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Pocket Guide to Hawaii

Cover image of Pocket Guide to Hawaii.



Prepared by


Produced by


A Pocket Guide to

Illustrated figure of a male native. Illustrated By
W/O Robert Bach
Illustration of mountains, hut, male native and farm animals.
Illustration of mountains, hut, male native and farm animals.


THIS IS ABOUT HAWAII, to introduce you to a new country. New countries are like new friends. You can't get to enjoy them until you've learned something about them - until you know the score. So here's the score on Hawaii.


The base of this mountain range is some 18,000 feet below sea level; so if you climb to the top of Mauna Loa - the 14,000-foot volcano on the Island of Hawaii - you can boast that you've stood at the summit of the highest mountain in the world. Even when you're at sea level you're high up the mountainside.

Eight of the Hawaiian Islands are big enough to write home about. Some of the rest of them are so small that there isn't a pen point fine enough to put them on the map.

Before the Japanese went berserk, the Hawaiian Islands had three salable products - sugar, pineapple, and climate. The sugar and pineapple were shipped to the Mainland (continental U.S.) where you ate them. The climate was used by an ever-increasing horde of enthusiastic tourists.

It all worked out pretty happily.


Then came December 7, 1941 - and the foul blow that brought us all to Hawaii, soldier, on the way to Tokyo.

The main island of the Hawaii group is called Oahu. It isn't the biggest, but it's the most important, because the city of Honolulu is on it. Oahu is only 40 miles long and 26 wide; but here you'll find an astonishing variety of scenery, floral beauty, and bustling human activity.


This means that it's a long way home from Honolulu.

The first thing you will notice about the city of Honolulu is that it's full of drug stores, department stores, soda fountains, movies, offices, and even Americans. It has busses that charge 10 cents a ride, three tokens for 20 cents.

There are cops, public schools, dial telephones, churches, hot-dog stands, public libraries, YMCA's, restaurants, daily newspapers, radio repair shops, gas stations, public parks, and playgrounds.

On the streets you'll see such sights as newsboys hawking evening papers, people from offices jostling to get on busses so they won't arrive home late for supper, taxicabs dodging traffic, red fronts of the 5-and-10, and the little wire baskets on wheels in the supermarkets.

So you're not as far away from home as you think.


Of course, you'll see palm trees, giant ferns, tropical flowers that may be unfamiliar to you. And in the background will be the mountains.

When you go outside the city, around the island of Oahu, you'll see fields of pineapples stretching for miles. And more acres of sugarcane.

You'll see people working in those fields. They'll be just as American as you. And just as proud of it.

Illustration showing size of Hawaii compared to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Illustration showing size of Hawaii compared to Connecticut and Rhode Island.


Maybe you'll go to one of the other Islands in the group. The largest is Hawaii. Most people think that Honolulu is on Hawaii. But that's only because they don't know. It's 200 miles from Oahu to Hawaii.

The island of Hawaii is big - as big as Connecticut and Rhode Island put together. It is 83 miles long, 73 miles wide, and 283 miles around - more than 4,000 square miles of land.

Illustration of sugar as a king.
Illustration of sugar as a king.


The people out here say that sugar is king in Hawaii. That's because the Islands produce so much. But they also are proud that one of the largest cattle ranches in the world is on the island of Hawaii - the Parker Ranch. When you eat fresh meat at mess out here, chances are it came from this ranch.


The other six large islands are Maui, Kauai, Lanai, Molokai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe. Sound like hard names to remember. But after you've been out here awhile you'll learn how to pronounce them and they'll become as familiar to you as Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, or Arkansas.

Maui is second in size of the Islands. It is called the "Valley Island" because of its several beautiful winding stream-beds. It's famous for its hospitality and for a volcano 10,000 feet high with a burned-out crater 15 miles across.

Illustration of a goat on an island.
Illustration of a goat on an island.


