 I'm Marsha Joyner and we are navigating the journey. Navigating the journey is dedicated to exploring the options and choices in life. This week begins the 76th commemoration of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the day the entire world changed. So today we will visit with my new best friend who was a child on December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. So if you're ready, join us as we ask you to navigate the journey, a really beautiful journey that all of us, probably none of us know anything about except what we read. But here our guest is a real live person who was a child at that time at Pearl City Peninsula, right there where all of the action happened. Aloha. I am so glad you are here. This is just such a pleasure to have somebody who was there to see, to witness, to feel what it was like to be a child and have the whole world come unglued. Aloha. Aloha Marsha. Good morning. So tell us, tell us, write it all about you. How is it that this lovely Hawaiian is at Pearl City Peninsula at the time of the bombing? Tell us. Well, Mama worked for Pan American World Airways and in order to fly to Hawaii, during that time you didn't land on asphalt, you landed on calm waters of Pearl Harbor. So Pan American World Airways shared the harbor with the Navy and the Army and the Marines over in the middle lock. And so Mom could walk to work and we found ourselves then with a front row seat because of Pan American World Airways. So the day of the bombing, how old were you? I'm six years old. It's a Sunday morning. So Sunday mornings we were to church by nine. So it's 7.30, of course, Mom's in the kitchen getting breakfast, topping Portuguese sausage. And I'm in there, got my dog in. We hear airplanes going over. Well, not unusual. Pearl City Peninsula is surrounded on three sides by the waters of Pearl Harbor. And if I walked out of the house and to the end of the street, I could see the Utah. So we were at ground zero that morning. And then more and more airplanes and pretty soon Dad came into the kitchen and said what so many said that morning, gosh, the maneuvers look real. They sound real. We didn't expect they were real at all. But when the house started shaking, the table started shaking and we heard a loud explosion. That's when Dad ran out into the front yard and I was right behind him and I leaned up against him and we looked up above our house just above the treetops and we could see the torpedo bombers. So you can see them? Well, they were in their final descent. And, you know, I'm six years old. I don't know that those are torpedo bombers. I just know that the noise is so loud and this is not a usual Sunday morning. What I know now is that those were the torpedo bombers because they just had a couple of hundred yards to drop their bombs. The Utah got the first bombs, the first hits, expecting our aircraft carriers to be there. Luckily, you know, they weren't. So watching them and not understanding but feeling okay because my dad's with me. Just for our audience who may not understand if you've not seen Pearl Harbor, the vastness of the Pearl Harbor. And so as you're talking about the Utah, let's assume this is Fort Island. The Utah is on this side that she could see from the Peninsula, from Pearl City Peninsula. On this side of Fort Island were all of the battleships lined up and we've all heard of battleship bro. So they are all there. What she's talking about is seeing and Pearl Harbor is huge. It's really huge. And so, but of course in those days we didn't have all the big towers and all the big condominiums. None. None. So you can see and can you imagine a child watching this Utah that she's seen day in and day out being blown up. It's just unbelievable to imagine what a child sees and feels. What did you feel? I'm often asked, was I scared and I wasn't. Sunday morning, if I'd been at school, that would have been different because I wouldn't be able to get to mom or dad. But my baby brothers, the sleep, mom's in the kitchen, dad's with me, not understanding. I really wasn't scared. The scared part came much later. Now, I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been mom and dad. You know, in your 20s and you've got two little kids and you've got to be scared. Dad went back in the house and got my little brother and put him in the back seat of our car and got mom. And we were trying to leave because by this time more and more planes are coming and the smoke and the smells and the noise and when we try to leave our student get on to Lehua Avenue, already the military police are stopping us and having us drive up onto the yards so that military trucks can get by. And we leave the peninsula and stay on Lehua Avenue and go straight up into the mountains on Waimano Home Road. And that's where we hide in the sugarcane fields. And then we can look down at the harbor and see all of it. Now again, not scared, more and more joining us, you know, from the neighborhood. It wasn't until we couldn't go home. We were evacuated. Very little of Oahu was evacuated. But because we were inside the harbor, we went to Waipahu. And the plantation let all of us in Pro City stay in the community center and they fed us and gave us bedding. The scared part, okay, you get all your neighbors together except the Japanese. 