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).
The US military draft system declares AJAs as 4-C aliens (category 4C), and therefore not eligible to be drafted into military service.
Japanese Americans serving in Hawaii Territorial Guard dismissed without explanation.
Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizing forced removal of AJAs from the West Coast; 110,000 mostly US-born are sent to internment camps, where they are imprisoned for most of the war period.
Battle of Bataan begins in Philippines – US/Filipino forces surrender on April 9, 1942, the largest surrender in US history; 60,000 Filipino and 15,000 US POWs forced into 60-mile Bataan Death March.
Decisive US victory in the Battle of Midway Island assures that Japan will not be invading Hawaii.
Secretary of Navy Franklin Knox visits Hawaii December 11 & 12 to assess the situation. In December 14 report, he calls for mass incarceration or removal of Japanese Americans in Hawaii.
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.
Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons, Hawaii’s military governor, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and prominent local leaders argue successfully against mass forced interment of Hawaii Japanese. This is foreshadowed by General Emmons’ immediate creation of the Morale Section and subsequent deflection of direction from the War Department in Washington DC to begin mass internment.
Sand Island Camp opened in Honolulu for about 300 arrested Issei & Nisei, followed days later by camps on Hawaii island, Maui, Kauai & more arrests.
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.
Japan attacks Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, Hong Kong.
7:48 am – Japan begins attack on Pearl Harbor and 6 airfields on Oahu; 8 battleships sunken/ damaged, 64 of 223 Army aircraft destroyed; 2,335 military & 68 civilian deaths.
Ten days after the Pearl Harbor attack, Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons is appointed as the Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaii and commander of the Hawaii Department of the U.S. Army. A 1909 graduate of West Point, Emmons served most of his career in the development of the Army Air Force. He is familiar with Hawaii having previously served two years there as the commander of the 18th Composite Wing, and Air Officer of Hawaiian Department.
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.
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.
