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In the last issue of the JOURNAL we presented you with Dr. Arthur Hodgins' account of his experiences on December 7, 1941. Dr. Hodgins probably the first of the doctors to have any contact with the Japanese attack. In Dr. P. H. Liljestrand's absence from the Territory we are unable to determine whether he was the second or whether Dr. Homer Izumi and Dr. Harold Johnson were the second ones to have any experience under fire. We are, therefore, presenting their stories in this issue. -- S. F. Stewart, M.D.
This series of reminiscences is being published as a matter of general human and historical interest. This material is presented verbatim despite our realization that it may contain occasional inadvertent inaccuracies. We invite, and will publish in this section, communications correcting these. -- ED.
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On August 21, 1947, I interviewed Dr. Homer Izumi, who had been connected with the Kula Sanatorium for some time prior to December 6, 1941.
He had come to Honolulu a few days before to complete preparations for moving to Honolulu and was staying with his friend Dr. Harold Johnson.
December 7, 1941, dawned bright and clear, and, highly optimistic about his plans, he packed to return home by the 8 o'clock plane. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson and their son Larry drove him to John Rodgers Airport, arriving there about 7:30. About 10-15 minutes after arriving they noticed clouds of smoke and heard gun fire over the Pearl Harbor area. A few planes were flying in the same vicinity and one was seen to burst into flames and plunge toward Pearl Harbor.
Directly overhead they also noted a flight of planes wheeling and circling in loop formation tit-tat-tatting at each other. In the course of all of its loops this formation swooped down to within about 150 feet of them and they noticed that one of the planes had red dot markers on its wings. Dr. Izumi remarked, "Gee, Harold, that looks like a Japanese emblem!" "Yeh, don't they get realistic nowadays," replied Johnson as he hoisted his boy Larry to his shoulders and said, "Look, Larry, look!"
Immediately after this event the Maui plane was announced and Dr. Izumi boarded it. Waving goodbye to his friends through the plane window, just as they were preparing to take off, he noticed someone running across the landing field, coming from the nearby Andrew Flying Service hangar and shouting something which immediately caused the farewell crowd gathered near the plane to run for their cars. Then the door of the plane was opened and all passengers were asked to get out. Dr. Johnson, who, like the rest of the farewell crowd had started to leave the airport, had returned by the time Dr. Izumi had disembarked. The cause for the sudden excitement was the fatal shooting of a man near Andrew's hangar, apparently from the firing of the planes which had just a few minutes before so closely zoomed overhead.
Because Dr. Izumi thought the shooting was due either to an accident or to some fanatical attempt, he lightly passed off Dr. Johnson's attempt to persuade him to leave the airport, feeling that things would soon be taken care of and he would be able to fly on to Maui. As Dr. Johnson reluctantly drove off, Izumi realized that he and a few airport attendants were the only ones around. A tall, lanky Scandinavian stood with him as they looked and talked about the possible seriousness of conditions over Pearl Harbor way. By now this area was a billowing mass of black smoke and flames and occasionally a flaming plane was seen plunging downward into the area. By this time heavy gunfire and explosions were heard all over, and the seriousness of the entire affair dawned on Izumi and his Scandinavian acquaintance with a sudden outburst of gun-fire from the keawe-tree-covered areas surrounding John Rodgers airport. The whining sound of falling bombs which landed on the ocean side of the take-off field further convinced them of the urgency to get going. This thought was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of several huge droning planes flying very low, coming at them from the direction of the sea. Sensing real danger, they made a dash for safety--away from the administration building into the open--and frantically realized the only protection was that of a small tree planted in the center of the parking circle.
Unconsciously, throughout this entire excitement, Dr. Izumi had gingerly carried a box of fancy pastries intended for Maui consumption. Peculiarly, as he and his friend dashed for the tree, his first thought was to protect the delicate pastries--his second thought, one of misgiving, that he hadn't kissed his son Allan goodbye when he left Maui for Honolulu. As he dove for the protection of the tree--still carefully hugging his box of pastries--he found his lanky Scandinavian companion had beat him to it and was frantically trying to encircle his over six-foot frame around the tree trunk which Izumi flashingly realized was only about six inches in diameter. The next moment found Izumi and his pastries very much in competition with his lanky companion for the protection of the small tree. As the huge planes roared just overhead, they both buried their faces in the ground, peering up as they passed to see, first that their protecting tree was practically leafless, and second that the planes bore American insignia. The immediate relief was followed by pride and a feeling of security at the sight of the huge U. S. bombers. Later they found out that these bombers had flown in from the mainland and were unarmed, but the sight of them at that moment gave them courage to gather their wits and bags, secure a car, and leave the field.