Kauai is the "Garden Island" of the group, because of the breath-snatching beauty of its lush foliage and flaming blooms. Its highest peak is called Waialeale, which is pronounced Wah-ee-ah-lee-ah-lee, and means "rippling water" without the bubbles. A good name for a mountain peak that's all wet with 500 inches of rain a year. Sixteen miles away, at Barking Sands, the annual rainfall is only 20 inches.

Kauai is also renowned for the astonishing beauty of


the Canyon of Waimea, which is Hawaii's own Grand Canyon.

Lanai is called the "Pineapple Island" because it is completely owned by a pineapple company.


Illustration of a pineapple on an island.
Illustration of a pineapple on an island.

Kahoolawe is the stepsister of the Islands. "Goat Island," or "Dust Island," they call her. There are no streams or springs on the island and practically no foliage. Last figure on population was two (2) people.


That's the list of the big ones. You'll come to be as proud of them as the people who live here are proud of calling themselves Americans.


Illustration of an Hawaiian.
Illustration of an Hawaiian.



In 1941 there were 465,339 inhabitants.

You're going to meet these people. They're your neighbors. And it's a good idea if, right at the start, you know a few things about them. It may prevent you from making mistakes.

There's one primary point to remember. No matter what the color of their skin, no matter how they appear, the civilians you see in the Hawaiian Islands are Americans. They're just as proud of the Stars and Stripes as you are. Never forget that.


Now get this straight. Most of these went to



What's more, many of them have husbands, sons, and brothers fighting for Uncle Sam. These Japanese-Americans (Nisei) aren't just talking patriotism. Their battalions proved, in the battle of Italy, that they are willing to die for it. Don't sell them short.


These Hawaiians are fine folk. Don't let any fantastic fiction you may have read about them back home throw you off the beam. These people have certain fundamental ideals: They believe in strong bodies, in clean living and in democracy.


Talk to the business people in the center of Honolulu.


Again and again you'll hear the same story: "I came over for a year in '24. But I'm still here. I only wish you could see our city when we don't have a war on."

You've probably heard Hawaii referred to as the Crossroads of the Pacific. That's an apt phrase. People from all the far-flung corners of the world have come to live in Hawaii. The big influx started back in the 1860's when shipload after shipload came over to work on the plantations.


Today these people are fired with a common purpose - to do their level best to help win the war. Not only have a great many joined the armed forces, but they're buying bonds, doing Red Cross work, taking part in all the civilian war activities the same as the people at home.

But keep this in mind, when you meet the people over here. They've been under attack. They've been living in a war atmosphere for a long time. They've been working long hours, suffering the inconveniences of overcrowding, curfew, gas rationing, and other necessary wartime restrictions.

They haven't complained. They aren't complaining now. But it hasn't been easy for them. So give them a break, and they'll meet you more than halfway.


Illustration of Capt. Cook.
Illustration of Capt. Cook.


If you're ever on a quiz program and the $64 question is "From what race do the Hawaiians come?" you'll take the money if you answer "Polynesian."





When he arrived, he didn't know where he was.




The natives, like all people who find their confidence betrayed, were considerably sore about it, and Cook's men annoyed them still further by chopping up a couple of their sacred idols for firewood. During one of the ensuing scuffles a native chief, with close combat training, stuck a wooden dagger into Captain Cook's back. He died on the beach at Kaawaloa on the Island of Hawaii.



Then a chief of Kona, named Kamehameha, decided


Illustration of a pagan god.
Illustration of a pagan god.




Illustration of a wooden head.
Illustration of a wooden head.







By that act Hawaii became an integral part of the United


Illustration of a native and continental business man at dock.
Illustration of a native and continental business man at dock.


States. (So from now on you'd better speak of the "Mainland.")

You have only to look around to see the result - one of the finest demonstrations anywhere of practical Americanism. Democracy, to the Hawaiians, is taken sincerely. They practice it. And it works, knitting many people of different races together in a concerted effort to build a better, freer, and happier life for all.






Subsequent history? You'll help make it.


Illustration of a woman dancing.
Illustration of a woman dancing.


You've heard a lot about the Hula. Hawaii and the Hula!

