Hawai‘i Homefront

This book tells the story of life in Hawai‘i during World War II. Hawai‘i was both a home front and a war zone-- the only American territory to have that distinction. Almost 40% of the Island’s permanent population was of Japanese heritage--some 140,000 people--and were classified as enemy aliens by the federal government, despite the majority of them being American citizens. A few men who believed in their loyalty, defied the feds and kept them from internment camps of the mainland. Well over a million men and women--both service members and war workers--passed through these Islands during the war. The book is profusely illustrated and many of the images have rarely if ever been previously published. MacKinnon Simpson grew up in a small farmhouse outside the rural village of Pottersville, New Jersey. On July 4, 1970, Simpson marched in his last parade with the Pottersville Volunteer Fire Company and headed west to Hawai‘i where he immersed himself in the history of these islands. He served as historian and exhibit designer for the Hawai‘i Maritime Center on Pier 7 and has researched, authored and designed more than twenty books and scores of articles. He is an alumnus of Princeton University and is the father of two superb writers in their own right, Malia and Alika.