Hi Curt,

My limited field of military knowledge is in the European Theater (1942 to 1946).

My main focus is in the Italian Campaign and the Campaigns and Battles in France and Germany 1944 to 1945.

Sorry I can’t give you any insight about the Pacific Theater or the Pre-war and wartime leadership of Japan (1930s to 1945).

Alvin

Hi Curt,

I was born in 1972 – I’m a rat.

I got my BA in History (Native American, Frontier focus), Communications (Rhetorical Criticism) and a core in Japan Studies at Macalester College in MN. Got my MLIS in Library & Information Science from UHM.

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1. Bob Oshiro was the kingmaker for Gov. Burns in elections 1962/1966/1970, for Gov.

Ariyoshi in 1974/1978/1982, & for Gov. Waihe`e in 1986. Born in 1924, Oshiro is not part

of the ubiquitous WWII all-Nisei soldiers, but a late draftee who ended up in post-WWII MIS

Japan. Oshiro 1924-2008.

2. A dying Jack Burns told Oshiro in 1974, “Bobby, unless you get involved, this man [Ariyoshi]

isn’t going to make it. I want you to look at it from a standpoint of what it means to all

of us at the [Democratic] party.” Ariyoshi denies that Burns babysat Ariyoshi to victory.

3. Even though Oshiro was wedlocked w/genro[elder statesman] Burns, Oshiro carried the

torch for Ariyoshi/Waihe`e to fulfill the precept of everybody’s equal [fairness in education/

taxation/housing/health care/commerce/home rule], Oshiro’s ode to godly saint Burns.

4. Do you know that Burns had our MIS Scrub Tanaka get 100th Batt. Sparky Matsunaga’s

promise that even if Sparky defiantly runs in 1959 Lt. Gov. primary vs. Burns’ choice Mits

Kido, if Sparky loses, Sparky will support the Dem slate in the Gov./Lt. Gov. general election?!

Fellow 100th Mike Tokunaga was unable to dispel stubborn/ganko Sparky’s non-collaborative

nature. And do you know that Sparky faithfully fulfilled Sparky’s promise to Scrub/Burns?

When Sparky lost to Kido, Sparky closed ranks w/his Dems & went all-out to support Burns/

Kido vs. Quinn/Kealoha. Of course, GOP Quinn/Kealoha won the new 1959 Statehood

Gov./Lt. Gov. races. Scrub was a magnificent peacemaker at our Dems’ highest

level.

5. Do you know that our Hilo “Living Legend” Steamy Chow’s uncle Hiram Fong was closer

to Jack Burns than to Bill Quinn? Hiram dismissed Quinn as unapproachable on political

strategy/gamesmanship. Hiram also dismissed Sam King [the one-eyed judge] as an

attention-grabber/wala`au.

6. Laura Vestal, born 1879 in San Jose, CA., married just-widowed Waiakea Sugar Mill

mgr. CC Kennedy [1848-1919] in 1907. Statuesque/majestic beauty Laura was a Parks

commish who converted Lili`uokalani Park [solon Norman Lyman had Terr. Legislature

set aside the ponds/grounds for a Japanese park in honor of just-deceased Queen

Lili`u 1917] into a replica of Kyoto Japan’s Golden Pavilion grounds. Her husband C.C.

donated the first $1,000 to landscape the park. Hilo contractor/landscaper Yamamoto

built the quaint arch bridge in the pond site. Laura donated 3 monkeypod trees &

the row of golden shower trees in Mo`oheau Park to shade sports fans/baseball players.

Laura also donated the royal palm trees at the downtown Federal Bldg. Laura is the

Outdoor Circle forebearer. Laura also donated the land upon which today’s AJA clubhouse

sits next to the Hilo Muni golf course. Laura is not teacher Isabel Kennedy, a red-haired

single woman. Laura loved everything Japanese [even had her own buddahead masseur].

She was regal till her last breath in 1967. Her portrait adorns

the AJA clubhouse wall. Her late husband C.C. was a magnificent philanthropist [Lincoln

Park/library annex/Waiakea Social Settlement/etc.], catalyzed by his austere

Scot beginnings [only grade school education/had to work as laborer fulltime at age 12].

