Famous 369th African American Regiment Provided WW-II Anti-Aircraft Defense For MCAS Ewa
by Ewa Historian John Bond
This unique segregated Army 369th unit from Harlem, New York has a special place in the WW-II cultural history of wartime Hawaii. However the story is also about how Eleanor Roosevelt likely influenced this unit's assignment to Hawaii. The 369th came with well trained professional Jazz musicians who provided air defense for MCAS Ewa and also left their "Hep Cat" influence on music in the Hawaiian Islands, including likely influencing Hawaiian slack key legend Gabby Pahinui.
The WW-I New York Harlem "Hell Fighters" Became The Harlem "Hepcats" Around Ewa Plantation Villages Providing Anti-Aircraft Defense For MCAS Ewa During WW-II
Not yet settled into AA camps, newly arrived 369th troops
During WW-II this same City parcel area was at the
end of the main MCAS Ewa runway and location of the Marine base headquarters
and base flag pole. Archeological evidence of the AA battery sites and barracks
still exist however primarily in small pieces of brick, mortar and concrete
over subsequent post war surface land use for general small agriculture. Ground
penetrating radar and other archeology methods today would likely reveal more
subsurface evidence. While trail evidence would be difficult to find today, the
1825 Malden Royal Navy trail map shows this City parcel as being a very likely
route of the Oneula Beach segment of the ancient Hawaiian trail route. Ewa oral
histories indicate that this trail was
After the nomination
of Ewa Battlefield to the National Historic Register on May 23, 2016 and the
upcoming 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor in December, it is timely to
bring to attention a unique facet of the Ewa Battlefield post-attack air
defense history which involves the famous and highly decorated 369th
African American Infantry Regiment from Harlem, New York City.
The 369th
was not involved or located in Hawaii at the time of the December 7, 1941
attack by Japanese aircraft on the Ewa area. However, the unit was Federalized
and converted from Coast Artillery to Anti-Aircraft Artillery and sent to
Hawaii to become an historically noteworthy part of the MCAS Ewa history through the subsequent air defense of MCAS
Ewa and the Ewa Plain in 1943-44.
The Ewa
Plain Battlefield as nominated to the National Historic register is located in
the southwestern corner of Oahu, Honolulu County, in a geographic area referred
to as the Ewa Plain, approximately 5.5 miles southwest of Ford Island (middle
of Pearl Harbor).
While the
Battle of Ewa Plain encompasses three main population centers: Ewa Field, Ewa
Villages, and Ewa Beach, the 1941 Ewa Field retains sufficient architectural,
archeological, and/or landscape integrity to convey its historical
significance. This includes retaining its integrity of location, setting,
design, and association. The site is also capable of revealing additional
archeological discoveries.
Unfortunately
due to limited time and research capabilities in order to meet a project draft
EIS comment deadline we are not yet able to completely confirm by specific Army
records that the famous 369th was had Anti-Aircraft elements
stationed by MCAS Ewa in 1944.
Area between MCAS Ewa and Ewa
Plantation Camps identified as
369th AA battery sites
The 369th converted into light and heavy Anti-Aircraft air defense
guarding Oahu airfields
However a research
survey of 1943-44 print media and local Ewa Village oral history all point to
the unique segregated 369th African American Army unit that was distinctive from
all other Army military units during that time. Limited research has discovered
photos and written news articles spotlighting the 369th, when wartime security
and censorship did not allow specific base defense locations to be named. Army
photos were shot or cropped to eliminate identifying backgrounds and private
photography was strictly prohibited.
Just prior
to the start of the Pacific War in 1940 the 369th was a New York
National Guard infantry Regiment that was Federalized and converted from
infantry into a coast artillery (CA) regiment. They were then retrained again in
1942 to become an Anti-Aircraft (AA) regiment and sent to the Hawaiian Island
of Oahu to protect military airfields in 1942-44 with various caliber
Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns. The 1941 Ewa Field had no AA defense and nearly all of
its planes were destroyed by the attacking Japanese naval air force on December
7. By early 1942 the rapidly expanding MCAS Ewa had massive numbers of air
operations for both Marine and Navy aircraft of all types and quickly became
the hub of Marine air operations in the Pacific.
The 369th Regiment
arrived on Oahu on June 21, 1942 and units were subsequently posted to man AA defenses at Kahuku Army Air
Base, Ōpana Radar Station, Camp Malakole, Haleiwa airfield, Mokuleia Army
Airfield and Marine Corps Air Station Ewa. They remained organized as
segregated Army units which was actually more of a benefit rather than a racial
disadvantage. There are mentions of the unit in the book “The First Strange
Place: The Alchemy of Race and Sex in WWII Hawaii,” by Bailey and Farber who
use the example of the 396th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment, then more commonly
referred to as “The Harlem Hellfighters” to illustrate the 1940’s era racial
tensions. White soldiers from Southern states often derided black soldiers for
not knowing “their place” and resented the extra racial space accorded blacks
in Hawaii’s multicultural milieu.
