Table Of Content

+A 1.5 C/A: ye DEC Why We Preserve— How We Preserve: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of World War II VOLUME 14: NO. 8 1 9 9 1 James H. Charleton Cultural Resources A Call to Struggle ay a Information for Parks, al Agencies, Indian n an epic series of films, Why We Fight, Frank Tribes, States, Local Capra brought World War II to the American Governments and the Private home front and helped boost morale. Fifty years Sector later, in commemorating the anniversary of the human race’s closest approach to Armageddon, a paraphrase of his title seems appropriate as a slo- gan to spur efforts to preserve the historical legacy of World War II. But questions spring to mind. Why struggle to preserve this recent history? Where should limited resources for this purpose be chan- neled? Are the scale and complexity of the challenges adequately identified? Has there been serious thought +39 about it? (continued on page 3) e O.ee e eBIHs “ntmye ak. ei m pee <P ' tial ie, < <a ee: a a: . Casemated magazine at 8-inch gun battery of Fort Abercrombie, a subpost of Fort Greely, Alaska. This rear view shows the two entrances to a U-shaped passage. NPS photo by Erwin Thompson, 1983. O a 4 P a 4 + | A py! te al ; 8 sz ontents Why We Preserve—How We Preserve: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of World War II .... ee James H. Charleton VOLUME 14: NO. 8 USS Arizona Project ........c.cc. e..e..e.. Published by the National Dan Lenihan Park Service to promote and maintain high The Japanese Midget Submarine HA-19: standards for preserving A Unique Artifact that Helps Us ‘‘Remember Pearl Harbor’ .. 10 and managing cultural resourves. James P. Delgado Director Forgotten Chapters of a War ....................00000005. «6S James M. Ridenour William E. Brown Associate Director Jerry L. Rogers World War Il: Aleutian Reminders ....................... ... Editor Ronald M. Greenberg Ship Preserved, History Honored ......................... .. 8 Production Manager Karlota M. Koester Michael Naab Guest Editor Archeology of World War II POW Camps ................. ... 20 James H. Charleton Jake Hoffman Advisors Joan Bacharach Museum Registrar, NPS Commemorative Activities within National Cemeteries Randall J. Biallas Administered by the National Park Service ............... a. «(COU Historical Architect, NPS John Tucker John A. Burns Architect, NPS Harry A. Butowsky Archeology and Icons: USS Arizona Historian, NPS and Other Examples .............00.00. .ce. .e.e..6 ... 24 Pratt Cassity Acting Executive Director, Roger E. Kelly National Aliance of Preservation Commissions Muriel Crespi The Military Drawdown and Historic Preservation ........ ae lO Cultural Anthropologist, NPS D. Colt Denfeld Craig W. Davis Archeologist, NPS Michael S. Binder Mark R. Edwards Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, Reflections of the Day of Infamy— Maryland Rare and Forgotten Views of the Pearl Harbor Attack ...... —. Diane E. Gelburd Archeologist, Federal Daniel A. Martinez Preservation Forum John Hnedak Architectural Historian, NPS H. Ward Jandl Architectural Historian, NPS Sage E. Kelly Archeologist, NPS Antoinette ]. Lee Historian, NPS John Poppeliers: International Liaison Officer for Cultural Resources, NPS Juliette Tahar Writer-Editor, NPS Contributing Editors Betsy Chittenden Information Management Coordinator, NP* Bruce Craig Cultural Resources Coordinator National Parks and Conservation Association Consultants M V. Maruca Editcy. NPS Couner Michael G. Schene Historian, NPS Kay D. Weeks Technical Writer-Editor, NPS 1991 No. 8 Why We Preserve—How We Preserve: Why We Preserve: A Unique Legacy Commemorating the 50th Anniversary World War II’s historical legacy is not like that of wars more distant in time. Like citizens generally, of World War II cultural resource management professionals, in addi- (continued from page 1) tion to their official responsibility for the historical legacy of the Second World War, also almost all have a tie or link to it personally or through family The answers to these questions are not simple be- members. cause planning for the 50th anniversary of World War Thus, in simple terms, those in the wartime genera- II is in progress. You, the readers of CRM, are ina tion need no lessons in why this heritage must be position to influence and contribute to it. In addition honored and preserved. They know they owe it to to sharing information on projects already under way their fallen comrades, if not to themselves. The post- and wrestling with a few of the practical issues, war generation also must surely know that they owe preservation challenges, and interpretive prospects it it to the generation of their fathers and mothers—as presents, the authors