1940-1946 Federal Service

As tensions grew in Europe and the Pacific, President Franklin D. Roosevelt mobilized the nation’s citizen-soldiers. Executive Order No. 8551 (Sept. 25, 1940) called the Hawaiʻi National Guard into federal service and on Oct. 15, 1940, more than 1,600 Guardsmen of the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments reported to Schofield Barracks for what was initially planned as one year of active duty.

Community support was strong. Hawaiʻi residents and local businesses donated funds and supplies to assist their soldiers, who were often referred to proudly as “Hawaiʻi’s Own.” The regiments quickly built cantonments at Schofield Barracks and began intensive training.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the Hawaiʻi Guard was already on duty at coastal defense positions across Oʻahu and the neighbor islands. That evening, Master Sgt. David Akui of Company G, 298^th Infantry Regiment, captured the first Japanese prisoner of war in World War II, a submarine officer who had swum ashore after his midget sub grounded at Waimānalo.

In the months following the attack, the Guard was tasked with critical beach defense and construction projects on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, Maui, and Molokaʻi. Tragedy soon struck when an Army transport ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine while carrying newly recruited Soldiers enroute to join the 299th Infantry on Hawaiʻi Island. Survivors were rescued and brought to Hāna, Maui. Nine of them later served with the 298th Infantry Regiment, and eight eventually transferred to the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

In the spring of 1942, the War Department ordered the removal of Guardsmen of Japanese ancestry, leading to the formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion, which later became one of the most decorated units in U.S. Army history. The reorganization weakened the 299th Infantry Regiment, which was inactivated in June 1942, and its soldiers absorbed into the 298^th Infantry Regiment.

The 298^th Infantry Regiment deployed to the South Pacific in 1943, serving in Guadalcanal and later Espiritu Santo to provide security for ports and installations. By then, only about 15% of the regiment was made up of original Hawaiʻi Guardsmen, with the rest consisting of local and mainland draftees.

By late 1944, most elements of the 298^th Infantry Regiment returned to Oʻahu. The Regiment was gradually inactivated, with only the 1^st Battalion remaining until January 1946. In total, the Hawaiʻi National Guard had served more than five continuous years on federal duty — longer than any other Hawaiʻi-based unit.

The Guardsmen’s service was marked by sacrifice, resilience and adaptation: from capturing the first Japanese prisoner of the war, losing comrades at sea, to sending Nisei soldiers into one of America’s most decorated combat units. At war’s end, the Guard reorganized in the Territory of Hawaiʻi, carrying forward its battle honors from the Central Pacific Campaign and its enduring reputation as “Hawaiʻi’s Own.”

Hawaii National Guard Still in Federal Service The year ending June 30, 1942, finds the Hawaii National Guard, consisting of the Territorial (State) Staff and Detachment, and the 298^th and 299^th Infantries still in federal service and contributing in no small measure to the defense of the Pacific Area and the Nation.

During this fiscal year the 298^th Infantry, under command of Colonel Wilhelm A. Andersen, augmented by many selectees, was stationed on the Island of Oahu. The 299^th Infantry, under command of Colonel Gordon C. Ross, was also enlarged by the inception of selectees, and stationed on the Islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai and Molokai. Certain officers and enlisted men of the Territorial Staff and Detachment are continuing on duty with the Territorial Selective Service Headquarters in Honolulu.

–1941-1942 Annual Report pp.8

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED?

By CPL. AMBROSE B. PARE

. . .

298^th Infantry Regiment

Four years later, on August 17, 1923, the regiment was redesignated as the 298^th Infantry Regiment and seventeen years later, on October 15, 1940, was once more inducted into Federal service at Schofield Barracks, for World War II.

With the exception of the 1^st Battalion, the 298^th Infantry Regiment was inactivated, after four and a half years of service during World War II, on the 10^th of April 1945. The 1^st Battalion stayed on for a few months but was finally inactivated on the 22^nd of January 1946. The regiment received battle honors for the Central Pacific Campaign.

. . .

