Battle of Niihau

[Subdeacon Joe]

#OTD 1941, a Japanese pilot who had crash landed on a remote Hawaiian island during the the attack on Pearl Harbor was killed in the "Battle of Niihau". Pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi had recruited locals of Japanese descent and then terrorized the islanders before a Hawaiian couple managed to overpower him. Nishikaichi shot Benehakaka Kanahele three times but the big Hawaiian was able to pick up the pilot and hurl him into a stone wall. Ella     

Kanahele then bashed Nishkaichi with a rock until Benehakaka ended the pilot's reign of terror by stabbing him with a knife. The incident gave rise to the local saying, "never shoot a Hawaiian three times, you may make him angry"

 

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[PowderRiverCowboy]

A little more on It  there was also a movie made called "Enemy Within "  I will forgo the Hawaiian views on it 

https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/government-politics/2016-12-08/1941-the-battle-of-niihau

[Subdeacon Joe]

"He was a Paniolo.  Great big Hawaiian cowboy used to throwing around sheep and goats and things.  And, apparently, the Japanese pilot shot him, which made him mad and he grabbed the pilot by the neck and belt and picked him up over his head.  And the pilot shot again and the round went uncomfortably close to his private parts.  Probably made Benny even madder.  He threw the pilot down.  Now Ella, Benny’s wife, picked up a rock and brained the pilot.  And Benny took a knife and cut the pilot’s throat. "

 

San Diego County where I was raised has a fair number of Pacific Islanders that fit the "great big" description.  For a lot of the young men a good time was to go out drinking, beat the snot out of each other, then the next day get together and laugh and talk about what a great time it was.  One on the beach in Carlsbad offered me a Fosters (never mind that I was only about 14 at the time), which he opened by biting it.  Good times.

[Sixgun Sheridan]

If somebody shot me with a Nambu it'd piss me off as well. I love collecting WW2 firearms but I never had the desire to own one of those ugly-looking things.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Niihau.  Interesting name. If you say it with the right intonations it means how are you in Mandarin and a few other Chinese dialects.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

It only took a couple incidents like this to justify the Japanese internment camps for the west coast.  There were numerous spies at Pearl Harbor before the attack flying around and photographing battleship row.  There was also a large Japanese population in southern California.  While the internment camps are distasteful viewed through today's eyes, they were probably necessary at the time and probably saved American lives.  We will never know.

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

On 12/14/2022 at 4:11 PM, Subdeacon Joe said:

"He was a Paniolo.  Great big Hawaiian cowboy used to throwing around sheep and goats and things.  And, apparently, the Japanese pilot shot him, which made him mad and he grabbed the pilot by the neck and belt and picked him up over his head.  And the pilot shot again and the round went uncomfortably close to his private parts.  Probably made Benny even madder.  He threw the pilot down.  Now Ella, Benny’s wife, picked up a rock and brained the pilot.  And Benny took a knife and cut the pilot’s throat. "

 

San Diego County where I was raised has a fair number of Pacific Islanders that fit the "great big" description.  For a lot of the young men a good time was to go out drinking, beat the snot out of each other, then the next day get together and laugh and talk about what a great time it was.  One on the beach in Carlsbad offered me a Fosters (never mind that I was only about 14 at the time), which he opened by biting it.  Good times.

This is why God invented rugby. Specifically to stop large Pacific Islanders from ruling the world.

[Utah Bob #35998]

11 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

It only took a couple incidents like this to justify the Japanese internment camps for the west coast.  There were numerous spies at Pearl Harbor before the attack flying around and photographing battleship row.  There was also a large Japanese population in southern California.  While the internment camps are distasteful viewed through today's eyes, they were probably necessary at the time and probably saved American lives.  We will never know.

It will forever be a black mark on the history of the United States. Fear, ignorance and racism fueled the decision to violate the rights of thousands of Americans. 

 

 

 

 

[watab kid]

i agree , from what i heard from relatives alive at the time the german POWs in idaho were treated better than these american citizens , my father faught in the pacific yet he condemned it all his life