of this issue invite you to join well as to posterity, so that the meaning and lessons in discussing the appropriate themes and special op- of the world’s greatest conflict will not be lost. portunities of this anniversary era. The complexities involved permit only an illustrative selection of issues and topics. Remembering Pearl Harbor at 50 Years—and Beyond The authors, however, will provoke your interest, We are entering a commemorative period with a high for they offer up new perspectives on well-known is- national and international profile that will surge for sues and insights on why more obscure topics Americans around December 7 of this year and con- deserve attention. As historians, curators, archivists, clude with the multiple anniversaries of the key archeologists, divers, interpreters and the like, we events of 1945—of the United Nations Conference, will significantly influence how the Nation ‘‘Remem- which met in San Francisco’s Civic Center in April- bers Pearl Harbor’’ far beyond the 50th anniversary June 1945; of V-E Day (May 8, 1945, marking the sur- era. Cynics, skeptics, and revisionists will probably render of Germany); of the atomic bomb attacks by suggest that national chauvinism and militarism will the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Au- dominate these efforts and suggest that after the gust 6 and 9, 1945); of V-] Day (August 15, 1945) and ceremonies there will be little to show. But this the signing of the formal surrender document by solemn occasion does offer the chance for a sober dis- Japan aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay cussion as to how we can have a commemoration (September 2, 1945). with enduring meaning as well as meaningful (continued on page 4) content. - Rape et arr A natant ch = — . “at “<j. of ates Landing Ships Tank (LSTs), with pontoon, unloading at Scogliatti Beach, Italy, July 10, 1943. LSTs, carrying vehicles, tanks and heavy materiel, brought along pontoon causeways, across which they could unload on the shallow beaches. This was the first use of LSTs and pontoons in combat. Bureau of Aeronautics photo courtesy of Robert L. Clifford. 1991 No. 8 Why We Preserve—How We Preserve: Commemorating the are a historical treasure slipping away from us with 50th Anniversary of World War II the calendar, an irreplaceable resource for the long- (continued from page 3) term mission of fully, carefully, and memorably recording the deeds and lessons of history's greatest conflict. This year’s anniversary of Pearl Harbor will be marked by several days of memorial and commemorative events centered at the USS Arizona Memorial, building on a traditional morning ceremony that takes place every December 7. The anniversary events have been planned with the active participation of the U.S. Navy and state and local officials. The Secretaries of Interior and Defense have invited the President and First Lady and other national digni- taries to attend. Thus, it can be anticipated that December 7, 1991, will be a ‘‘National Day of Prayer and Remem- brance,’’ with all eyes on Pearl Harbor. For that reason and because not every one can be in Honolulu— in fact oily about 200 can be on the Memorial itself at one time—Pearl Harbor must also be honored else- where. For example, superintendents System-wide, especially those who administer national cemeteries, have been asked to make special acknowledgment of the occasion through appropriate modest ceremonies. From Guam to Boston, the wartime legacy is reflected at many places, not just in the National Park System. Hence we must seek to influence, by planning and example, other agencies of government and private parties as well—not just the Service’s charge at the few explicitly associated sites (the USS Arizona Memorial, War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Maritime skills and wartime memories both seem etched in this ‘‘old sailor’s’’ face aboard the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien at the National and American Memorial Park on Saipan). Maritime Museum, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. NPS photo by The poignant content of the ceremonies planned for Richard Frear. these places suggests the need to focus on the management of the cemeteries in the System. John Accordingly, now is the time to interview them and Tucker's article touches on how Service practice in put them on the programs of symposia—as the USS this field evolved and also highlights the activities by Arizona Memorial Museum Association, the cooperat- and on behalf of former American prisoners of war at ing association at the memorial, is doing in a pro- Andersonville National Historic Site. gram of interviews and at a symposium jointly Thus, commemoration will