Courage Kits

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             Courage Kits
Each kit will be filled with a "comfort letter," and photos of family and nonperishable food. Donations of cases of bottled water, flashlights, batteries, duct tape, and Clorox wipes are needed.

These kits are for elementary school children, to be used incase of a nuclear attack from North Korea. Hawaii will do its best to be prepared for such an event.       When the attack siren sounds you have only 12 minutes to find a place to shelter. But Hawaii has no public shelters. We have been told to" shelter in place."

Kids at Kaimuki Middle School were told to get to certain classrooms, close the windows, and turn off the air conditioning. They had also been told about the "pee buckets" they would be using. A directive was sent to teachers to use plastic sheeting, wet cloth and duct tape to seal windows to minimize air contamination.

All of this reminds me too much of the Cold War. Imagine a young teacher trying to tell her students about something you cannot taste,touch,see,or smell. And the temperature outside is 85 degrees,and inside the sealed classroom it would be unbearable

At the beginning of each month a siren sounds, testing the Tsunami Alert System. This coming Friday, December 1st a wailing tone will be added.

   Aloha
   Grant  

Remember Wake Island

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        Remember Wake Island
Living here in Hawaii we are constantly reminded of the attack on Pearl Harbor. But  how many under the age of fifty, remember the battle for Wake Island? Five hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wake Island also underwent an attack by the Japanese.

Wake Island is located in the far-Western part of the Pacific. Over 2000 miles due west of Honolulu. The island became important because Pan American Airway developed it as a refueling and rest stop for its wealthy clients. The aircrafts were huge flying boats, landing and taking off on water. Pan American built a hotel for their  wealthy guests.

The American military also had plans for the island. Fearing the increasing friction between the U.S. and Japan, contractors were busy building an air strip, hospital, and other buildings. Over 1,100 civilian construction workers were trapped on Wake when the war broke out.

Wake Island is an atoll made- up of three small islands grouped around a shallow lagoon that was once the crater of extinct volcano. Wake,the largest of the three, is separated by narrow channels from Wilkes and Peale islands, just to the west. Together they form a rough horseshoe shape. The islands had swarms of rats, but no fresh water. The interior of the islands contained masses of trees and brush. Wake was next in importance to Midway as a base for aircraft, submarines, land-based forces, and fleet facilities. And it was not far from Japan.

Wake was garrisoned by  a force of 510 Marines equipped with three three-inch antiaircraft batteries of four guns each, three five-inch shore batteries of two guns each, two dozen .50 caliber machine guns, and two dozen .30 caliber machine guns. Also, a few old Springfield rifles. And that was all. The arrival of twelve brand-new Grumman F4F  Wildcatfighter planes were a welcome addition to the island's defense.

The attack began with a flight of eighteen bombers which destroyed eight of the Wildcats. When they had finished, the only thing left intact was the runway itself.
Many of the visible structures were in ruins. There were only three flyable planes left.
In spite of bombs from the air, strafing runs, and two landings, this handful of Marines with some of the construction workers, lasted two days longer than did the defenders of the Alamo.

Back in Pearl Harbor Admiral Kimmel dispatched a relief fleet to Wake, but the fleet was ordered back to Pearl as there was a change of command. In other words, the defenders of Wake were screwed. No help would be sent to them.

The commanding officer of Wake Island was Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham USN, and Major James Devereux was commander of the Marine detachment.

During the fourteen day siege the Marines sank one major Japanese ship, heavily damaged several others, and repelled a Japanese invasion. Commander Cunningham,  realizing that there was little hope left, ordered a surrender. The Marines were mad as hell.

The Japanese were so angry having lost so many men, and that there were no women to rape. The captives were harshly treated, and then taken aboard a ship which would carry them to both Japan and China. Some few civilians were kept to rebuild, and then were executed. On the ship five men were selected, blindfolded, and beheaded as a symbolic revenge for having killed so many Japanese soldiers.

The prisoners were to spend the next three and a half years as prisoners and slave laborers. It all came to an end with the Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese surrender.

The construction company that had hired these civilians, paid wages to those who had managed to survive. Commander Cunningham and Major Devereaux were both promoted. Each man later wrote books about their experience.

Wake Island today maintains the airstrip, but there are no commercial flights and it is simply there for emergencies. The population today is 120 civilians. They have a nine hole golf course, cocktail bar, and  nice housing. Visitors to the island just have government authorization. They are geologists, oceanographers, bureaucrats, film makers, and some of the survivors of the battle. Marine and Navy retirees may travel there free of charge on military aircraft.

What I have written is from the most excellent "Given Up for Dead," by Bill Sloan. Bantam hardcover edition published 2003.

