New books examine issues surrounding WWII

“COUNTDOWN TO PEARL HARBOR: THE TWELVE DAYS TO THE ATTACK”

Steve Twomey (Simon & Schuster, $30)

By late November 1941, military intelligence had reported that Japan was planning a strike against the U.S. in the Pacific, Pulitzer Prize-winner Steve Twomey writes in his suspenseful “Countdown to Pearl Harbor.” However, Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, the commander of the Pacific fleet, failed to take basic precautions, such as installing a torpedo net at Pearl Harbor, and did not take action when a destroyer captain reported, an hour before the attack, that he had fired upon a Japanese submarine “within sight of the harbor.”

Today, the full picture of what led to the successful Japanese surprise attack is finally available, thanks to evidence obtained from various newly opened World War II archives and declassified documents in the United States, Japan, the former Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. Twomey’s deft and varied portrayals make a good, tight read, with scenes alternating between Japan, Oahu and Washington, D.C. On Dec. 6, writes Twomey, a Honolulu Japanese consulate spy sending missives full of minor errors “did get one thing absolutely correct, ‘It appears that no air reconnaissance is being conducted by the fleet air arm.’”

“I HAD A COMRADE”

Paul M. Sailer (Self-published, $34.99)

Ten real-life accounts of love and friendship during World War II — two of them partly set in Hawaii — are collected in Vietnam veteran Paul M. Sailer’s heartfelt “I Had a Comrade,” based on interviews he conducted with survivors.

Lt. Bill Healy, who’d been “aggravated” by “the slow pace around (Hickam) airfield,” was awakened on Dec. 7, 1941, by the distant sounds of explosions at Pearl Harbor. A B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber pilot, he went on to fly in the Pacific and European theaters.

Second Lt. Wingman Wah Kau Kong, a graduate of McKinley High School and the University of Hawaii, became the first Chinese-American fighter pilot in the European theater. He flew out of England in bad weather on his first mission, a daylight raid on Bremen, Germany.

It’s exciting stuff to read about, and photos of the dashing Kong and others round out this diligently produced collection with a foreword by Richard E. Cole, last surviving member of the Doolittle Raid against Japan in retaliation for Pearl Harbor.

“BAYONETS IN PARADISE: MARTIAL LAW IN HAWAI‘I DURING WORLD WAR II”

Harry N. and Jane L. Scheiber (University of Hawaii Press, $45)

This copiously researched book, which reveals how Hawaii came to fall under martial law after Pearl Harbor and what it did to the lives of residents, is a must-read, not only for Hawaii history buffs, but for anyone who cares about civil liberties and constitutional rights.

The territorial government relinquished all control over the islands to the U.S. Army until October 1944. It was the longest period in which an American civilian population was subjugated to military rule.

Claiming it was necessary for security, the Army imposed censorship, curfews, forced work assignments and trials without due process in military courts. Territorial Attorney General Garner Anthony, a defender of civil liberties, frequently locked horns with Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Green.

Laborers were shared between the private and military sectors. There was a shortage of fish, a local dietary staple, because the fishing industry was restricted by anti-Japanese legislators.

“The Scheibers brilliantly tell a story of military arrogance and overreach, in which a strong dash of prejudice against islanders of Japanese descent also played a part,” said Stanford University law professor Lawrence M. Friedman of the book.