not be truly valuable sponsored by the National Park Service and the unless its lessons and spirit are carried beyond Naval Historical Center in Honolulu beginning this Hawaii and beyond the events of December 7, 1991, December 8. These activities supplement the on-going no matter how moving or memorable they may be. It use of Pearl Harbor survivors who are volunteers at is for that reason that all the content articles appear- the Arizona Memorial visitor center, assisting ing in this issue, rather than focusing on the anniver- memorial staff by providing interpretive talks on their sary of Pearl Harbor, discuss various cultural resource experiences. Also, the key participants in the ceremo- management issues and problems that deserve atten- nies will be invited to record their personal reflections tion in the entire 1991-95 anniversary period and, in- for posterity. This recording of history in the making deed, long beyond that time. is novel, but necessary. There are no similar records for comparable anniversaries. Honoring ‘‘Old Soldiers’’ as They Fade Away It’s also time to arrange to receive the veterans’ memorabilia and collect their papers to turn their ex- The immediate task is to provide a respectful and periences into the historical collections and exhibits dignified memorial tribute to the fallen heroes of the that will form the museums and archives and gener- conflict and to their living brethren. That is why, for ate the historical studies of the next millennium. That example, this December 7, a measure of priority ac- is why contact with veterans and veterans organiza- cess will be given to survivors, veterans, and their tions has been and will be very important in the de- next of kin at the official ceremonies at the USS Ari- velopment of these plans. zona Memorial and its visitor center. But a more enduring tribute to the ‘‘old soldiers’ Memorials to the War can derive from paying attention to the fact that those few survivors who will be around for the 75th What is notable about World War II is that, aside anniversary will be historical curiosities. For now they from the Iwo Jima or Marine Corps Memorial, there 4 1991 No. 8 is no traditional national memorial to the Second If the patterns of recent years are followed, there is World War. A major challenge for the Service will be a real prospect that some of these properties will be to respond in a meaningful way to the World War II selected for the System. The Presidio of San Francisco Memorial bill that has been proposed in Congress re- is a prime example of one that already has been. cently and similar ones that will no doubt crop up Authors D. Colt Denfeld and Michael S. Binder point during the anniversary era, without letting them out the large challenge that faces the Armed Services divert mightily from other cultural resource preserva- in cultural resource management of the properties tion activities—the preservation of at least some of the currently under military jurisdiction. Can we think numerous beaches, landing grounds, battle sites, about—and encourage others to think of—these naval vessels, military bases with all their various resources as appropriate alternatives to traditional structures (including quonset huts), cemeteries, and memorials? artifacts that remain from the 1940s—most of them far The model for and the finest of these, the property removed from the monumental core of Washington— that is really a world-class memorial—at once historic and which are today among the most threatened of vessel, tomb, and memorial—the USS Arizona cultural resources, precisely because they are not Memorial—is administered by the Service in coopera- generally recognized, inventoried, or protected. One tion with the U.S. Navy. Working with the Navy to way to achieve a focus on preservation is to draw at- make her ready for the commemoration has been one tention, as through these articles, on the dimensions of the Service’s major goals. Badly needed capital im- of the challenges. provements and new interpretive measures have been The National Park Service has traditionally con- completed or are in preparation. cerned itself with the preservation of the physical remains of great events. Although there are only a ‘“‘Learning’’ to Remember handful of properties in the National Park System that relate directly to the war, in recent years we An important step taken recently in regard to the have conducted studies that begin to address the USS Arizona Memorial is the recently completed Sub- need for preserving those the Service does not and merged Cultural Resources report on Arizona, dis- will not administer. cussed by Dan Lenihan in his article, which describes National Historic Landmark studies have dealt, how the Service set out to learn for the first time though not comprehensively, with key bases and bat- with precision what remained of Arizona and to ana- tle sites on the West Coast, in Alaska, Hawaii, and lyze how she might best be preserved, while properly the Pacific islands that are under U.S. or related respecting her entombed heroes. jurisdictions—as well as Japanese-American intern- But we need not only to preserve Arizona, but to ment camps—and a succession of National Historic understand how we view her. In that regard, Dr. Landmark studies of naval vessels, such as Dr. Harry Roger Kelly’s ‘‘Arizona and Other Icons’’ analyzes Butowsky’s ‘‘Warships in the Pacific.’’ (The latter has how peoples view properties so central to their na- been discussed in a previous issue of CRM, Vol. 8, (continued on page 6) No. 5.) ~ a a « Brg i a oW a : ——" a” - wf eaec i Se gt Bridging the sunken U.S.S. Arizona, the namesake memorial honors her dead, those names are inscribed on the interior walls. Alfred Preis, an Austrian interned in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor, afterward became a U.S. citizen and designed the memorial. NPS photo courtesy USS Arizona Memorial. 1991 No. 8 of the preserved ship collection of the Nation. But he Why We Preserve—How We Preserve: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of World War Il also points to the various burdens and challenges— (continued from page 5) financial, technological, and otherwise—that this presents. Jim Delgado, formerly the Service’s maritime tional historical experiences. Dan Martinez, the historian, presents the novel but not well remem- Memorial’s historian, takes another tack altogether, bered saga of the Japanese midget submarines that at- showing the value of historic views—both American tacked Pearl Harbor—it is well to remember that the and Japanese—for understanding more completely attack was not just from the air—and traces how this what happened on that grim December day a half- war prize helped spur the American war effort. Al- century ago. luding to the controversy over the fate of this surviv- With all the attention focused on Hawaii this De- ing artifact of the attack, he explains why and how cember 7, there has been a likelihood that the only the Service has determined it is appropriate to return portion of North America invaded by the Axis will be the vessel to Hawaii. overlooked—the wet, cold, lonely, and isolated outer islands of the Aleutians, thousands of miles north of A National Emphasis? Pearl Harbor across the empty North Pacific, which were the scene of a virtually forgotten campaign In reviewing the cultural resources management against Japanese invaders. Bill Brown’s article re- balance sheet on World War II commemoration, some minds us of the agonies of this struggle and the spe- unsettling trends and important unanswered ques- cial problems of preservation in that state of vast tions remain. It is clear that there is not yet a com- distances. Michael Auer’s summary assessment of prehensive national plan for the commemoration. certain National Historic Landmarks in Alaska that Legislative efforts have been piecemeal; there is, for are associated with World War Il presents a sobering example, no counterpart to the recent Civil War ini- picture of preservation challenges and decisions that tiative, and there is little funding or program empha- cannot be long deferred. sis in most agencies, even the military. The challenges of preserving World War Il heritage A coordinating committee established by the Na- are not only spread all over the map of the world. tional Archives is providing a forum on the status of They come in all shapes and sizes. Some elements of World War II commemoration efforts nationally. The that heritage are portable. The maritime heritage of Defense Department has also established an office the war is especially notable. In his article, Michael that provides another important point of reference for Nabb gives a succinct summary of the state of mari- these activities. The Veterans’ Affairs Department—as time preservation and somewhat surprisingly informs the administrator of most World War II veterans us that World War II heritage makes up a major part cemeteries—and veterans organizations also have a - The cramped quarters aboard the submarine U.S.S. Becuna are remarkably preserved. NPS photo. 