He never forgot how hard life could be. Auld Lang Syne, –Curt

Shorted by 1970′s unprecedented Gov. campaign costs [film Catch a Wave] for Burns — vendor

Ah Chew Goo, apolitical hoops legend, lost $2,000 for campaign pins/tokens. Dan Aoki

failed to pay for the items, then had Frank Hata [Y. Hata of Hilo outfit][Frank also Ariyoshi's

Rasputin] try to barter w/Ah Chew [fundraising tickets to cancel debt], & finally a letter from

Bob Oshiro explaining that Burns’ outfit had no money to pay the debt, & that Ah Chew best

write it off for tax purposes. Till this day, Ah Chew is sore about the loss.

Ah Chew has no preference for party labels. He sure soured on Burns’ gang in 1970. Wiped

out by a bad debt. Catch a Wave caught Ah Chew in its grip. Sad experience, –Curt

1. Dan Tuttle, our best political observer, died Dec. 2006. His favorite lawyers are

Bob Dodge [Dem Party manifesto that everybody's equal 1952], Martin Pence [Kansas

Plains Jacksonian Dem], & Hawaiian Bill Richardson [promoted Hawaiian custom over

Western culture]. Nelson Doi is Tuttle’s favorite conversation piece [good copy/ink],

not as a lawyer.

2. Dodge is the classic case of idealism over pragmatism. When Dodge poked the windmill

[a la hopeless romantic Don Quixote] of Dem Frank Fasi 1960 mayor’s primary race, Dem

boss Jack Burns refused to endorse dreamer Dodge. Fasi swamped Dodge, only to lose

to Burns’ good friend GOP Rusty Blaisdell in the general election. Above all, Burns was

a team-first coach. Dodge did not fit the bill, despite being a brilliant platform man.

3. Pence got elected County Attorney/became judge on the backs of faithful Dem soldiers

like Yasuki Arakaki. But when Yasuki [I have to say full first name because he has brother

w/nickname Yasu, like WWII hero/jock Kazuma Hisanaga, who has brother w/nickname Kazu]

got nailed w/hot button red-bait charges, Pence demurely [not Pence's usual style] asked

Yasuki for Yasuki’s Dem Party membership card. Utterly betrayed, Yasuki took it out of

his wallet, flung it at Pence, & told Pence, “And this is how you treat your friends, heh,

judge!” Yasuki never spoke to Pence again. Pence’s sin, not Yasuki’s by a long shot.

4. Richardson’s adage: The surveyor’s compass holds no water over the canoe berth [so that

the canoe doesn't wash out to sea in the dead of night], which defines the public’s right

over the shoreline. Rich’s adage still crests today — rich beachfront owners cannot breach

the public’s shoreline via salt-resistant vegetation from mauka to makai [vegetation indicates

private ownership]. Ironically, Rich’s nemesis is Pence, who accused Rich of fairy tale

concoctions, not precedent/law. Yin-yang. Take your pick.

5. Non-lawyer John Hulten had the best answer to Burns’/Ariyoshi’s fear of fighting Bishop

Estate over lease-to-fee conversion — ancient Mortmain [dead hand]/Rule Against

Perpetuities [still alive today -- Campbell Estate breakup] precepts promote land ownership

at the lowest level of our socio-economic strata, equitable land distribution — Ariyoshi’s

twisted logic over 2-tiered classes of lessors, akin to non-lawyer Burns’ rationale, is but

an excuse for maintaining the status quo, leaving monolith Bishop Estate w/land ownership

greater than all the private/corporate landowners combined. The U.S. Supreme Court

validated lease-to-fee conversion. Remember that Hulten, like Burns, was a fighting

Catholic [underclass/rank & file], & Hulten resented historical Protestant monopoly over land

ownership. Yes, malihini Hulten was a greater fighter than Burns vs. landed estates.

Hulten’s downside was that Hulten chastened Burns for not voting Burns’ Catholic

conviction vs. abortion. In this respect, Hulten went down fighting, imposing his Catholic

faith over civic responsibility. A mistake. Ironically, Hulten is best known for promoting

the inter-island ferry as a cheaper alternative to commercial aviation. Hulten is a distant

in-law of great Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant.