After getting back to Dr. Johnson's home, Izumi and the Johnsons observed from the front porch the maneuvering of our ships trying to head out of the harbor for the open sea while many planes hovering over them tried to drop bombs on their decks.
Following this short period of watching, Dr. Johnson, who was in charge of the west Honolulu O.C.D. units, left to open up and activate his unit, while Izumi helped rig up a bomb shelter in the yard. The following day and for the next 5 or 6 days Izumi worked in the Farrington O.C.D. unit and helped in the care of some patients who had been evacuated from Tripler to Farrington. About a week or ten days after the attack Izumi was given permission to fly back to Maui. Upon arrival at John Rodgers airport, one of the attendants, recognizing him as one of the December 7th refugees, told him that after he left the airport his plane had been machine-gunned by enemy planes.
"I have read the above report of my conversation and it is true to the best of my knowledge and belief."--Homer Izumi, M.D.
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On August 7, 1947, I interviewed Dr. Harold Johnson, a dermatologist, who was living in upper Kalihi Valley on December 7, 1941. His classmate, Dr. Homer Izumi, had been in Honolulu to hear the lectures of Dr. John J. Moorhead and he was planning on taking the 8 o'clock morning plane to his home on Maui, carrying with him a number of pies and cakes for his wife. They arrived at the airport at about 7:30 A.M. when they became suddenly aware of a large flight of twenty or thirty planes coming in from the direction of the Molokai channel. About five minutes later they heard heavy explosions and saw flashes from the direction of Pearl Harbor, and huge columns of smoke began to rise from that area. They saw one of the planes suddenly catch fire in mid-air and plunge earthward. He remarked to his wife, "Just think, there goes a young lieutenant burning to death and think of the poor family that's left.
The airport officials had meanwhile gone on top of the building to see what was going on. A small private plane had taxied to the end of the runway for taking off when a Japanese plane suddenly swooped in and machine-gunned it, killing the pilot. The plane then turned and swept across the airport immediately above the airport station at such a low attitude that Dr. Johnson thought he could have thrown a baseball into the cabin. The "rising sun" on the wings was easily observed. There was difference of opinion as to whether it was a practice attack or whether it was the it was the real thing. Suddenly one of the airport officials came in telling everyone to lie on the floor. Dr.Johnson had his wife and small child with him and told Dr. Izumi he felt he should take them home and he didn't believe the plane would leave for Maui. Dr. Izumi, however, felt sure the plane would take off and refused to leave the airport.
He therefore left Dr. Izumi at the airport drove home, going along Dillingham Boulevard, he stated that the boulevard was absolutely clear. On arriving home they filled the bathtub water, as well as some buckets, and then turned off all the public utilities in case of damage. About one-half hour later Dr. Izumi came back in a taxicab. He said that after they left the shrapnel began to fall allover, and he with his boxes of pies in both hands went out and tried to hide behind small tree.
Dr. Johnson and Dr. Izumi thereupon proceeded to Dr. Johnson's regular station, which was supervisor of the first aid stations in the west portion of Honolulu. It was necessary for him to go from one first aid station to another, but his quarters were in Palama where Joe Lam was the medical director. He saw the people who were brought in from a car in which a child had been killed and the others injured by exploding shrapnel. He covered the headlights of his car with blue cellophane and spent the night of December 7 making the rounds of his stations. Once during the day he drove home to see that the family were in good shape, and returned home for breakfast on the morning of December 8.
STEELE F. STEWART, M.D.
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"I have read the above report of my conversation and it is true to the best of my knowledge and belief." --HAROLD JOHNSON, M.D.
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To the Editor:
In connection with the article, "Reminiscences of December Seventh: I," I wish to make rather a strong statement.
According to the text of this article the late Dr. Hodgins saw fit to make the following remark under oath, "Col. King had done everything he could do to discourage their work [i.e., that of the Red Cross -Ed.] as being entirely unnecessary." This appears on page 50 of the JOURNAL, Volume 7, Number 1, and has reference, I believe, to the work done by the Medical Preparedness Committee in conjunction with the American Red Cross.
I wish to state clearly and without fear of contradiction that the above quotation is as far removed from the truth as it is possible for a thing to be.
I can remember distinctly the tall gaunt figure of Col. King on the platform of the Mabel Smyth auditorium one Sunday morning in April, 1941. He was chewing what was alleged to be tobacco and he said this: "Gentlemen, it is highly probable that there will be a war in the Pacific in the not too distant future. I can conceive of a carrier-based raid directed against the island of Oahu which might easily result in 2,400 major casualties. Are you prepared to care for these casualties? I don't believe that you are."
