Off the news: Native Hawaiian ‘colonists’ are honored

More than 80 years later, a group of Hawaii’s sons have been recognized for their little-known, but nonetheless courageous, service to country. From 1935 to 1942, 135 mainly Native Hawaiian men volunteered to live and work on five inhospitable Pacific islands — Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Enderbury and Canton.

Of the Hui Panala‘au, or “society of colonists,” three members died during the effort to extend U.S. domain — one of a ruptured appendix and two from Japanese bombing during WWII. Last week, President Joe Biden officially acknowledged Hui Panala‘au’s contributions and renamed the Remote Island Marine National Monument as the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.