6 1991 No. 8 The guardhouse at Manzanar Japanese-American Internment Camp, California. Photo by Erwin Thompson, 1983. logical role to play. And all agencies are under the to look beyond the anniversary in Japanese-American mandate of the National Historic Preservation Act to relations has settled the issue, but not silenced the survey their historic resources. Other agencies, debate over whether we should ignore the question. however, look to the Service for leadership and ad- As one observer put it: Do we look backward merely vice in determining what resources merit considera- to look backward—or must we look backward in or- tion in the planning process, listing in the National der to look forward? All that is clear is that all actions Register, designation as National Historic Landmarks, dealing with the 50th anniversary must be addressed measuring by HABS, etc. with one eye on their international implications. An International Heritage? Why We Preserve? How We Preserve? The Nation is also inadequately prepared to address Writing before it is known how the events of De- the international aspect of this commemoration. Pro- cember 7, 1991, will play out, speculation about the found sensitivities need to be addressed and there is anniversary and about the intensity and meaning of merit to sharing the experiences of Service staff in the Nation’s commitment to ‘‘Remember Pearl Har- dealing with such issues. Many of our dead rest in bor’’ must remain. Will the commemoration have foreign cemeteries and waters. We also don’t know meaningful content and enduring meaning that will the fate of many of our prisoners of war and missing spur preservation efforts? Will it conclude on a note in action from World War II. But rather than focus on of amity and respect that at least partially reconciles that aspect, Jake Hoffman adds a converse and America with Japan and the ‘40s generation with hitherto extremely obscure dimension to the issue, their children? In other words, can we look both with his thought-provoking discussion of the backward and forward? prisoner-of-war camps in the United States in which One thing is inevitable. When the oratory is over Axis prisoners were confined. Yet another challenge and the symposia have ended, the men of Arizona— in deciding how fully and frankly the war’s heritage emblematic of those who rest on land and at sea in a should be preserved! thousand places—will still be in their watery grave, Domestic actions also have international implica- and the men and women of the Service, sharing a tions that need to be considered. Even small deci- special responsibility, will still need to guard and ex- sions have been controversial. Thus, when a Japanese plain that tomb of our honored dead. May December airman’s uniform was accepted for interpretive dis- 7, 1991, be the day that lives in memory, inspiring play at the Arizona Memorial visitor center in the Nation to carry forward the important task of Honolulu—which is about a mile across open water protecting the heritage of all those who endured, from the Memorial—the Service received protest mail. suffered, and died! We should, therefore, be deter- Never mind the need to instruct generations yet un- mined and confident in knowing why we preserve. born on what the enemy looked like! Let us strive to be as competent and far-seeing in The issue of possible Japanese participation in the devising how we do so. 50th anniversary ceremony at Pearl Harbor has at- tracted extensive discussion, both in the U.S. and James H. Charleton, a historian in the History Division, Japan. The State Department's decision that the event NPS, served in the U.S. Navy in Viet Nam. He coordinated should be a domestic American memorial service and this issue of CRM and was guest editor. 1991 No. 8 USS Arizona would be operating on hallowed ground. With the remains of more than 1,000 servicemen still entombed, the rusted hulk of the ship is more than an archeo- Project logical site—it is an American shrine—one that is visited by 5,000 people a day and that affects visitors and researchers like no other shipwreck ever has, nor hopefully, ever will. Just before beginning their survey the SCRU team Dan Lenihan had one of the new color home-video systems that oon after he became superintendent of the were just beginning to become popular at the time, USS Arizona Memorial in 1980, Gary Cum- placed in an underwater housing. Even more impres- mins determined that an underwater survey sive than its effectiveness in obtaining complicated data from cloudy water was its effect on the public. would be necessary to fully understand the Local Honolulu TV stations asked Gary for the tapes nature of the site and to define a strategy and he obligingly let them dub the material for for long-term management. A diver himself, Gary be- lieved questionable the conventional wisdom that the broadcasts. For 10 days the dive team reviewed its ship was too dangerous to work on, and the visibility data tape by flipping the TV channels in their motel too compromised by murky water for any meaningful room. Dan Rather spoke with the muzzles of the 14” results