6. Do you know that literata/solon Godofredo Affonso’s son Godfrey was an early thinktank

w/Jack Burns in Kailua, O`ahu? That Burns’ St. Louis College/High allegiance stood strong

w/Luso Val Marciel/Jim Ferry/Edna Tavares Taufaasau as Burns’ 1st cabinet chiefs? Imagine,

3 Luso heads in Burn’s inaugural Gov. term! Matchless!

7. Do you know that Waiakea-Kai kanaka maoli icon/principal Martha Richardson Wakefield is

Charles Richardson’s daughter? Keaukaha’s Richardson Estate/Park & Mamo St.’s former

name, Richardson St. pre-1916, not to mention the 2nd owner of Volcano House [Pitman

was the first, 1846] 1866′s Richardson, are Martha Wakefield’s auspicious family [Charles/

Julius Richardson]. Amazing compassionate lineage. Today’s slimmed-down Skylark Rossetti

looks like prime/peaked Martha circa 1920.

8. Do you know that when Jimmy Kealoha beat Bob Yamada for County Chairman 1958,

when Lofty Cook beat Scrub Tanaka for County Chairman 1960, Scrub bellowed, our

island is not ready for an AJA chief!! So powerful were the influence/personality of

GOP Jimmy Kealoha, who became Statehood’s 1st Lt. Gov. in 1959!! But upstart Shun

Kimura plotted the overthrow of old money/landed interests, & became AJA’s 1st Chairman

in 1964, sweeping past ethnic Hawaiian rule from our County’s inception in 1905. So gallow-

tight had been the grip of kanaka maoli/GOP chiefdom.

9. Ethnic bloc voting/plunking is over-hyped. Dan Inouye beat Ben Dillingham in haole districts

in 1962 for the U.S. Senate. Look at Gov. Lingle’s wins over Hirono/Iwase — AJAs/

Filipinos voted for her! Haole districts voted for Akaka over Case! The sizzle of

ethnicity does not fool us over the quality of sustenance. Imua, –Curt

1. Elmer Cravalho born 1926, our Little Caesar, ran a tight ship as House Speaker. What does he do

when he gets up out of slumber at 2 a.m. in the dead of nite? Plot! Cravalho returned

to Maui for his long run as mayor in 1968, followed by fellow Luso Hannibal Tavares [Nils

Tavares'/Edna Taufaasau's nephew]. We now have another Tavares as mayor there.

2. No, Cravalho was not Burns’ choice for Governor in 1974! Cravalho missed the boat when

he turned down Burns’ plea to be Burns’ Lt. Gov. in 1966. Cravalho felt that the Lt. Gov.

office was merely ceremonial, a demotion from Cravalho’s autocratic House rule. Burns

confidante Mike Tokunaga surmised that Cravalho was swayed by Cravalho’s ILWU to

stand pat in the House, where the ILWU pushed its agenda.

3. Neophyte kanaka maoli Kenny Brown became Burns’ final Lt. Gov. choice in 1966, but was

trounced by erstwhile anti-Burns bard Tom Gill. Like Hilo’s Scotch Henderson, Brown

would’ve made a fine Governor — team builder/listener/frugal/compassionate. Aloha, -Curt

1. Pi`ihonua Camps 3, 4, & 5 lie 4 miles upslope north of Hilo Bay, village vestiges of Hawai`i

[Sugar] Mill Co. Camp residents are mostly Okinawan[Uchinanchu] & Japanese [Naichi].

Hawaiian residents include benevolent electrician Henry Keli`i & the Kahele ohana.

Pi`ihonua Elem. School had its start w/the development of Hawai`i Mill plantation a

century ago, its bldg. size gradually growing up the ground incline as its enrollment

increased. Susumu Miura born 1912 is among its oldest living alumni.

Of course, former plantation owner James “Kimo” Henderson 1876-1965 has his mansion

above Camp 3, & his daughter Lei Hutchinson has her home just below his. Kimo/Lei/family

were GOP, but like UH godfather GOP Charles Hemenway, they exemplified their Christian

creed of everybody’s equal. Nonetheless, the patriarchal Hendersons [no relation to

Richard Scotch Henderson] surely were not elated that their spiritual progeny [village

residents] carried the Dem Party banner. Free country. The Hendersons accepted

this precept. If anything, the Hendersons’ diversity/pluralistic values were evidenced

via their rank/file workers’ Dem colors. But the original residents [Issei immigrants/oldest

Nisei children of immigrants] were apolitical: Sus Miura’s dad/Kantaro Kunihiro/Hidetaro Higa/

