La’ie In 1941

The town of La’ie sits on the northeast corner of the small Pacific island of Oahu, just a few minutes from the famous beaches of the North Shore. 

Laie Point and the town of Laie, c1930

La’ie was established in ancient times as a pu’uhonua, which means sanctuary, or place of refuge.

Although pu’uhonua were abolished by King Kamehameha in 1819, local residents have always felt that La’ie maintained its spirit of protection and peace.

This came into play in modern times on December 7, 1941 when Japanese aircraft attacked strategic areas of Oahu. Although history concentrates on the center of the attack in Pearl Harbor, there were other areas around the island that were also targeted, and ultimately, all of Hawaii was deeply affected

On Monday, October 23 of this year, I sat in the Pualoa home, here in La’ie with three of our beloved kupuna (honored elders), Aunties Gladys Pualoa Ahuna and Laverne Pukahi, and Uncle Joe Ah Quin, as they “talked story” about their experiences that morning in 1941 and the days following. They chatted easily as dear friends do. Both the sound of laughter and the pidgin accent of old Hawaii flowed easily as they discussed how life changed so quickly and so drastically one Sunday morning, long, long ago.

Laverne Pukahi (l); Gladys Ahuna (center) and Joe Ah Quin (r)

First Hand Account of Pearl Harbor and It’s Aftermath Through the Eyes of a 6 Year Old

Laverne was born in 1935 in Honolulu. She is 100% Hawaiian, born and raised. Her parents, Moses Hiram and Susan Pahia, had both been married previously and brought 9 children each into the marriage. Their union contributed 3 more. Laverne was the second to the last. Her father was LDS (Mormon), while her mother faithfully attended a Hawaiian Christian Church. At the time of the attack, she was 6 years old, and the family was living near downtown Honolulu on the corner of Liliha and King Street, not 7 miles from Pearl Harbor.

On the morning of December 7^th, Laverne’s father had driven to Kalihi to fill the car up with gas. The rest of the family was just starting their day when the phone rang. It was Moses hurriedly ordering Susan to pack up the kids because the Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor. As he drove quickly to the house, he was literally driving through a war zone.

Laverne (far left) and her family in 1942

Desperate to find safety, Moses gathered his family and headed up the Pali Highway towards his hometown of La’ie, a place he knew was blessed for protection. But as his car climbed the Pali Highway, ready to crest over the rim of the Koolau Cliffs dividing the windward side of the island from the Honolulu area, he was stopped short by a military roadblock. The Japanese were also attacking the marine base in Mokapu, just beyond Kaneohe, cutting off all access.

Moses tried a different route by winding his car through the city streets towards the shore and heading down to the makai (ocean) side of Diamond Head. The family was stopped once again, this time near Iolani Palace. Laverne described hearing this high pitched sound – wheeeeeeeeeeeee. A bomb crashed through the palace grounds. She heard again the wheeeeeee, and another bomb hit the ground. Laverne’s mother ordered the children to hide in the base of the great banyan tree bordering the palace. They waited, huddled in the roots until they could feel safe leaving again. (Note: news sources at the time confirms that at least one bomb did, indeed, land at Iolani Palace at around 11:30 a.m. Whether it was a direct attack, or friendly fire from a US plane is still under debate.)

Banyan Trees at Iolani Palace

Soon they made their way around Diamond Head. Laverne witnessed two planes over the water just outside Bellows Air Force Station engaged in battle. She still vividly recalls the sound of gunfire and the sight of one of the planes disappearing into the crashing waves.

Moses stopped the car and they all ran for shelter under a store along the highway that was built upon stilts. There they waited while he considered their options.

There was nothing to be done. They had to head back home. Once they arrived, they covered their windows, as instructed and waited. From their little house they could hear the sirens. They could smell the diesel-fueled smoke. It was a terrifying experience, but Laverne remembers with great admiration that her parents never acted afraid. They kept calm, and worked hard to keep their children calm too.

Her older sister, however, became panicked. She shouted that she was going to ‘kill the children, so that they would not be tortured by the Japanese’. Her mother kept her from fulfilling her misguided mission, but to a 6 year old, it felt like the end of the world.

They kept the lights out and waited until it was safe to head to La’ie. Whether that was a day or more, Laverne cannot remember. She just knows that they were eventually able to make the trip safely, and there they stayed, not just throughout the war, but for the rest of her life.

The Military In Her Backyard: Infantry Men Stand Guard

Gladys Pualoa Ahuna was born in 1929. Her father, Peter McRae Enos was of Portuguese and Hawaiian descent while her mother Sophia Naroa Ke’a was Hawaiian. Between them they had 3 girls, though in total, there were 8 children. Gladys is the middle of her 3 full sisters and 4^th of all her siblings. She was born and raised in La’ie.

Gladys’ family lived at the Telephone Exchange. Her father was the Superintendent for the entire northeast coast, from the east side of Waimea Bay, down past La’ie, and on to Kualoa where a large cattle ranch was situated. The home in which they lived within the large communication center compound consisted of a house, the telephone exchange equipment, a big garage for storage and their own personal garage.

Gladys’ father was the first one to hear about the attack early that Sunday morning. He ran over to the house and called out to his wife, (who they called “Happy”), saying “Happy, Happy, get the kids together. They’re bombing Pearl Harbor.”

Peter then left to notify the soldiers that an attack had started. They knew nothing about it!

The US had obtained Hawaii for strategic purposes, so it was not unbelievable that their military bases would be targeted. In fact, the Armed Forces has been staging practice drills for such a scenario for months. There were already established outposts across the island. Just 3 years earlier the military had placed an 8 foot high chain link fence with 3 rows of barbed wire on the top around the exchange in order to keep the vital communication equipment secured. So to be caught off-guard like this was unthinkable!

Immediately, the 19^th Infantry came down and established a command post in the backyard. There were three huge tents set up for the command center. They turned the large garage into a kitchen. The Enos family was not allowed into these areas for the duration of the war.

Gladys was 12 years old.

So Much Excitement: La’ie Finds Out About Pearl Harbor

Joe W. Ah Quin was born in 1935 to John Kum Choy Ah Quin, who was of Chinese and Hawaiian descent and Eunice (Eunan) Kamauoha, of Hawaiian heritage. They had 9 children, 8 boys and 1 sister. Kum Choy (as Joe’s father was called) delivered all 8 of his children in their Laie home.

Kum Choy worked as a civilian at Mokapu (the naval base outside of Kaneohe.) He was a man who honored the Sabbath Day, so he would never work on Sunday. What a blessing it was to the family that he was home that morning.

He had just purchased a radio. It was a console that was very wide but not so tall. Still, it made a big sound. Kum Choy was listening to the news that morning when they announced the bombing at Pearl Harbor. He picked up the radio and brought it out into the yard so that everyone in the neighborhood could hear.

The children, including 6 year old Joe, were getting very excited. Everyone was so hyped up. Nothing had ever been as big as this.

Photo courtesy of the Encyclopedia Brittanica

Soon word came out that the husband of Laverne’s oldest sister, Isaac, was killed while at work in Mokapu. La’ie had experienced their first casualty of war.

Joe’s cousins, who lived just down the road came to stay at the Ah Quin’s house because they were so frightened. Some people said that the Japanese had sent paratroopers who had landed in the middle of the island. The rumor was that they were going to creep into houses in the middle of the night and kill everyone. Others told tall tales of hand-to-hand combat across the island. It is little wonder that the children had difficulty sleeping.

SEGMENT TWO: La’ie Under Martial Law: The Military Takes Charge 

SEGMENT THREE: Mixing It Up in Laie