He then urged us to throw our whole hearted support into the work of setting up medical aid stations. Dr. Robert B. Faus had already done considerable work in this direction, and Col. King urged that this work be continued. The question of equipment for these stations was a very difficult one. No funds were available from any source for such a purpose. Col. King knew this and told us, that although the United States Army could not supply us with funds, it could supply us with equipment, and that he would see to it that the Army did it, and it did. Thus much of the equipment in our medical aid stations came from Col. King.
Moreover, Col. King arranged for men from the various army services to address us on different subjects at our Sunday morning meetings. Each man who came to to us was an expert in his own field. Men spoke on Chemical Warfare, War Gases, the Construction and Operation of Decontamination Units, Gas Masks, etc. This too came as a result of Col. King's interest.
Our Sunday morning meetings began in the latter part if March, 1941, and continued until the time of the attack. Col. King attended many of these meetings and and was always most anxious to help us and was most generous with his counsel and advice.
Lastly, my own association with the preparedness program was sufficiently intimate for me to say beyond all peradventure of doubt that what Dr. Hodgins had to say concerning Col. King's attitude toward medical preparedness is not true.
WILLIAM WINTER, M.D.
34, Young Hotel Bldg.
October 24, 1947
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To the Editor:
I was called to active duty on October 1940 as medical advisor for the Selective Service System for Hawaii. In May 1941, in addition to my other duties I was made Liason Officer between the Office of Civilian Defense and the United States Army.
Following December 7, 1941, it was decided by the Office of Civilian Defense, then headed by Edouard R. L. Doty (later Colonel Doty A.U.S.) and the United States Army, represented by Colonel Edgar King (later General King) to establish two General Hospitals on Oahu, one in Honolulu and one near Schofield Barracks. The selection of the sites and suitable buildings was assigned to me. The Sacred Hearts Convent on Nuuanu Street was selected for Honolulu and the public school buildings in Wahiawa for the opposite side of the island which was practically without hospital service for the general population.
These sites were approved by Governor Poindexter, Colonel King and Mr. Doty. At no time did the question of the use of the Wahiawa Hospital for tubercular patients arise. That came much later after threat of invasion or active hostilities on Oahu had vanished.
CLARENCE E. FRONK, M.D.
Colonel, Medical Corps
U.S.A. Res.
Fronk-Wynn Clinic
October 27, 1947
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To the Editor:
The article in the September-October number of the HAWAII MEDICAL JOURNAL, entitled "Reminiscences of December 7th," by the late Dr. Hodgins, should, I think, in justice to some of the persons mentioned, be commented upon by the writer who was in a measure responsible for some of the actions which were criticized by Dr. Hodgins.
First of all, Major Spitler's remark that "they caught us with our pants down" was true equally of the Navy and of the combat forces of the Army. Shortages of equipment and supplies that were present at Tripler are certainly subject to criticism. In the warehouses across the road at Fort Shafter there was plenty of this material; it was not where it should have been, however, at the time it should have been there.
There was no reason why the surgeons in the operating rooms should have "seen Colonel King all day "; his duty lay elsewhere. I am sure that Mr. Alfred Castle will bear me out that Colonel King had never discouraged the Red Cross from preparing for war. To my personal knowledge, the Red Cross not only was encouraged by Colonel King but was of the greatest value to the Preparedness Committee of the Honolulu County Medical Society, with Colonel King's knowledge and approval.
As for all of the surgery being done by civilian surgeons: this was done in accordance with a definite plan of organization, arranged several months before.
Hindthought is a great deal easier than forethought. Anyone could have discovered America in 1494. We should separate the thinking and planning that went on in this community before and after Midway. Before Midway, it was highly probable--and, indeed, it turned out to be true--that the Japanese would again attack Hawaii. During that period of danger it was, in my judgment--and I would do the same thing again-advisable that hospitals should not at any time be completely full. There were long periods of time when, if even a serious bus accident had occurred, the victims could not have been hosptialized in Honolulu. Far from insisting that a temporary structure should not be built adjacent to The Queen's Hospital, Colonel King approved heartily and assisted (in planning) the construction of the present Kalanimoku Wing immediately behind The Queen's Hospital. The Wahiawa Hospital was not built for tuberculosis but to care for the population of the entire Island from Koolaupoko around to Waianae, including Pearl City and the Maluhia area. Again, before Midway, the plan was that in the event of an attack by the Japanese all of that population would be evacuated to the Wahiawa plain and a hospital of that size would have been necessary. After Midway, when it became improbable that we would be attacked, the vacant beds in that hospital were turned over for the use of the tuberculous but they were cared for by the staff of the Leahi Home, as far as medical attention was concerned.
I write this not in any way to disparage the memory of my dear friend, Dr. Hodgins, but merely to set the record straight on some matters concerning which I had intimate personal knowledge.
H. L. ARNOLD, SR., M.D.
The Clinic
Oct. 27, 1947
Medicine in Hawaii: The World War II Experience
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