50 years later, I found out my Japanese neighbors didn't get to come. They stayed in army trucks outside and it rains every night, as you know. The rest of us were okay. So we're sitting in the community center and then the rumors start. Well, they're going to come back. And they're probably going to come back tonight. And by the time morning time comes, we'll be surrounded. And so that just starts going through. And then the scared part comes. So a blackout start that night. I mean, martial law starts at two o'clock that afternoon. Governor Poindexter comes on and tells us the scary part was that night. We are all sitting there in the dark, not knowing who, how many, what, except they're coming back. The harbor lights up again. And people start saying they're back. They're back. It took me 50 years to find out what it was. It was friendly fire. There were six pilots that were trying to come in from the enterprise, and we're shooting at them thinking they're the enemy. And it's the collective fear that just passes from me to you, to you, to you. So why you are in the shelter or in Waipahu at the plantation? Can you actually see where you were allowed to watch what was going on? Well, Waipahu sits upland, and so you really have an incredible view. Yeah, you can see past Waipahu Peninsula, the harbor, the locks, you can really see. So you got to see the horrors. Well, all you saw, I mean, you're still, what, 10 miles, 7 miles away, but the sky is just lighting up. And it's, you know, it's about eight, nine early evening. And so that's what you see. And then your interpretation is the enemy has come back. So, but you knew who the enemy was. As a six-year-old, I can't tell you if I knew or not. I would think my parents knew. You could see the, what was the emblem on the plane. The bright red circles, of course. Yeah. So they knew. Yes. Even if you didn't know. I didn't know. Yeah. And then I, you know, I've been collecting stories. And again, it seems like it takes a long time, but 50 years later, I connected with the Japanese, the Japanese neighbors that lived over in the Japanese part of Pearl City Peninsula. And they were, you know, they grew and they were farming. And Thompson and Zawa, every morning he and his dad in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor had their fishing chair. And so, you know, and they're fishing. And Thompson says, out of the corner of my eyes, I see these black dots. And they get closer and they get closer. And they sound like buzzing, buzzing bees. And my dad and I look, Thompson is like about 10. So he's a little, little bit older than I am. Did that every Sunday morning of the world. But this Sunday, they literally watch the Utah take the first bombs. Thompson's dad grabs him by the ear and he says, son, we are in big trouble. And so they run home a couple of blocks to the house. And by that time, Thompson's father spoke English very well. So he was the spokesman for the neighbors. And they had all gathered wanting to know what to do. And it wasn't long before the Army trucks showed up and took them up to Waimanu Home Road. And that's where they stayed out all night. So they, of course, knew and scared. And Thompson and I have stayed in touch for a long, long time. Right. Well, we need to take a break. And we will be right back. And then I want you to tell us about your books and your doll and all the other memorabilia that you have. Okay, we'll be right back. Aloha and Richard Concepcion, the host of Hispanic Hawaii. You can watch my show every other Tuesday at 2 p.m. We will bring you entertainment, educational, and also we'll tell you what is happening right here within our community. Think Tech Hawaii. Aloha. Welcome to Sister Power. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, where we motivate, educate, and power and inspire all women. We are live here every other Thursday at 4 p.m. And we welcome you to join us here at Sister Power. Aloha and thank you. I'm Marcia and we are back. And this is a special, special day because we are visiting with my new best friend, Miranda. She is what we are calling the Pearl Harbor Girl. Let's see this. Pearl Harbor Child is sub. I am trying to say Pearl Harbor Girl, but she's Pearl Harbor Child. And she is and was a witness to the bombing of Pearl Harbor because that's where she lived. So we are here today to talk about all of the wonderful books she has written about her experience as a child at that time. What do we have here? Oh, we'll start here then of course. Actually, because of what I've written, I'm the girl here. This is St. Andrews Priory uniform. We just drove by it. This is a gas mask that everyone had to carry from age two on up. And that's my dog, Hula Girl. And she really could hula. So I tell my story and then I share some other stories because of this being an American child wanting to share American history in the classrooms and and with anyone interested in American history. About two years ago, American girl doll called here's her outside cover. Let's see if we can, there's her outside box. And at the bottom you can see her name is Nanea. And here she is dressed in her meet and greet clothes. And it was a wonderful experience and gosh, I was just very honored to be able to be a part of her. And this is an additional outfit, is that it? It is one of them. It is not as readily available. The reason I have her or have this outfit with me is because of my connection with the Red Cross. As a candy striper. And Nanea, you know, Nanea's object during her growing up in 1941 as a child of World War II was to give and to help and to kakua and