Members of the 369th jazz and swing band out on
the Royal Hawaiian Hotel beach front
It is
important to know that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a politically
progressive administration with an especially socially and politically activist
wife- Eleanor Roosevelt. She especially pushed for social reforms for African
Americans and their advancement through the war effort. The Roosevelts had
first visited Hawaii in 1934 and saw the islands as the future of racial
tolerance and a link to the culture of Polynesia and Asia. At the same time
Japan sought to gain cultural control of the Hawaiian Islands as well as
encourage blacks to revolt and overthrow white culture. The military Martial
Law government promoted racial tolerance among the military in Hawaii as a
cultural experiment and as the best way to not disrupt the war effort. As
directed from the highest levels the army’s newspaper in Hawaii transformed
itself into a “steady instrument for racial progress.”
Eleanor Roosevelt during one of her WW-II Hawaii visits getting an ID card
President Franklin D. Roosevelt touring Hawaii in 1934.
He returned again in July, 1944
While
under Martial Law, the Hawaii authorities enforced a mixed desegregation policy
against race discrimination while still keeping segregated “colored” army
units. This was an experimental mix of semi-segregation with buses, theaters
and chow halls not segregated while personal services like barber shops
remained segregated. Whites who did not like this policy had to live with it as
the military police were ordered to protect colored soldiers rights if
necessary. For the 369th “Hellfighters” unit members they were always ready to
fight if necessary earning them a reputation of respect on the streets of
wartime Honolulu. This also caused some wartime colored army members to wear
the insignia of the 369th when off duty in the downtown and Waikiki area.
Some of the
first desegregation of US military units happened in Hawaii and was very likely
a policy strongly influenced by FDR and his socially activist wife. Research
has indicated that FDR and Mrs. Roosevelt knew of the 369th unit’s special New
York Harlem history and likely arranged to have them serve in Hawaii in a
special segregated unit capacity to allow them to retain their unique military
heritage and not be sent to southern states which presented many racial
conflicts for black soldiers during WW-II. FDR visited Hawaii twice and Mrs.
Roosevelt several times during WW-II as a Red Cross representative. In July 1944 FDR toured MCAS Ewa and other
Oahu bases in a convertible sedan sitting with Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur.
Eleanor Roosevelt was known to visit a wide variety of military installations,
including internment camps, colored segregated Army units as well as troop
hospitals.
The
president’s wife was also concerned with giving colored soldiers the same
military service opportunities as white troops which resulted in the formation
of an air unit that became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. This may also explain
why a widely circulated Army wartime photo (below) shows the Under Secretary of War Robert Patterson
and Lt Gen Robert Richardson (then military governor of Hawaii) inspecting 369th
troops and then greeting Col. Chauncey Hooper, commanding officer of the 369th
with Lt. Col. Harry B. Reubel, executive officer. Hooper retired as a brigadier
general in the New York National Guard in 1954. The first Black American to be
promoted to the rank of brigadier general, Benjamin O. Davis had served as
commander of the 369th Coast Artillery prior to the start of WW-II. His son
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. became commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen and
retired a four star general in the US Air Force in 1998.
Under Secretary of War Patterson, Lt Gen Richardson, Col. Hooper,
and Lt. Col. Reubel 1942
march down South King Street
When the 369th
arrived on Oahu in August 1942 (then often called a colored or negro army unit)
they were already quite unique and extremely proud of their WW-I Harlem Hell
Fighters military history. Their well-educated African American officers and
also non-commissioned officers which included talented jazz musicians from the
New York Harlem community then known as the capital of African American culture
and jazz music. The 369th quickly found
local social acceptance for their musical talents by being invited to play at
the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki at a time when swing and jazz was extremely
popular war era music.
Jazz Pianist Claude Thornhill joined the Navy to discover Honolulu was a "Hotbed of Swing"
The 369th came to Hawaii already well staffed with professionally trained Jazz and Swing musicians and quickly developed a following among WW-II troops and sailors
The 1944 air
photos of MCAS Ewa document their reinforced AA gun battery positions constructed
with brick, mortar and sandbag protected 90 MM guns and smaller 50 Cal. Machine
guns between the Ewa Marine airbase and Ewa Villages. There is also a hand
drawn map created after the war by a retired Marine military police officer
showing the location of the Army artillery unit camp. The location today is
near the current Hawaiian Railway Society railyard museum and in an area behind
the Honouliuli Waste Water Treatment Plant. It is on this current City own
property that is conducting a draft EIS and which brought about the research
into the Army unit that occupied the gun positions.
still used by
the Ewa Plantation community up until the late 1930’s to reach the beach dunes
for shoreline fishing and limu picking.