    Aloha
    Grant

Out of this World

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         Out of this World
Information is easily available about the time and direction of the International Space Station, and where it can be seen. We have seen it from our lanai several times.

I recently purchased a new book "Endurance,A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery," by Scott Kelly. In his book he tells all about life  while floating in space. His companions were from Russia,Japan and other European countries.

One of the many problems is physical exercise. It was mandatory to exercise on a treadmill six days a week and at least a couple hours every day. Bone loss is about one per cent per month. Spacemen returning to earth often had broken hip bones.

Another more urgent problem was to keep the two "Seedra" machines working. These machines soak up the CO 2 given off by the crew. If the CO2 levels reach too high, it results in  the difficulty of performing many tasks, and making bad choices. Better to breathe clean air. These machines were often broken, needing repair.

Hand holds are located throughout the station, when a person wants to remain in place. A foot placed around a hand hold, while eating or drinking coffee with a straw from a plastic bag. Scott writes that sleeping while floating is very  nice indeed. And all the urine collected is processed, and becomes drinking water.

The American Space Shuttle was retired some time ago due to a lack of funding. The vehicle taking a three man crew to the space station is aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. This has been safely used many times. The craft has no extra room for anything else. Supplies to the station are carried by a ship called a "Dragon,"built by an American company  called "Space X." A single trip would carry 4,300 lbs.of supplies. Fresh fruit and vegetables (which go bad more quickly than on earth.) Oxygen,spare parts, health care products,experiments, items from home, and so forth.

It is nice to read how everyone all got along. They shared food, celebrate birthdays and holidays while in space. So far over 200 people have visited the space station.

A couple of other things that need to be mentioned. The most dangerous task is a walk in space. A leak-proof clumsy space suit, with gloves like a baseball mitt, requiring delicate working space while traveling at a speed of 17,500 mph. Hand holds required, and a tether to the station. Hours are spent just preparing for the space walk.

Then there is the problem of docking the supply ship to the station requiring the use of a long arm developed by a Canadian company.   Have we become so blasé about space travel? Have we forgotten the moon landing, and the lives that were lost in that historic quest? The International Space Station is working on problems faced by a trip to the planet Mars.

In the nineteen sixties a book "Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth, written by Buckminster Fuller, University of Illinois, created quite a stir. He warned that our planet is a spaceship with limited supplies of food and water. How we used these supplies would determine our fate.
And recently Dr. Stephen Hawking remarked that we may have to travel to Mars, because we are ruining our planet.

Some dark night look up in the sky and you may find something different from all the surrounding stars,shining brightly, it is the International Space Station.

     Aloha
     Grant

Thoroughly Thoreau

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           Throughly Thoreau
For more years than I care to count, I have been a huge fan of the American writer Henry David Thoreau. While I was in the Navy I went with a friend from our ship to try and find the site of Thoreau's cabin on Walden Pond. I returned many years later with my youngest daughter Jessica, to find that a replica of his cabin had been built.

Every American literature book has a section devoted to this writer. Much attention is paid to his book "Walden," which contains his essay on "Civil Disobedience." Both Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King read and were greatly influenced by this essay. But what I feel is often overlooked is Thoreau's contribution to understanding nature, and his work for the abolition of slavery. He understood ecology before the word was invented. He kept many journals which were left unpublished until now. He was friends of Emerson,Hawthorne,Louisa May Alcott, and William Lloyd Garrison,publisher of the anti-slavery paper "The Liberator." He was also friends with the ex-slave Frederick Douglas, and John Brown. And he met Walt Whitman while he was doing some survey work in New York.

American literature began with these writers in and around Concord, Massachusetts.This small town was also a hot bed of abolitionists. Thoreau delivered a plea to a large crowd,in support of John Brown,following his attack on Harper's Ferry. Thoreau had helped drive one of the the men involved in the attack, to escape into Canada. Also, when the government passed the Fugitive Slave Act, Thoreau's family hid and helped runaway slaves to escape to Canada.

Thoreau graduated from Harvard with understanding of both ancient Greek and Latin. I don't think it did much for him  in his study of Botany. Few know that his father had a pencil making factory, and that Thoreau made his living after Harvard by surveying. He also made paid lecture tours.  He tried his hand at teaching, but quit after refusing to cane students.

A new book "Thoreau, a life " written by Laura Dassow Walls, published 2017 by The University of Chicago Press, is most excellent. I think this is the book for people who really want to know more about     Thoreau. The author provides us with a complete picture of the man. Thoreau died in 1862, at the age of 44, never having seen the end of slavery.

    Aloha  
    Grant