Jihizo Ota/Hideo Yamada, among others. Owner James Henderson, typecast stone-face

tightwad Scot, was not generous/benevolent to those villagers [Camps 3,4,5] at

the bottom of the social ladder/group hierarchy [like renaissance man Henry Shimabukuro's

parents]. The common laborers despised Henderson’s uncaring/stand-off ways. But the

company men/supervisors/scale men [weigh the cane tonnage] like original Luso Ventura/

haole Herd/buddaheads Kunihiro, Ota, etc. absolutely worshipped him [were bestowed

favors by the pragmatic/"conditioned response"-oriented Henderson]. Henderson was

full Scot but was called Kimo for James by his Ponahawai ahupua`a devotees downtown

where his mill factory was [on Puna side of Alena`io Canal by Central Fire Station]. Kimo

bestowed his full grace/charity/generosity to his Mill Camp residents [now Osorio Lane/

lower Kuku`au St. block between Kilauea Ave. & Kino`ole St. (there was no Kino`ole

St. Puna side of Ponahawai St. in Henderson's era pre-1920s)]. Kimo’s onetime

office site at Pi`ihonua Camp 3 also was site of Kimo’s benevolence to Kimo’s company

men. Kimo’s son Sonny & Kimo’s Helco confidant Pat Brown [Pu`u`eo Sheila

Clark's dad] were great altruists who uplifted the Ponahawai down-and-out residents.

Just as Kimo’s loving daughter Lei Hutchinson [hubby Hardy Sr. was Gas Co. mgr./soft-

spoken nice guy] took the austere Camp 3,4,5 Pi`ihonua kids under her expansive/

tender/nurturant wings. Hardy Jr. was auspicious ad-man/PR guy but was hi-maka-maka

toward villagers at bottom of social/class ladder.

2. As elitist James Henderson aged, camp residents linked w/powerful Dem solons to

improve their lives/sites — Jackie/Mamoru Shiro enlisted Kazuhisa Abe; Tatsuya Oshiro/Sam

Tokeshi had Nelson Doi, who also was the village cane planters’ attorney.

Mokey Hanagami had John Ushijima; Isamu Ponduce [make bread] Hokama had

Herb Matayoshi [Okinawan roots only peripheral to linkup]; Tets Kunihiro had Stanley Hara.

Mac Taira had the lone GOP, powerful James Kealoha. Look at the Freeway to Nowhere

from Camp 3 to Camp 4, a half mile distant. Look at the beautiful concrete bridges

at Camp 3. Amazing pork barrel!! Amid austere/lean villagers. Mokey Hanagami also

enlisted GOP curmudgeon/Sen. minority leader Doc Hill, who was peripheral to Pi`ihonua’s

social progress, but who pragmatically hired mostly AJAs [post-WWII Nisei vote-getters].

The current leaders/outfit are not linked politically. The current crew consists

of dour/Mt. Rushmore Byron Toma, ebullient/classy retired Col. Henry Shimabukuro, polite

Conrad Hokama [Ponduce's son born 1958], & pedantic Roy Daimaru. Assorted mix.

3. The close-knit/insular villagers have the remarkable distinctions of fee simple ownership

of land down to the lowest rung of the social ladder –affordable lease-to-fee conversion

from the State, the rarest/most magnanimous measure of participatory democracy —

of owning their social hall & the land it sits on debt-free — all thru their own group effort

[no corporate/Big Five bailout][DLNR's Bill Paty facilitated purchase price at 50 % of market

value]. Amazing/remarkable pro-active collective effort unlike any other kumiai/community

org. anywhere!! Kumiai prexy Toma thanks inimitable Henry Shimabukuro/Conrad

Hokama for galvanizing lease to fee conversion. Extraordinary men w/even more

exceptional hearts/yamato damashii/chugi/otagai/oyakoko!! I’m still floored by their

superhuman achievements, on their own blood/sweat/tears! Great, great leaders,

incredible metaphysical group cohesion/solidarity — unmatched!! Ai/kansha, –Curt

Kingmaker Bob Oshiro, like eventual Burns expatriate Sakae Takahashi, grew weary of big money

campaign financing. Jeremy Harris’ negative exemplar says it all.

Affordable housing is the biggest problem facing lawmakers today. Only mega-large public

housing projects will alleviate the homeless issue, albeit unsatisfactory stopgap measures

[short of undemocratic population controls -- limit on number of children one may bear]. –Curt