Mauna Kea Oral History Appendix - Office of Mauna Kea Management

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No, Mary. She was younger, she was married to Texeira. I tell Freddy, “That’s Japanese
planes!” Then I hear all the big racket, and I called the telephone boss. “Yes, there’s big
racket downtown. What’s going on” I tell him, “They’re bombing Pearl Harbor!” He
couldn’t believe. “Well, I’m telling you, it’s Japanese planes.” I called the company
downtown, and asked, “What about Frank up at the station by himself” “Yes, you get
the company car and get the hell back up to the station.” They didn’t want him up there
by himself in this war.
That was Frank Souza
Yes. Only had the old company road. The old road down into Pearl Harbor, the battleship
row…that’s where the road turned. Then it went right straight down, head out towards
‘Ewa. So I had to go in through all the flats, and while the wife and I were going in
towards the airport, ‘cause the airport was down there that time. The Japanese plane
coming in from this side up, coming down over. I look up, I see the pilot and the two guns
inside. We can hear the bullets flying, and the wife making noise, I jam the gas. “Don’t tell
me, I can’t go any damn faster!” [chuckling].
[chuckling]
So, right through, we had to go down along the battleships. The Arizona had just been
hit. Oh, they were bombing, coming in for the second run, and we had to pass under all
those damn places. But we were lucky, it was only after they passed the road, that’s
when they were firing at those ships.
Right, right. You had to go up mauka Kunia or something past You were on your way
up to the station
Yes, we were along side. You get to the front of the gate, then we catch the road, follow
the pier, right straight down on the harbor. Along the edge of the harbor, on the side go
down. The battleships were all anchored inside, the crews, they were all the way inside
the harbor.
Oh, wow!
That’s why I said, “They didn’t have to come to Honolulu to spy on the Navy, you can
stay any place, you can sit on the hill, and with field glasses, you can see everything
that’s going on, count every ship.” I used to know, they’d have all the carriers, had four,
five carriers in the harbor. And they didn’t give a damn. I used to go with the captain, we
used to go running all through Pearl Harbor. I was working radio station, I’m a civilian. I
didn’t know how in the hell I can come in here, when other guys come here, they throw
‘em in jail. He said, “They don’t fool around with you, you’re with me…” They had the
radio station, they had the telephone exchange in Waipahu. The guy there and his wife
take care of that station. And that station comes out right in the harbor, so they had guys
guarding the harbor there. Had about ten army guys. Evening time they spend the time,
they go down to the harbor catch clams, look for oysters, look for the pearl inside.
Yes.
Bags full, they bring back. Him and the wife, they go with the army. Any time they go
around the harbor pick clams and all, they go.
Do you remember who that was Not Spike Adams
No. The only two I remembered is, Harverson and the wife. They were running the
telephone exchange.
Okay.
So, when did you come back to Waiki‘i after that
Mauna Kea– “Ka Piko Kaulana o ka ‘Äina”
Kumu Pono Associates LLC
A Collection of Oral History Interviews (HiMK67-050606) A:442