Day of Infamy - Pearl Harbor Day - The Ni'ihau Incident

Download or read book Day of Infamy - Pearl Harbor Day - The Ni'ihau Incident written by William Stricklin and published by Bookbaby. This book was released on 2020-11-28 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ni?ihau Incident occurred December 7-13, 1941, when Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi (, Nishikaichi Shigenori) crash-landed his Zero on the Hawai'ian island of Ni?ihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy had designated Ni?ihau as an uninhabited island for damaged aircraft to land and await rescue. The pilot shared information about the Pearl Harbor attack with island locals of Japanese descent. Native Hawai'ian residents were initially unaware of the Pearl Harbor attack, but apprehended Nishikaichi when the gravity of the situation became apparent. The pilot then sought and received the assistance of the three Hawai'ian locals of Japanese descent on the island in overcoming his captors, finding weapons, and taking several hostages. Eventually, Nishikaichi was killed when he was lifted upside down and his head was smashed into the rocks by 6'8 Niihauans Benehakaka Ben Kanahele after firing three bullets into Ben's groin. My Hawaiian language teacher knew Ben's wife Kealoha Ella Kanahele who yelled at the pilot and flailed on him with her arms. Ella had never missed a chow line on the Robinson plantation and had the magnificent body of a heavyweight wrestler, well able to hold her own with her 6' 8 husband Ben. When Nishikaichi pulled his pistol out of his boot, Ella Kanahele grabbed his arm and brought it down. One of Nishikaichi's supporters, Yoshio Harada, committed suicide. Ben Kanahele was decorated for his part in stopping the takeover. His husky wife, Ella Kanahele, equally deserving, received no official recognition whatsoever for her important role in stopping the takeover. My teacher told me Ella took the slight in stride and told her at the time: Whatever Native Hawai'ian women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.