– baseballinwartime.com
Navy reports on typhoon of June 1945 (Connie),
– history.navy.mil
USS Red Oak Victory, cargo ship AK-235 [MUSEUM SHIP],
– navsource.org
– navy.memorieshop.com
– richmondmuseum.org
Shortage of loading berths at Okinawa,
– Nimitz Gray Books [multiple references]

August 6, 1945
Yonabaru Naval Air Station,
– rememberingokinawa.com
Buckner Bay and Navy HQ buildings,
– rememberingokinawa.com
Sinking of the USS Indianapolis,
– history.com

August 9, 1945
Trial of Captain McVay of the Indianapolis,
– ussindianapolis.org

August 10, 1945
Active airfields on Okinawa, 1945,
– wikimedia.org

August 16, 1945
USO show on Okinawa,
– rememberingokinawa.com
Betty Hutton,
– bettyhuttonestate.com

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July 22, 1945 – Oahu island, Hawaii

Posted by sdmahaney on July 21, 2015
Posted in: History, Snippets. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

[Tuttle watched people play as well as work, and Hawaii was a great spot for play even in war time.]

A soldier, sailor, or Marine can find something to do or see on any budget of time or money. Small shows run all afternoon and well into the evening, as late as the recently relaxed curfew and blackout rules will allow. Surfboards and small boats can be rented. Young men are always looking for a contest. It is now regular sport for crews from different units to race the fast traditional outrigger row boats as soon as they learn how to handle them with even minimal proficiency. You can bet some wagers are taken on those races.

Speaking of vice, prostitution was still legal here until late last year. The tax office is not happy about the regulated trade going away. The Army and Navy medical staffs are worried about a jump in venereal disease rates. What hasn’t changed is that there are thousands of young men here with time and money on their hands.

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July 21, 1945 – Oahu Island, Hawaii

Posted by sdmahaney on July 20, 2015
Posted in: History, Snippets. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

[Tuttle took care to paint the background scene for readers back home. The details he included are missing in other histories, the ones about presidents and generals.]

Today I wanted to see some of the island myself before I saw more of the military side. I looked for a ride over to the famous Waikiki beach a bit to the east of downtown Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. A poster of bus routes reminds riders that priority should be given to military personnel and civilian war workers going about their needful business. Some people tell me that my work is important to the war effort, but I still looked around for busier looking riders before getting on a bus.

One errand they ran me through yesterday was to change out some of my currency for “Hawaiian” money. Wary of Japanese invasion, which seemed inevitable just three years ago, the government called in all the paper money from people in Hawaii so that it couldn’t fall into enemy hands. But with a half million inhabitants and likely millions of servicemen and support people about to be moving in, there was a need for replacement cash, pronto.

The expedient-if-inelegant solution was to stamp “HAWAII” on the front and back of millions of existing bank notes. I suppose a lot of the marked notes will become souvenirs someday. Right now mine is marked for lunch money and bus fare.

Honolulu bus map, 1945

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