War and Honolulu, a Love Story

By Pam

A man marries his sweetheart 7 months before he goes off to war.  A Private in the 98th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, his luck holds out for 4 years. He never sees combat, but comes very close. In 1944 he is stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, waiting for orders to invade Japan. While he's waiting the war ends, and as a Corporal, he's sent to Japan for the occupation. 

From the pictures, his days in Hawaii are happy and filled with camaraderie.  There's fishing and swimming.  He’s smiling in every picture. He thinks of his wife back home and wishes she was there to share the fun and the beauty. He sends her a pack of picture cards of the Island he has come to love. So much so that when he retires him and his wife spend the month of April, every year for 12 years, in Honolulu. He loves the beach, she loves to shop. 
 

My dad died in 1994. In a lucid moment, my mom sometimes reminisces about the Hawaii vacations. She’s 95 now, and doesn’t watch much television because of her confusion, but I tell her about Hawaii Five 0 and her eyes brighten. I wish she could see the colors again.

She and dad will meet again on the shores of Waikiki, I’m sure of it.  

 

1984