Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Francis Takemoto, first Native Hawai'ian brigadier general in US Army

Francis Takemoto, born November 28, 1912 in Honolulu, Hawai'i, graduated from University of Hawai'i with a degree in chemistry in 1935. He participated in the ROTC program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in the Army Reserve. 

In March 1943, he reported for active duty and sent to train with the 442nd Infantry in Mississippi.  In March 1944, he was transferred to the 100th Infantry Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division in Italy.  He earned a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart, after receiving a shrapnel wound to the side of his head, for his WWII service.

Takemoto was released from active duty in January 1946, and promoted to captain in the Army Reserve in September 1946. He was promoted to colonel in July 1960.  President Lyndon Johnson nominated him to be Brigadier general in the Army and Takemoto was confirmed by the US Senate in February 1964. 

He retired in May 1968. He passed away in May 2002 in Honolulu. 

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: James Smith, first Native Hawai'ian to win Medal of Honor

 

I cannot find much information on Seaman Smith.  He was born July 5(?), 1838 in Hawai'i prior to it becoming a US territory.  He immigrated to the US and joined the Navy.  He was stationed aboard the USS Kansas near Greytown, Nicaragua on April 12, 1872, when the ship's captain and several members of the crew were drowning.  

His citation states that "Smith displayed great coolness and self-possession at the time Comdr. A. F. Crosman and others were drowned near Greytown, Nicaragua, 12 April 1872, and by extraordinary heroism and personal exertion, prevented great loss of life."

I have not been able to find any information on the incident, so I don't know what happened or what Seaman Smith did at that time.

Smith was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery July 9, 1872 making him the first Native Hawai'ian to win the honor.  

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Dr. Isabella Abbott, first Native Hawai'ian to receive PhD in science

Isabella Aiona Abbot, born June 20, 1919 in Hana, Maui in Hawai'ian Territory, became the first Native Hawai'ian to receive a PhD in science.  Growing up, her mother taught her about edible Hawai'ian seaweeds and native plants.  

She received her undergraduate degree in Botany at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa in 1941, a MS in botany from the University of Michigan in 1942, and a PhD in botany from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950, becoming the first native Hawai'ian to receive a Doctor of Philosophy. 

She became a leading expert on Pacific marine algae, and in 1972, Stanford University promoted her to full professor of Biology, the first woman and first person of color to hold this position.  She authored eight books and more than 150 publications.  She is credited with discovering over 200 species, and several are named after her.

She passed away in August 2008 in Honolulu.

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Peter Pitchlynn, Choctaw Ambassador to US

Peter Pitchlynn, born January 30, 1806 in Noxubee County, Mississippi, was a member of the Choctaw Nation.  He graduated from the University of Nashville in 1827 in a graduating class of 12 students. 

Because of his Choctaw and European-American ancestries, he served as an interpreter and liaison between the Choctaw and US Government.  He was relocated to Indian Territory in the 1830s with his family, including his mother, who died there.  Hers is the oldest known grave in Oklahoma.

He was in Washington DC addressing national affairs of the Choctaw when the Civil War started.  He returned to the Choctaw Nation, hoping to stay neutral, but their territory was invaded in May 1861 and were forced into an alliance with the Confederacy.

He became the Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation in 1864 and returned to Washington in 1866 to reestablish diplomatic relations with the US.  He hoped to avoid attempts to colonize Indian Territory.  

He met with Queen Emma of Hawai'i at some point, conducting a cultural exchange. It is the only time in history of bilateral relations between the Choctaw Nation and the Hawai'ian kingdom.

Pitchlynn passed away in 1881 in Washington and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.  

Poʻo-uli, a Hawai'ian bird, declared extinct 2021

The po'o-uli, or black-faced honeycreeper, is an endemic bird on Maui in Hawai'i, was declared extinct September 29, 2021.  The last known two birds were sighted in 2004.

The po'o-uli was discovered in 1973.  Its diet consisted of snail, insects and spiders, but invasive species of plants and animals, such as hogs, cats, and rats, contributed to its decline.  When they were first discovered, there were only 76 birds per square kilometer.  By 1985, the number slipped to only 8 per km2. 

Hawai'i established Hanawi Natural Area Reserve to protect endangered flora and fauna, but only 3 birds existed by 1997. US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the po'o-uli extinct, September 29, 2021.

Happy birthday, Lady Deathstrike Kelly Hu!

Beautiful and badass actress Kelly Hu, born February 13, 1968 in Honolulu, Hawai'i, starred in X2: X-Men United as super-villain Lady Deathstrike.  She's also appeared in the DC Universe as White Tiger in Arrow, the series about the Green Arrow.  

She's performed on a number of my other favorite shows:  Warehouse 13, The Orville, and NCIS: New Orleans. She has provided voices for two of the Scooby-Doo movies! 

In 1985, Hu was the first Asian-American to be crowned Miss Teen USA.  She was crowned Miss Hawai'i in 1993 and finished in the Top 6 at the Miss USA pageant. 

Happy birthday, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur!

Megan McArthur, born August 30, 1971 in Honolulu, Hawaii, went into space on Atlantis (STS-125) as mission specialist to service the Hubble Space Telescope in May 2009.  It was the last mission to the Hubble. 

She is scheduled to be a member of SpaceX Crew-2 which will launch sometime next year.

She is married to fellow astronaut Robert Behnken.

Happy birthday, Aquaman!

Insanely sexy actor Jason Momoa, who played DC Comic's Aquaman on the big screen, was born August 1, 1979 in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in Iowa.

He appeared in Game of Thrones as Khal Drogo, before landing the role of Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 and Justice League in 2017.  He starred as Aquaman in his own movie in 2018 with a sequel planned for release in 2022.