family. And part of what she did was volunteering her time along with her mother and her aunties at the Red Cross. So, you know, we worked on her clothes, we worked on her eye color, worked on the books. There are three books that will tell her story. Her Two, Two Lady lives up in Kaimaki and has a store. Of course, she's a hula dancer. I was a hula dancer. My mother was a kumu. So, my favorite outfit is the ones where she dances. And she has her tea leaf skirt, the head lay, kopeh A4, her wrist and her ankles. And then she also has a holoku, when she's doing her slow hula. Because of, again, sharing this history, Nanea then will help me reach a much, much larger audience through her story. And Red Cross then, as we were getting finished with this, they said, is there a charity we'd like to affiliate with that? And I said, is there ever, as a retired mental health therapist, I am a volunteer mental health Red Cross worker, 5,000 dolls from American Girl doll have been distributed to all of the Red Cross chapters across the country. And Hawaii, you know, this is their 100th year anniversary. So on Saturday, they will be distributing theirs through their Red Cross party and then on Monday at Tripler. So I'm so excited about that. I have to tell the audience, because I remember World War II also, but I also remember that my mother was a Candace striper. And I think everybody's mother was a Candace striper. Made bandages. And you knitted, even though you didn't know how to knit or what it was, but you wanted to do your part. Look at the other books. Because of my Pearl Harbor child story, veterans brought me their stories. I put them at the back of the Pearl Harbor child book, but one story deserved a book of its own. Pearl Harbor Warriors is the story of Richard Fisk, who was a Marine bugler on the West Virginia. And the Japanese pilot. And you can see Richard up there on the bridge. And that was where he watched the torpedo bombers come in. And his ship is going to sink that morning with six torpedoes. Captain Vinyan issues men overboard, abandon ship. And so Richard dives into the waters, voiding the burning oil, and makes his way to Fort Island. And that's how he survives. Well, Richard was a dear friend of mine. And he told the story about the bugle that morning. And with the explosion, it blew the bugle out of his mouth, but he held on to the mouthpiece. And even at his funeral, the mouthpiece was in his pocket. He kept it all those years. And if you had visited Pearl Harbor, he was one of those that would take you around and tell you stories. His days were Friday. So you would have seen him every Friday. And by the time that he had realized that he had to get over this hatred, and the horrible nightmares that he had, he had put together a scrapbook. So you, on every Friday, he would tell his story. Well, then after he got to meet Richard, Richard got to meet Zenji Abe and they became friends. Zenji Abe said, Richard, son, if I give you some money, would you buy two red roses? And would you take the two red roses out to the Arizona Memorial? Can you see this? And with your bugle, and would you blow taps? And Richard said, I will. And Abe said that one rose is for me in Japan. I am so sorry. And Richard said, I am so sorry we were kids. We loved our country. And the other rose, then, Richard is for you and all who died here. And so the last Sunday at two o'clock, he went out there, two red roses and bugle tucked under his arm and played taps. Hawaii has chosen this book to be the first simultaneously read book in five to five thousand students. And I was so honored for that. The other honor was his family asked me to take his bugle out for the very last time. I am so pleased. Let's see this. We have a minute left here. Let's see the coloring book now. Pearl Harbor asked if I would tell my story to the youngest, youngest, you know, we have so many families that come. So I tell the story of they don't have to read the words. They can just look at a few words. And then on the back, I want them, I want them to know what it was like to be a little kid, but I want them to come visit these places in person. So there's also a page for each, each one of those, the bullfin, the Missouri, the Pacific Aviation Museum and the Arizona. Well, this is quite a journey. I am absolutely delighted that you have spent this morning with us. And one last thing. This pin is one. Well, that's because it's more than 70 some years old, but this is what the women in the Sweethearts wore. It says remember. Yeah. And then the pearl, a life pearl stood for Pearl Harbor. And then the straf analysis. This, when we came back from the week from the cultural center, this is what I found in my yard. All of these pieces of shrapnel and we would pick up bullets and make whistles out of them. But all of these came from December 7th, 1941. This one we dug out of our kitchen right above the telephone. And my mom carried it in this purse. And then I've kept this, this shrapnel. And here's the bullet from our kitchen wall. Well, and the money that was used. The stamp books that all us kids, yes, yes, that way in the war. Yes. So kids could. Yes, we would participate. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. This has been a real pleasure. When will you be back to Hawaii? My high school reunion is in June. So I'll be back in June. So we'll look forward to talking again. All right. Thank you so much. Aloha. This has been a real treat.