Aloha and ho’omaluhia

It was all about taxes, not a tax on tea, but a tax on sugar. Hawaii never wanted to become part of the United States. In 1898, ninety percent of Hawaiians voted against U.S. Annexation.

Hawaii was a strategic port for the U.S. and leaders in Washington were afraid that Hawaii might become part of the European domain — since both Britain and France had signed treaties with Hawaii giving them profitable trade privileges. Hawaii was also an important resource for sugar cane production. The sugar barons believed that annexation by the United States would remove the threat of the impending tax on their sugar. Meanwhile, President McKinley lobbied Congress to pass the annexation of Hawaii, citing the benefits of a naval base in the Pacific.

Queen Lili’uokalani was determined to break Hawaii’s economic dependence on the United States and restore the political rights of the native Hawaiians. She traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with President William McKinley to plead for the rights of Native Hawaiians.

In January, 1893, Queen Lili’uokalani’s palace was surrounded by U.S. sailors from the USS Boston. She was charged with treason and imprisoned in her palace for eight months. A U.S. provisional government was put in place and the Queen was forced to abdicate the throne. (In 1993, 100 years after the illegal coup ousted Queen Lili’uokalani, the U.S. government formally apologized).

President Dwight D. Eisenhower supported statehood for Hawaii and the citizens of Hawaii voted on a referendum to accept statehood. Eighteen years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Eisenhower signed the official proclamation admitting Hawaii as the 50th state.

Pearl Harbor was called Wai Momi (Pearl Waters) because of the pearl oysters that grew there. Pearl Harbor is located on the southern coast of Oahu, six miles west of Honolulu. While the treaty of 1887 granted the U.S. exclusive use of Pearl Harbor, the naval station was not completed until 1919.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The attack damaged or destroyed 19 Navy ships, including eight battleships, and killed 2,403 U.S. service men. The USS Arizona sank with a loss of 1,100 men. After the attack, the ship was left resting on the bottom of the sea. In the days and weeks that followed, efforts to recover the bodies became futile and the souls of 900 crewmen remain entombed on the ship.

However, 85 crewmembers had been removed from the USS Arizona and buried in a commingled grave marked as “unknown.” They have been “unknown” for more than 80 years but, today we have the technology to identify those Navy and Marine Corps members using DNA. Nine of those men are from South Carolina. Two were from Anderson, Douglas Carlton Moore and James Carlton Moore. Henry Lloyd Lee was from Conway and Wayne Alman Lewis was from Arcadia. John Morgan Meares was from Greenville while Broadus Franklin West was from Simpsonville. Vernon Russell White was from Spartanburg and Jack Herman Williams was from Columbia.

Ken Nations, recognized the name of his cousin, James Garland Nations from Pickens, and immediately volunteered his DNA. James was only 23 when he died. His parents had a memorial marker placed at their gravesite so their son would not be forgotten. It reads (in part) “He gave his life for us, he died on a Sunday morning on the Battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.”

Ken would like James’ body identified so he can be shipped home to rest with his parents, who are waiting for him. Let’s bring all our brave South Carolina boys “home.”