He will play Duncan Idaho in the upcoming release of Frank Herbert's Dune.

Ellison Onizuka, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1946

Ellison Onizuka, born June 24, 1946 in Kealakekua, Hawai'i, made a trip into space, but was killed aboard the space shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed upon launch in January 1986. He was the first Asian-American astronaut and the first of Japanese ancestry to go into space.

His first mission was as mission specialist aboard Discovery (STS-51-C) in January 1985. He spent 3 days in space.

He was aboard Challenger (STS-51-L) a year later and passed away during its destruction.

George, the last Hawaiian tree snail, dies; species extinct

"Lonesome" George, the last known member of the Hawaiian tree snail species has died, the the species is now extinct.  He was raised in a breeding facility at the University of Hawaii in Manoa in the early 2000s.  George died January 1, 2019.

Hawaiian tree snails feed on the "gunk" that grows on leaves, which reduces the abundance of fungi and that helps protect the host tree from diseases.  Biologists think healthy snail populations could have helped prevent a new fungal pathogen that is currently wiping out native trees.

The reason for the snails' decline is an invasive species, the rosy wolfsnail, introduced to Hawaii to eat other the giant African snails in 1995.  Unless this invasive species is eliminated, there will not be a safe place for the indigenous species.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/01/george-the-lonely-snail-dies-in-hawaii-extinction/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=twitter::cmp=editorial::add=tw20190108animals-lonelytreesnail::rid=&sf205602434=1

Book review - "Murder Casts a Shadow" by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl

I picked up this book when we were in Hawai’i two years ago, looking for inspiration for my own Hawai’ian mystery.  Kneubuhl is a Honolulu playwright and writer for a television series “Biography Hawai’i”.   It is the first book in a series of mysteries set in 1930s Hawai’i.

Set in 1935 Honolulu, the story opens as the new year starts when a museum curator is found murdered.  A priceless painting is stolen from the museum at the same time.  (I felt a Daniel Silva-esque novel coming on but was quickly appeased.)  Kneubuhl’s sleuths are a British-speaking Samoan-born Ned Manusia and Mina Beckwith, a Honolulu socialite and newspaper reporter of Polynesian descent.  Despite the fact, Mina’s twin sister Nyla is married to a local police detective Todd Forrest, Ned and Mina take on the mystery themselves, since Ned brought paintings from England for display.

It isn’t long before the painting is recovered.  With art theft removed as a motive for the murder, Ned and Mina have to determine what is.  By now, more people are killed and they stumble upon a possible cover-up of the U.S. government having a hand in Hawai’i’s last king’s death, over forty years before.  King Kalekaua died in San Francisco in 1891.  The official cause of death is listed as Bright’s disease, an inflammation of the kidneys, but Kneubuhl’s story entertains the idea that he was poisoned to pave the way for the U.S. government to end the monarch and annex the islands.

Not really a stretch of the imagination.

Kneubuhl infuses a lot of history, imagery and the environment of mid-1930s Hawai’i but they come across as data dumps and tend to take the reader out of the story.  Also, she describes Mina’s and Nyla’s clothes in every scene but unnecessarily.

Oh, well.  It’s still a good read.

3 🌈🌈🌈 out of 5

Book review - McDougal's Honolulu Mysteries

I was a bit confused reading McDougal's Honolulu Mysteries, an anthology, edited by Glen Grant.  According to the notes, the stories are oral histories from Arthur McDougal, a detective in 1920's-1930's Honolulu.  Hawai'i is U.S. territory, not a state.  People still remember, and are bitter about the end of, the monarchy.  The book is more detective noir fiction, rather than a whodunit.  More answers by fist, instead of the little, gray cells.

At the end of each story, Grant inserts a note discussing the validity of the events in McDougal's adventures, which in very few of them, can he.  Therefore, my question is: Was McDougal a real person?  I can't tell and I can't find out, either.  It took away from the enjoyment of the book (a little) because it read as McDougal is a fictional character.

Still, the book was a fun read.  I most enjoyed the first and last stories, which had elements of the paranormal.  And some were true whodunits.

The glimpse into Honolulu's past was one of the pluses of the book.  The stories, not in chronological order, occur from just after WWI to 1934.  Places, events, and events of the era give the stories an authentic feel.

McDougal's Honolulu Mysteries: Case Studies from the Life of a Honolulu Detective is a good read. It's more along the lines of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammet than Agatha Christie.

Kilauea Caldera, Hawai'i

We landed in Hilo, Hawai'i and drove to Volcano National Park. 

Steam vents, where steam is released from ground.

The Kilauea Caldera was active that day and we could see it "splattering".  Notice the orange flames just visible in the center of the photo.

The area around the volcano looks like an alien, barren landscape.

Ioa Valley, Maui, Hawai'i

The beautiful Ioa Valley, Maui, Hawai'i

Kahului in the distance

Road to Hana, Maui

Maui was our first stop on the cruise.  We rented a car and took the Road to Hana which is said to be one of the most beautiful drives anywhere.  It certainly had some breathtaking views.

Waterfalls were in abundance and lively due to rains from Hurricanes Lester and Madeline.

Waves crashing over rocks at Waianapanapa State Park

Downtown Honolulu

Iolani Palace

With a few hours to kill before we were to board the cruise ship, we drove around downtown Honolulu.  Norwegian Cruise Lines had contacted us saying they were moving our departure time from 7pm to 4pm to get ahead of Hurricane Lester.  Lester moved north so we departed at our original time.  Oh, well.

A huge monkey pod tree.

Huge banyan trees.

Statue of King Kamehameha I in front of the Hawai'i Supreme Court building.

Kawaiaha'o Church - the Westminster Abbey of Hawai'i

Unique buildings