RECOLLECTION OF 1943

Story as related by Hannah Reinhardt Antonio,

to Sam Araki, her Veteran Son In-law and the Contributing Writer of this article

It had stormed all night...one of the worst storms ever.  The PaukukaloRiver was running fierce, from the mountain to the ocean!

As a young teenager, in 1943, Hannah Reinhardt and her sibling, George, did one of their favorite past-times, which was to go down to the river-mouth, where the river met the ocean.

With the storm's merger of the rough sea and river water, it left in its wake, octopus, who didn't survive the fresh mountain water, but for the teens, meant easy pickings for their dinner table.  The ocean, Hannah recalled, was serene and extraordinarily, glassy.

On that particular morning, as she approached the shoreline, she noticed "something" floating off shore, not too far out from where she stood.  Upon first glance, she thought it was a log adrift.  She started wading into the ocean toward the "debris", but upon closer inspection, she was horrified to see that it was a man's body, clad in a naval flight suit as indicated by insignias.

She yelled to her brother George of her find and he assisted to drag the  body to shore, where they applied artificial respiration, to no avail.

Another family member ran to the Army camp located adjacent from their homestead, directly across from the Hawaiian Homes in Paukukalo---where military authorities were alerted of the grim discovery.

When the Army personnel arrived at the river mouth, they retrieved the lifeless body and informed Hannah, her brother George and all who were present---that, they were to "keep quiet and not tell anyone of this incident or they would come back to get them!"   This was, afterall, the war years.

Needless to say, the military must have made their directive, loud and clear, let alone the dire consequences facing the frightened teens--if news of what took place leaked out.....for neither Hannah, nor George, nor any other family member for that matter, ever spoke of that incident ever again!

Fast-forward to our current day in time, some 61 years later. One day, when prodded for stories of her childhood, 78 year old, Hannah's recollection of her and her brother George's, "buried-but-not-forgotten" ordeal, vividly came back to her, like it was only yesterday.  She always wondered what happened and the circumstances as to how that body got there. 

When this story was told to her family, they were aghast to learn what their mother revealed, especially since, none of them had ever recalled hearing this story!  Upon conducting research to corroborate her story, nothing was found in the Maui News archives, no other local newspapers, nor a search, on-line during that particular time-frame was found.  So, her family concluded, that their mother's "story", must be a figment of her imagination or a war-story she had heard elsewhere.

A week after hearing Hannah's story, this writer attended the Maui County Veterans Council, where all the veterans organizations meet.  Dennis Schwinn, who represents the Maui County, handed out this sheet of paper, with names of deceased and injured Marines and one Navy personnel.  These names, the article went on to reveal, were casualties from an incident that happened at Camp Maui, near Pauwela Point, in 1943. 

Apparently, two military aircraft collided in mid-air, while on a training exercise.  A bomb from one of the aircraft exploded when the plane crashed, killing or injuring Marines and one, Navy personnel, who's body, must have floated out to sea with the strong currents, carrying it all the way down to the beach at Paukukalo!

An unveiling and dedication of a memorial plaque, honoring those who were injured or killed, among them, the identity of a lifeless body, discovered on a beach in 1943, was to be on display.  The timing, is eerie, let alone, ironic, when after all these years, how two complete strangers, unbeknownst to one another, were simultaneously unfolding the story of that fateful day in 1943.  Thus coming full circle!  

In retrospect, this revelation, has not only made true-believers of a teen's "story", as told to her ohana (family) and now, for generations to come, but, ultimately, bringing closure to the families affected during that war era.