Maybe you're one of those gullible guys who saw


glamorous movie stars swinging their sarongs, against a gorgeous Hollywood tropical backdrop, and thought you'd find a babe just like her under every palm tree.

Well, you're going to see the real McCoy now. So it's a good idea if you get rid of any notions you may have had and learn the truth.

First of all, the Hula is not a dance!

"Not a dance," you say. "Then what is it?"

The Hula is a style of dancing, or, if you wish, a "school" of dancing.



Now, if you see a pretty Hawaiian girl wearing a grass skirt and dancing some form of the Hula, go easy. She may be a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a Ph.D. in - The Dance. Well, why not?




First, the Governor is appointed by the President, but he can't be a malihini. A malihini is a newcomer.

Second, the people can't ballot in the Presidential elections.

Illustration of a male native.
Illustration of a male native.

Third, Hawaii, not being a state, lacks a vote in Congress. But don't get the idea that it doesn't swing weight in Washington. It does - through a Delegate who sits on vital House and Senate committees, and otherwise carries the banner for the Islands.




If someone tells you the Governor is operating at the "old stand" in Honolulu, he simply means that the Capitol used to be a palace. King Kalakaua held court there, as did his sister, Queen Liliuokalani.

You can remember the King's name by looking at the corner signs on the avenue along Wakiki Beach. You won't have any trouble with the Queen's name either. Just remember that back on the Mainland they called her "Queen Lil." You also might like to remember that Queen Liliuokalani was the composer of the haunting Hawaiian melody "Aloha Oe" which she adopted from an old American ballad entitled "The Lone Rock by the Sea." Her song has become one of the most popular tunes in the United States.

When the United States annexed the Islands, all the treaty signing was done in an elaborate building, surrounded by beautiful grounds, which you'll find in the civic center of Honolulu. This is the Iolani Palace. It's a building worth seeing. You can pick up some local history by looking over the paintings in the halls and chambers. You can see how the kings of Hawaii lived in the days of the monarchy, and a glance at the woodwork will show you what good craftsmen can do with the wood of koa and kou trees.

But don't expect to see any fancy titles on the doors


Illustration of a decorative image.
Illustration of a decorative image.

in the Capitol or other government buildings. They're the usual American: Attorney General, Treasurer, and Director of Institutions. There is even the familiar D.A.


There's taxes, too. We warn you that the Tax Collector will enter your life if you buy one of the Islands' 78,000 cars; which leads us to advise you to pick out a light one. The tax is levied by the pound. Cars don't grow here.


Map of the islands.
Map of the islands.


Illustration of 2 pineapples with faces.
Illustration of 2 pineapples with faces.


Major industries on the Islands can be counted like twins.


Then someone discovered that the word "sugar" meant


money, and sugar refining began. From then on, it's been a growing industry.




Refining is done on the Mainland, except for one plant at Aiea. If you're ever up that way (it's on Oahu), a guide will be glad to show you the process.

In addition to raising a lot of cane, the Islands do a right smart business in pineapples, which is surprising when you consider that the pineapple wasn't a Hawaiian fruit at all.


That was in 1885 and the industry has been slicing


Illustration of fisherman with spear and net.
Illustration of fisherman with spear and net.


Eight big outfits run the show. When they can get them, they hire more than 30 thousand workers. Right now they can't get that many.

Incidentally, don't leave the Islands without going through a cannery. Just phone one of the larger ones and find out what day you can come. The tour takes only about 45 minutes - and you'll be served all the juice you can drink.

After pineapples and sugar, come tourists. Pre-war they contributed 10 million dollars a year. There's a lot of talk floating around about the trade having been killed off by the war. But that's strictly a false rumor.



Illustration of a native woman.
Illustration of a native woman.

Before Pearl Harbor a lot of the sojourners came out on the big Pacific liners, successors to Capt. Bill Matson's schooner the "Emma Claudine" which first said "So long, 'Frisco; Hi, Hilo" in 1882.


After Pearl Harbor - they still came out on the big Pacific liners, temporarily under new management - U.S.N.