to be achieved. He contacted the Service’s un- guns panning by on the screen behind him and ABC 20/20" soon had a segment for its viewing audience; derwater archeological team, the Submerged Cultural Resources Unit (SCRU), and asked for help. this was no ordinary shipwreck, no ordinary job. In 1984 the SCRU returned to the site for a three- In 1983 the SCRU, in association with a contingent week intensive project. The park staff had by this ot U.S. Navy divers, spent a week reconnoitering the ship and devising a plan for a full-blown mapping time developed a proficient dive team of its own. and photodocumentation effort. During this first ses- They worked tirelessly with the specialists from Santa Fe on the task of resurrecting a true image of Arizona, sion on the site, it became clear to the researchers savaged by Japanese bombs and U.S. Navy cutting that working on the USS Arizona would be like noth- ing they had ever tackled before. Besides the techni- torches, from her watery grave. The non-divers on cal problems of mapping an object three times the the park staff seemed as involved as the divers, find- size of the Statue of Liberty when water visibility was ing any way they could to ensure success in myriad only six feet, there was no escaping the fact that one support roles. Pearl Harbor survivors and veteran Navy salvage officers helped the archeologists identi- fy the artifacts of war which were often only partially visible on the silt-covered remains of the deck. Painstakingly the ship took shape on paper, underwater cameras clicked and underwater videos hummed. NPS and Navy divers were spending four hours a day on the bottom of the harbor and illustra- tors frantically prepared new data sheets for the wet hands which always seemed to be impatiently wait- ing. More than 70 air cylinders on some days were hauled along the small floating dock for use by the divers. The end product made it all worth it. The nondescript pieces of metal that protruded from the silt under the memorial became comprehensible to managers and visitors alike. There is much more to managing a memorial than accumulating data, but ig- norance is a poor foundation for making sound decisions. Gary Cummins recognized this and left a park in which the resource was much better understood than it was the day he arrived. Bill Dickinson followed as superintendent of the memorial. Needing no convincing as to the worth of the research, Bill picked up the ball without missing a stride. The summer of 1986 saw the SCRU team back in Pearl with a contingent of 40 Navy reservists sent from Long Beach, CA to contribute their efforts to the =i } study. Dickinson was now satisfied that he knew what was down there but he wanted to know what — was happening to it. A specialist in biofouling from U.S.S. Arizona, a chil’ of the First World War, heads down the East River the Naval Ocean Systems Center joined the action in New York City on her way to sea trials in 1918, oblivious of the cruel fate that would make her the symbol of America’s entrance into the second this time ind soon there were Latin names attached universal conflict of the 20th century. NPS photo courtesy U.S.S. Arizona to the once nondescript crust of sharp molluscs, Memorial. 8 1991 No. 8 -_ NPS and U.S. Navy divers performing one of hundreds of mapping dives Park rangers Farley Watanabe (I) and Mark Senning (r) preparing for that took place on U.S.S. Arizona under the direction of the Submerged research dives on U.S.S. Arizona in 1984. NPS photo. Cultural Resources Unit of NPS. NPS photo by Larry Murphy. stinging nettles, and tube worms that blanketed the there armed with a corporate knowledge that he will, ship. An important piece of the puzzle in under- in turn, contribute to, and pass on. None of us alive standing the deterioration of the ship was now today are unaffected by what happened on the island provided. of Oahu over a period of several hours on Dec. 7, As the 50th commemorative of the attack on Pearl 1941. Preserving relics of the past such as Arizuna al- Harbor approaches, the significance of Arizona needs low us to ‘‘touch’’ our roots in ways we never could no heralds. What is less obvious to all but a few is from perusing a history book. The use of archeology, the importance of the lessons learned from the last history, historic rendering and a host of other preser- decade as an agency experienced in the management vation sciences to manage the fabric of the past {as in of cultural resources. In 1981 the survey of USS Arizo- the case of USS Arizona) is known as cultural na was a gleam in Superintendent Cummins’ eye. resources management. It is an art form practiced on Now, in 1991, Superintendent Don Magee is prepar- an agency level. ing for one