The AA artillery
base camp site on the City parcel currently under review as an expansion of the
Honouliuli Waste Water Treatment Plant is on a relatively flat karst, ancient
coral reef slope between General Geiger road and the Oahu Railway track now on
the National Historic Register. Ewa Villages are on the State historic register
as well as the Hawaiian Railway Museum rail yard.
The MCAS Ewa
Field – Ewa Battlefield area now placed on the National Historic register covers
all of this battlefield area as a potential Ewa Historic Battlefield District,
as mentioned in the Ewa Battlefield nomination. It is very possible that this
parcel contains evidence of the December 7, 1941 attack on the Ewa airfield and
villages revealing Pearl Harbor fired inbound 50 Cal. and larger anti-aircraft artillery
shells as well as spent Japanese 7.7 MM machine gun shells. Such spent
munitions have been found in adjacent land parcels. Many local residents report
finding many Ewa battlefield ammunition artifacts and are still finding them in
tall grass and surface disturbed areas.
In some of
the parcel areas it is apparent that there were low mounds of red imported dirt
that was brought in to use for building the artillery gun positions and
leveling areas for the Quonset huts. Karst sink holes, some filled with very
old bottles and broken ceramic eating implements exist in the area as well as
land subsidence indicating subsurface water flow well known in the Ewa Plain. In
some places large trees flourish which are typical Karst indicators of
subsurface water channels and caves holding water. Even in such difficult
environments tiny Opae Ula fresh water shrimp have been found. In older times
Karst sinkholes were used for Hawaiian burials and Ewa Village oral histories
report seeing bones (iwi) in holes and caves as not unusual in this same area.
The 1944 air
photos show at least 6 or more Quonset huts placed close together. Quonset hut corrugated roof sheets can be found as
well as remnants of military chain link fencing.
Also found
was a concrete curb with Army style letters on it indicating a possible staff
parking location. Other ground evidence includes small pieces of red brick and
mortar typical of AA gun emplacements that were built possibly sometime in 1944
to emplace heavy AA guns like the 120 mm (4.7 inch) gun) and possibly 40 mm
automatic weapons for close-in air defense and M51 Quad .50 caliber machine
guns. Elements of the 369th were known to have such air defense
weapon systems placed around MCAS Ewa and coastal areas.
In WW-I the
369th was a highly decorated infantry unit fighting in France, receiving
the French Croix de Guerre with Silver
Star. The unit history goes back to 1840 and their New York City Armory in
Harlem is on the National Historic Register. The 396th Coast Artillery (AA)
Regiment from the New York National Guard was Federalized 13 January 1941 and
converted into the 396th AAA (Gun) Battalion for the heavy guns (90 mm) and the
870th AAA (Automatic Weapons) Battalion for the 40 mm automatic weapons and .50
caliber AA machine guns around the end of December 1943. Both units later served
in the Okinawan Campaign in 1945 on the little island of Karma Retto some 30
miles south of Okinawa. After the war the units returned to New York and still
train and operate as the 396th Sustainment Brigade. There is a
“Harlem Hell fighters” book published in 2014 by author Max Brooks.
World War I Harlem Hell Fighters On Return From Europe
The 369th
was by all accounts a very sharp Army unit lead by well-educated black officers
and from Harlem, the center of the 1930’s black American cultural renaissance. James Reese Europe as the leader of the 369th
Infantry Jazz Band, also known as the "Hellfighters," introduced the
sounds of American ragtime to Europeans during World War I. Although his career
was brief, he profoundly influenced the course of popular music in the United
States and throughout the world. http://www.redhotjazz.com/hellfighters.html
In addition
the musical influence of James Reese Europe’s bands reached the New York high
society including the Roosevelts which
in turn likely created the political conditions for the 369th to be
sent to Hawaii during WW-II. Interestingly also is that the sounds of the 369th
American ragtime influenced European musicians who then later influenced
Hawaiian slack key musicians such as Gabby Pahinui who had a strong interest in
jazz music.
This unit
was well remembered by local Ewa Villagers because they were very proud and
very friendly, handing out treats and inviting neighboring plantation villagers
to watch the latest Hollywood movies at their artillery base camp next to Ewa
Villages (B, C and Mill village camps.) They used the Ewa Plantation swimming
pool, sports facilities and were seen at the local Ewa Community Church
attending Sunday services. They were especially known for their “hep cat” style
of lyrical speaking. This was the first experience most in the multi-ethnic Ewa
plantation community ever had with African Americans and they were invited to
share all the local Ewa community facilities and attend the local churches.
“The First
Strange Place: The Alchemy of Race and Sex in WWII Hawaii,”
by Bailey and
Farber
Also
see: African Americans in Hawai'i - By D. M Guttman