Right along in the "T" column with Tourists is Tuna. And there the war has hurt. In the "old days," seven out of every ten tuna on your favorite grocer's shelf were born right here. After the Jap attack, the lid clamped down. Now, Uncle has let a little commercial fishing resume, but not enough to excite even the tuna.

Another Hawaiian enterprise which you probably never saw in the movies is cattle-raising. It doesn't begin to match sugar or pineapple production. But it's still important, and sizable quantities of meat products, tallow, hides, and skins find their way to the Mainland.



You've heard about carrying coals to Newcastle? Not that it has anything to do with the Army -

Except that, soldier, when you arrive in Hawaii, all fresh and snappy in your best GI CKC's, you're going to stand out just exactly like a chunk of coal in that Old English mining town.


When an army isn't moving it needs posts, camps, and stations. To solve the housing situation, Major General Schofield came out to the Islands 72 years ago and made a survey. The Army has been busy building installations ever since. You'll probably be stationed at more than one of them from time to time, so it will be well for you to know what traditions lie behind the names they bear.



Illustration of a man in army uniform.
Illustration of a man in army uniform.









Today the Army is entrusted with the safeguarding of Hawaii. It is the Army's job to make it a grim mistake for any enemy force which tries to land on any of these Islands. It is the Army's job to make the Islands the springboard for the leap to Tokyo. Which are good points to bear in mind - because, soldier, you are the Army!




Illustration of a signalman.
Illustration of a signalman.




Back about 1887, the Navy first secured the rights to set up a repair station at Pearl Harbor. Then it went to Congress - and came out with hundred thousand dollars.

The money was used to start the job.




To date more than 50 million dollars have gone into making Pearl Harbor the world's finest naval base. It is one which not only the United Stales but Japan long will have reason to remember.

Illustration of a man in a helmet.
Illustration of a man in a helmet.





Their first job on the Islands was in 1845, when Lieutenant Joseph Curtis, of the Marine Guard aboard "Old Ironsides," made the Navy survey that showed Pearl Harbor to be the best site for a naval base in the Central Pacific.

Seven years later, Marines came ashore to help King Kamehameha III quell riots started by foreign sailors. They stayed awhile to train the King's troops. This probably prevented an invasion of the Islands. A gang of adventurers from the California mining camps had chartered a ship for the purpose, but got cold feet when they found out what they were up against.




Illustration of a coast Guardsman at the wheel of a ship.
Illustration of a coast Guardsman at the wheel of a ship.



Established 1790, the Coast Guard is Uncle Sam's oldest seagoing service, and all over the Pacific they're going to sea. They landed Marines at Tulagi during the first Solomons attack. They helped to seize Amchitka and Kiska in the Aleutians. They landed soldiers and marines and equipment on the beachheads of the Gilberts and the Marshalls.




Illustration of a surfer.
Illustration of a surfer.


Girls are scarce in Hawaii. When you've been off the boat for as long as 23 minutes, you'll find that telephone numbers here carry the same classification as war plans. They're marked "Secret" and kept in money belts.

If, by hook or crook, you latch on to a few numbers besides the laundryman's (and his isn't as easy to get as you might think), you may wind up with a date. If


Illustration of a fisherman and a sailfish.
Illustration of a fisherman and a sailfish.

this miracle occurs, the two of you can go swimming, walk, take in a movie, or dance. If you're numberless, you can still go swimming, walk, or take in a movie.

Which is to say that a uniform here is about as novel as a light bulb in a pre-war sign on Times Square. And there simply aren't enough wahines (gals) to go around.

Sooner or later (sometimes sooner than a week, sometimes later) you'll get around to what philosophers call "Acceptance."

You won't have any trouble knowing when you've "accepted." It's the night you decide that what you








or classical records, or doing anything else to really enjoy life - get up and go. Find out where the recreation centers are and make good use of them.


Right here in Hawaii is a fully equipped branch of the U.S. Armed Forces Institute. USAFI can arrange a correspondence course that will make it possible for you to earn credits at your high school or college back home and keep abreast of the education that was temporarily halted. If it's a business course or technical training you want, USAFI can fix you up with that, too.