of the most intense public events the NPS If, by some chance, the greater social consequences will ever handle. But when he walks through his visi- of working in historic preservation were never appar- tor center, he looks over his shoulder at detailed line ent to you before—look at the faces on your TV drawings of the ship and a scale model of her as she screen this December 7. You'll see it’s a serious busi- lies on the harbor bottom. In his office are detailed ness, this CRM. records of the composition of the biofouling crust and potentials for corrosion. There is no doubt that Don will be in the eye of his Dan Lenihan is chief, Submerged Cultural Resources Unit, own personal storm this December 7 but he will be National Park Service. PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM STERN USS ARIZONA U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE STARBOARD ELEVATION SUBMERGED CULTURAL RESOURCES UNIT ane was ON Drawings by Jerry L. Livingston, based on underwater mapping done in 1984. 1991 No. 8 The Japanese Midget as too provocative, a seeming memorial to the Japanese attackers. These arguments overlook the true significance of the vessel as an artifact. They also Submarine HA-19: A belie the need of the National Park Service to draw from every available artifact and memory of Decem- Unique Artifact that ber 7, 1941, to better understand and explain why and how the attack on the United States Pacific Fleet Helps Us ‘‘Remember unfolded, as well as its aftermath. HA-19 is a unique vessel significant to both the history of Japan and the United States. Built as part of Pearl Harbor’’ Japan’s expansion of her armed forces in the 1930s, HA-19 was one of five midget submarines whose crews were hastily trained and sent to participate in the surprise assault on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Deployed in the early morning hours of December 7, the midgets were to stealthily enter James P. Delgado the harbor and attack when the carrier-based planes struck. An hour before the attack began, however, one of the midgets was discovered and sunk off the he midget submarine HA-19, a prize of war harbor entrance by the destroyer USS Ward. It was at Pearl Harbor, on December 8, 1941, and the first confirmed kill of the United States Navy in for 24 years an exhibit of the Key West Art the Second World War. Another midget was shelled, and Historical Association at the Key West rammed, and depth-charged inside the harbor during Lighthouse Museum in Florida, was recently the attack. Two others vanished and were lost with indefinitely loaned to the National Park Service by its all hands. Only HA-19 survived, because Ensign owners, the United States Navy. Currently on short- Sakamaki failed to penetrate the defenses and his term loan to the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Park hapless submarine washed ashore near Bellow’s Field and Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, on the northeast shore of Oahu on December 8. TX, it is planned that the tiny 40-ton craft will be After being hauled ashore and studied, which shipped to Pearl Harbor in 1992. There the subma- included dismantling the 80-foot-long craft, HA-19 rine, which achieved international notoriety for its was shipped to the mainland for War Bond tours in part in the events of December 7, 1941, will be stabi- January 1942. It ended the war after a 2,000-city tour, lized, restored, and publicly displayed at the USS in Chicago. Shipped to Key West, FL, in 1947, it Arizona Memorial Visitor Center. It is a move that remained there until March 1991. It is due to leave has been attended by controversy and internal debate Fredericksburg, TX, in March 1992 when it will make as to its appropriateness. Some have viewed HA-19 its next journey back to Pearl Harbor. HA-19’s return to Pearl Harbor was sought by the Arizona Memorial staff, notably former superintendents Gary Cummins and Bill Dickenson, park historian Daniel Martinez, chiet historian Ed- win Bearss, and the author, then ‘ 1)i the Service’s maritime historian, ;’ not only because of its role in the - attack, but more importantly be- ; /tr ey == cause that role transformed it into a symbolically laden significant artifact. Mounted on a trailer and modi- fied for public display, the midget submarine toured the United States in 1942-1945 as a promotion for war bond sales. Admission to the ‘‘Japanese suicide’ submarine was secured by the purchase of war bonds and war stamps. The war bond drives were an integral part of HA-19, the Japanese midget submarine that was America’s first prize of war, captured December 8, 1941, off Bellows Field, Oahu, shown here await- ing shipment to the U.S. mainland. Photo courtesy U.S. Navy. 10 1991 No. 8