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WWII Internment camp study by National Parks to hold public meetings

MEDIA RELEASE

WW II Internment Study – NPS Announces Public Input Opportunities
Scoping Sessions to be Held in February & March throughout Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaiʻi — The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting a “Special Resource Study” of Hawaiʻi’s World War II confinement sites to determine the best way to preserve the sites and share their history. Informational meetings and opportunities for public input are scheduled throughout Hawaiʻi during February and March and the public is invited to participate.

The U.S. Congress, under Public Law 111-88, directed the NPS to carry out this study because of the importance of the history of Hawaiʻi’s Japanese Americans and European Americans forcibly confined during World War II. Mainland sites such as Tule Lake and Manzanar, California and Minidoka, Idaho tell part of the story of the Japanese American Internment during WWII. In contrast, Hawaiʻi’s sites have received relatively little attention.

Preliminary studies have identified 13 sites in Hawaiʻi where individuals were confined for varying lengths of time between the start of the war in 1941 and its conclusion in 1945. The 13 sites are located on six islands in the State of Hawaiʻi: Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānaʻi, and Hawaiʻi.

The largest of all the sites in the State of Hawaiʻi was Honouliuli Gulch, located near Ewa, on Oʻahu, where more than 1200 individuals were confined between 1943 and 1945. Hundreds of individuals were processed through the U.S. Immigration Station in Honolulu and temporarily housed on Sand Island prior to the construction of the larger internment facility at Honouliuli. These individuals were primarily leaders of the Japanese American community, but also included German Americans and Italian Americans, and a number of prisoners of war.

The NPS will evaluate the significance of these sites and consider a range of preservation alternatives. Different alternatives will likely be appropriate for different sites and may include proposals for informational signage, educational programs, technical assistance, or where appropriate, possible management by the NPS or other preservation organizations. After the public scoping sessions, the NPS will develop a set of preservation alternatives and recommendations, which will be presented to the public for comment and then forwarded to Congress.

Informational meetings and opportunities for public input are scheduled throughout Hawaiʻi during February and March. Two sessions are planned each day to give the public opportunities to attend. Interested individuals can access the Honouliuli website to find out more about the study, sign up for the mailing list, or provide comments. Please check the website for updates: http://www.nps.gov/pwro/honouliuli/

SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS

Sunday, Feb. 27th     Honouliuli Day of     Japanese America Citizens League
(Booked to Capacity)  Remembrance           Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi

Tuesday, March 1st    Kona Outdoor Circle   76-6280 Kuakini Highway
3-5pm, 6-8pm                                Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

Tuesday, March 10th   Hawaiʻi Japanese Ctr  751 Kanoelehua Avenue
3-5pm, 6-8pm                                Hilo, HI 96720-4517

Thursday, March 17th  Mitchel Pauole Ctr    90 Ainoa Street
3-5pm, 6-8pm                                Kaunakakai, Molokai, HI 96748

Tuesday, March 22nd   Lānaʻi High & El      555 Fraser Avenue
3-5pm, 6-8pm                                Lānaʻi City, HI 96763

Thursday, March 24th  Nisei Veterans Ctr    Kahului Beach Road, (where
3-5pm, 6-8pm                                Kahului transitions with Wailuku)
                                            Kahului, Maui, HI 96733

Tuesday, March 29th   Kauaʻi Veterans Ctr   3125 Kapule Hwy # 1,
3-5pm, 6-8pm                                Lihue, Kauaʻi, HI 96766

Thursday, March 31st  WWII Valor            Education Center & Lanai
6-8pm                 in the Pacific        National Monument
                                            (Pearl Harbor Visitors Center)
                                            1 Arizona Memorial Road
                                            Honolulu, HI 96818

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