299^th Infantry Regiment

Shortly before the United States entered World War II the 299^th Infantry Regiment was inducted into Federal Service on the 15^th of October, 1940. On June 20^th, 1942, the regiment was inactivated and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 298^th Infantry.

– 1955 August The Hawaii Guardsmen pp. 14-15

The HAWAII NATIONAL GUARD Past and Present

. . .

By order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the National Guard of Hawaii was again ordered into active service in October 1940 and was on duty at Schofield when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The first Japanese prisoner of World War II was captured at Waimanalo by an island Guardsman, MSGT David Akui, who was on guard duty on the evening of the 7^th. The prisoner, a Lieutenant Commander, had abandoned his two-man submarine after it went aground on coral at Waimanalo. The other member of the small, two-man submarine took his own life aboard the craft.

Composition of the Guard at this time was two infantry regiments-the 298^th and 299^th. The 299^th was inactivated in June 1942, with all personnel and equipment transferred to the 298^th. The reorganized regiment went into combat in the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific from 1943 to 1944. They were released from Federal service in 1946 at which time the Hawaii National Guard was reorganized.

– 1964 December The Hawaii Guardsman pp. 7

75 YEARS OF HISTORY

by SGT Ronald Fellows

In 1940 war in Europe and Asia again brought about mobilization of the Guard, and on October 15, orders were issued calling the 298^th and 299^th Infantry regiments to active duty.

December 7, 1941, found the Hawaii Guardsmen serving up defenses along the coast of Windward Oahu and it was here that the first Japanese prisoner of war was taken-by Guardsmen.

Liemenant Paul Plybon and Sergeant David Akui, members of Company “G,” 298^th Infantry, sighted and captured a two-man Japanese submarine that had washed ashore at Waimanalo. One of the occupants, an ensign was captured by the two Guardsmen. The other crewman was found dead inside the craft.

Lieutenant Plybon was later killed in the South Pacific and Sergeant Akui served through out most of the war with the famed “Merrill’s Marauders.” The 299^th Infantry was deactivated in 1942 and its members transferred to the 298^th and other Army units .

Known as “Hawaii’s Own” Regiment the 298^th left Hawaii in September 1943 serving until November, 1944 in the New Hebrides and Guadalcanal theaters of operations.

Among the veterans of Guadalcanal, although not a member of the Guard at the time, is Brigadier General Frederick A Schaefer III, presently commanding general of the Hawaii Army National Guard.

Many other names well known to Hawaii served in the Guard; among them David Kahanamoku, brother of Duke Kahanamoku rose to the rank of captain. Farrant L. Turner, late Secretary of Hawaii, was also a member of the 298^th before transferring to take command of the newly formed 100^th Battalion. James Lovell, vice president of Lewers and Cooke, became the 100^th Battalion’s executive officer upon transfer from the National Guard.

In the summer of 1942, 1406 enlisted and 28 officers of Japanese ancestry were transferred from the Guard and organized into the 100^th Battalion, later to become the Army’s most decorated unit.

Following the war, many of the former Guardsmen who went into the 100^th Battalion and 442^nd Infantry returned to the Guard. Others, who had not previously been members of the National Guard, became Guardsmen after the war. Among chem are Brigadier General Francis S. Takemoto, first Nisei to achieve this rank and now commanding general of the 29^th Infantry Brigade, and Colonel Edward M. Yoshimasu, chief of staff of the Hawaii Army National Guard.

With the end of World War II, the Hawaii National Guard was again reorganized into two regimental combat teams, the 298^th and 299^th.

– 1968 Spring The Hawaii Guardsman pp. 17-18

The pressure to do away with the Guard subsided as international pressures President Franklin Roosevelt activated Guard units throughout the United States, including Hawaii’s units, on October 14, 1940 for one year of active duty training. This was later extended for 18 months. Before their term of service expired, Pearl Harbor was attacked. The Hawaii National Guard spent the rest of the war on active duty until it was restored to the Territory in late 1946.

