1,432 Nisei soldiers, recruited before Pearl Harbor, depart Hawaii on S.S. Maui for training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. Before departure from Hawaii they had been formed as the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion. On arrival at Oakland, California, they are renamed as the 100th Infantry Battalion, a name destined to make military history. It is designated “Separate” to indicate it is not part of a larger Army unit.
The troop ship USAT Royal T. Frank torpedoed while transporting trainees from Oahu to Hilo; 17 die in the attack.
First family groups leave Hawaii to join fathers/husbands in Mainland internment camps; more follow in 1943 (about 900 total).
Japanese Americans serving in Hawaii Territorial Guard dismissed without explanation.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visits Hawaii during her 5-week tour of the South Pacific.
Emergency Service Committee assigned by Morale Section of Military Governor’s Office to work with Japanese community.
First Hawaii AJAs are sent from the Sand Island detention camp on Oahu to Mainland prison facilities in the continental US; more follow in 1942 and 1943. Over 600 are sent from Hawaii to Mainland imprisonment. Eventually, many of their families are allowed to join them.
Sand Island Camp opened in Honolulu for about 300 arrested Issei & Nisei, followed days later by camps on Hawaii island, Maui, Kauai & more arrests.
298th & 299th Infantry Regiments of the Hawaii Territorial Guard are federalized. Over the coming year, their ranks swell with 3,000 Hawaii draftees, half of them Nisei.
10:00 am – Hawaii Territorial Governor Joseph B. Poindexter calls University of Hawaii ROTC cadets to form the Hawaii Territorial Guard. Its primary mission is to protect critical infrastructure from sabotage.
Honolulu Police Department forms Espionage Bureau headed by Police Captain John A. Burns. This unit has connections in all the Japanese American community groups on Oahu, and it will work closely with the FBI unit in Hawaii.
11:30 am – Martial law declared in the Territory of Hawaii: habeas corpus suspended; mandatory curfew; gas rationing; civil courts closed; mail/press censored. The civilian governor becomes subordinate to the Military Governor.
Territorial governors wartime:
Joseph B. Poindexter (1934-1942)
Ingram M. Stainback (1942-1951)
Military governors:
Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short – December 7-17 1941
Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons – December 17, 1941-June 1, 1943
Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson – June 1, 1943-October 24, 1944
Morale Section of the Military Governor’s Office established, headed by Shigeo Yoshida, Hung Wai Ching, and Charles Loomis. Very important subcommittees were created in this wartime element of the Territorial government, in particular the Emergency Service Committee, which worked with the Americans of Japanese ancestry community.
Hawaii Council for Interracial Unity established to prepare Japanese American community for impending war. Hung Wai Ching, Director of the YMCA in Honolulu, plays a major role in organizing this foundational interracial effort in Hawaii.
Battle of Corregidor ends with the surrender of all US Forces in the Philippines.
Varsity Victory Volunteers are organized with 169 University of Hawaii ROTC students, most of whom had been in the Hawaii Territorial Guard. They are assigned as a labor battalion for the U. S. Army Engineers on Oahu.