Get in touch with your Information and Education officer and he will tell you how to go about it. If duty allows, you can arrange for group classes with the use of self-teaching texts that are turned out by the USAFI. They're good stuff, and we hear that foreign language lessons can be fun in off-duty hours, the way they're doled out through a phonograph record for the crowd to repeat in chorus.



You Can Write . . . Once you've arrived in Hawaii, you'll want to get off letters telling the people back home where you are and what it's like.

Right then is where you run into one of the most misunderstood individuals who ever saved a soldier's life or helped to win a battle. You know how it feels, now, to hope that your transport won't be sunk by a submarine - by now you can find plenty of old-timers who can tell you how fervently you'll pray that any attack you may be concerned in will catch the enemy with his pants far from up. Well, that's where the CENSOR comes in. Censor is an old Roman word meaning censor. It's his job to know just what information the Nazis or the Nips would like to have about our war plans, and to prevent that information getting out and about. To do that he's got to look for it everywhere. So he scrutinizes all communications which leave this area. (Scrutinizes means scrutinizes. All means all. Communications means all that's "written and transcribed.")

At first you may not like it. You'll say, "my folks know the score. They won't spill anything they shouldn't."

The answer to that is, sure they won't - not intentionally.

But you know how we Americans like to talk. And the Axis knows it, and is listening. That's why a word


Illustration of a military person on the phone.
Illustration of a military person on the phone.


So you can see why you can't discuss the activities of units when you write, or give the exact location of your own. Why you can't name any ships, not even the one you came over on. Or tell when they sailed or when they docked. Why you can't mention the number of men who are with you. Why you can't say you're stationed at Schofield, or Armstrong, or Ruger, or any of the other posts. Why, in short, you have to lay-off the military when you're writing home.

You'll have a couple of talks by your Censor on what you can write about, and you'll find it's plenty. You may be assigned to duties or sent to places where you'll be under certain restrictions for an indefinite period, during which you can't locate yourself in letters home any more specifically than as "somewhere in the Pacific." But if you're not under such restrictions, you can come right out and say you're in


Illustration of a Roman censor.
Illustration of a Roman censor.


A good technique is simply to forget you're in the Army and limit your writing to strictly non-military subjects. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be turning out long and interesting letters and relieving the Censor of a job of editing, which he doesn't like any better than you do.

You Can Wire . . . If you're slow on the letter writing. It's a good idea to keep the folks from worrying by sending them a cablegram as soon as you are allowed to let them know you're here. Your GI post office has stock messages (Expeditionary Force Messages) that will say almost anything you want. And for only 75 cents, (Self composed wires come higher and also have to be censored.)

You Can Phone . . . If you get too lonesome for the sound of a certain voice, and your communications aren't restricted, and you're still in the first flush of pay-day



You just have to check in with the Base Censor, fill out a form which asks who you're calling, why, and what the topic of your conversation will be, have it approved by your Unit Commander, and put in your call. Pick up blanks at Base Censor's office or at the Mutual Telephone Building. At either place they will answer any questions.

The cost? A 3-minute call varies from 10 dollars (West Coast) to 16 dollars (East Coast). If it's the wrong side of pay day you can reverse the charges.





If you just like to sit around and shoot the breeze in your spare time, that's good. It's Army. It's that old refrain, the G.I. Bull Session.


In Hawaii, you are at one of the busiest wartime crossroads. You might pick up a lot of so-called hot dope. Well, why not keep it to yourself? If you don't, Nip spies may pick it up and go to work. Don't blab, unless you want to give "aid and comfort" to the enemy. And no right guy wants to do anything like that.





You won't usually get sick if you take care of yourself.




Adding up all the things you do for yourself today and tomorrow in Hawaii, along with what you are doing for the Islands and for the Mainland, you can feel right proud to be so much in the swing of things. From these mid-Pacific beauty spots, halfway between America and Asia, you'll be glad to write home "Well, safe, and love."


Illustration of the word Pau.
Illustration of the word Pau.



Published: Mon Nov 20 15:38:41 EST 2017