Hawaii under martial law was like ‘military dictatorship’ (1941-1944)

[damnedifIknow]

HAWAII — Islanders suffered under nearly three years of martial law from 1941-1944; so oppressive that it was later described by a federal judge as a “military dictatorship.” All manner of civilian liberties were replaced by oppressive military orders enforced by American soldiers."

*In declaring martial law, all forms of civilian law were suspended. An entire new system of justice and order was instituted and controlled at the absolute discretion of Lt. Gen. Short — the newly declared “Military Governor” of the islands.

The transfer of power meant that all civilian courts would be closed, and all government functions — federal, territorial, and municipal — would be placed under military control. The U.S. Constitution was suspended and civilians no longer guaranteed any individual rights or protections from the government. Civilians had no freedom of speech, self-defense, assembly, or protections from from unreasonable search and seizures, inter alia."

*After the war, federal district court magistrate Judge J. Frank McLaughlin condemned the conduct of martial law, saying, “Gov. Poindexter declared lawfully martial law but the Army went beyond the governor and set up that which was lawful only in conquered enemy territory namely, military government which is not bound by the Constitution. And they… threw the Constitution into the discard and set up a military dictatorship"

http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/ww2-hawaii-martial-law/

[KamaAina]

1. There is a marvelous exhibit on that at the Army Museum in Waikiki

They had their own money, stamped "HAWAII", because of fears that the Japanese would try to undermine the U.S. dollar by counterfeiting. All the beaches were strung with barbed wire. And the period began the islands' infamous love affair with Spam; fresh meat was no longer being shipped in, so only pork from Okinawan families who kept pigs was available. Several of them made a killing in the restaurant business.

[neverforget]

3. That museum is a really good one. When I lived in Waikiki for a year, I visited it

a few times. Hard to imagine what life was like in Hawaii during the war.

[roamer65]

7. It wasn't so much a fear of counterfeiting.

The notes were embossed with "HAWAII" so they could be declared invalid if Japan invaded and they fell into their hands. They also had a reddish brown treasury seal, instead of the normal blue, red or green ones. We also issued notes with yellow treasury seals in 1942 for the North Africa invasion so those could be invalidated if they fell into German hands.

The sorta neat thing I have is a 20 Yen Japanese war bond. Guess that investment didn't pan out so well for the purchaser.

[FSogol]

2. Thanks Obama.

[SidDithers]

4. That can't be right. FDR was President...

and he was perfect, beyond criticism.



Sid

[KamaAina]

5. All those fairy tales about internment camps for Japanese-Americans are bogus, too.

(note: Only one small one of these existed on O'ahu: they would have had to fence in about a third of the island!)

[Ward]

6. But he was reacting to a deadly air attack on U.S. soil by by sworn enemies

of this country that our intelligence community at the time had been warning him about.

So of course the American people supported this and many other breaches of the constitution.

[JI7]

10. it's considered a smear to even mention this

[jwirr]

12. And I do not think Hawaii was a state. That being said I think it was bad to place them under

Last edited Mon Dec 8, 2014, 10:04 PM - Edit history (1)

military rule without rights protections. I was only 3 months old when Pearl Harbor happened but I am also German American. My dad and mother talked about having their telephone conversations monitored and they could not use the German language anymore. There may have been other things also but I do not remember.

I have kind of always resented the lose of the language. Ironically I had to take a language class in college for my degree and I took German - a language that I would have known from birth if not for WWII.

I have also heard that there were camps for Germans also but I think those were for Germans captured and brought over here.

I think this is a hard issue to deal with in time of war. Many years after this there were still old German American men in my church who would say "Ducheland Liberalus" Germany live forever. Our veteran's were furious at them. Should they have been totally trusted when they were still loyal to Germany and sending money over there to support the cause?

German spelling may incorrect.

[Cha]

13. Hawaii was not a state until August 21, 1959

[markpkessinger]

14. FYI . . .

The correct spelling: Deutschland über Alles. And it's meaning is a bit more ominous than "Germany live forever." In fact, it means "Germany over all." That's 'over' as in 'above' or 'triumphing over'.

[jwirr]

17. Thank you. I heard the phrase and knew the US vets were furious but no one bother to explain

what they were saying. And that answers my question. They were not to be trusted. I took German in college but they also stayed away from that phrase.

[steve2470]

15. can't be right, someone has forged history

To be serious, in 70 years or so, people will have similar discussions about President Obama. IMHO.

[PragmaticLiberal]

18. Right.

And according to some DUers ANY criticism of FDR means you're not a real Democrat.

[roamer65]

8. Not surprising.

After an attack like Pearl Harbor and being subject to a possible Japanese invasion, Hawaii basically became an armed camp. I love seeing all the antique advertisements and government posters from WW2. It was really a different mindset than we are used of today.

[Xithras]

9. Hawaii wasn't a U.S. state in 1944. Did the Constitution apply?

I know that in Balzac v. Puerto Rico (1922) the United States Supreme Court ruled that residents of unincorporated United States territories do NOT automatically have the same Constitutional rights as residents of the incorporated U.S. states...a finding that STILL stands today. In that case, a man was denied a jury trial, and challenged it on 6th Amendment grounds. The USSC stated that Puerto Rican residents don't have Constitutional rights unless Congress explicitly extends them, EVEN IF CONGRESS EXTENDS THE RIGHT OF CITIZENSHIP, because the Constitution doesn't automatically apply to unincorporated U.S. territories. When those rights are granted, the U.S. still reserves the right to withdraw them at any time.

FWIW, this same situation still exists today in places like the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, etc. Constitutional rights are a "benevolent gift" that we extend to citizens in those territories, but there is no legal mandate that we do so.

[NightWatcher]

11. "Like" a military dictatorship? Isn't that what "Martial Law" is defined as?

Of course that is how it was run. I'm not saying it was right, but that's how it was handled.

[damnedifIknow]

16. Blame Netflix for this post

I've been watching several docs about this time period and find it extremely interesting. It's a a sad period I admit with all the inhumanity but it is something that caught my attention.