– 1971 Fall The Hawaii Guardsman pp. 22

World War II activation remembered

In anticipation of the United States’ involvement in World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called on National Guard units across the nation to help fill the ranks of the newly expanded active Army. Hawaii’s 298^th and 299^th Infantry were two of the National Guard units called out.

The Hawaii units were tapped in the second increment of the presidential callup which inducted soldier from as far away as New York and Puerto Rico. The 298^th, stationed at the Honolulu Armory, was commanded by Col. Wilhelm A. Andersen. Col. Gordon C. Ross was commander of the 299^th, then stationed at lolani Barracks. Both infantry units were to serve for a 12-month period. (This period was later extended an additional 18 months.)

On Oct. 15, 1940, the two units’ 1,700+ members reported to Schofield Barracks for intensive training and preparation. Patriotism was high and there was wides spread support for the Guardsmen. To assist the young men in settling into their station camps, local residents and organizations collected donations to help pay for the soldiers’ personal items not provided by the Federal Government. The local media proudly referred to the men of the 298^th and 299^th as “Hawaii’s Own.”

On Dec. 8, 1941, a Hawaii Guardsman captured the first Japanese prisoner of World War II. On guard duty at Bellows Field, Master Sgt. David Akui captured Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, commander of a two-man midget submarine. Sakamaki had swam ashore after being grounded during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the morning earlier.

– 1990 July – September Pūpūkahi pp. 8

Hawaii Guard activated for WWII

In the late 1930s, as war loomed in Europe and the Pacific, it became clear to previously neutral countries that regional conflicts were escalating into a global contest. Many countries braced for possible entry into another world war, including the United States, which activated reservists to fill a newly expanded active Army. The National Guard of Hawaii was tapped in the second increment of the federal call-up, its 298^th and 299^th Infantry Regiments to serve with the Army’s 24^th Infantry Division in the South Pacific.

American patriotism was at an all-time high and there was widespread support for the territory’s citizen soldiers, who would later be dubbed “Hawaii’s Own.” Elaborate farewell ceremonies were held on the neighbor islands and local businesses and residents donated monies to purchase personal items and recreational equipment for the men. On Oct. 15, 1940, more than 1,600 National Guard soldiers from throughout the territory reported to Schofield Barracks, Oahu, for military training and preparation.

The soldiers settled into military life quickly and completely. Within 14 working days, the Third Regiment, Combat Engineers, 298^th Infantry, had constructed a wooden cantonment in the area of Schofield known as National Guard Woods. Barracks construction for the 299^th followed, with soldiers moving into their new quarters on Dec. 3. Col. Wilhelm A. Andersen was the commander of the 298^th Infantry, stationed at the Honolulu Armory. Col. Gordon C. Ross commanded the 299^th Infantry, then stationed at Iolani Barracks.

In early April, the territorial legislature expressed concern about the vulnerability of neighbor islands to enemy attack. Later that month, neighbor island units began returning to their home stations. The units were involved in numerous military construction projects and played major roles in building facilities at Hilo Airport, Hawaii; Barking Sands, Kauai; and Homestead Field, Molokai.

For many months after the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, both regiments were assigned to beach defense duties. On Oahu, Guard soldiers took over for active Army forces deployed from Schofield.

In spring 1942, Guardsmen of Japanese descent were formed into a separate group that later became the 100^th Infantry Battalion. The 299^th Infantry was so depleted by this reorganization that the regiment was inactivated and its remaining members transferred to the 298^th.

Due to numerous personnel changes and transfers, Hawaii Guard soldiers comprised only 15 percent of the 298^th in 1943 when the regiment was sent to Guadalcanal and Espiritu Santo to guard port facilities. (Local and mainland draftees made up the majority of the unit, in nearly equal numbers.)

Most elements returned to Oahu in late 1944, and all but one of the battalions were deactivated on Oct. 10, 1945. Separation papers sent to the National Guard of Hawaii headquarters showed that local Guardsmen served longer and accrued more service points than any other Hawaii military group.

Compiled from Hawaii National Guard historical files.

– 1991 October – December Pūpūkahi pp. 8

Honoring the Soldiers of the Hawaiʻi National Guard who Lost Their Lives

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