PEARL HARBOR CHILD
A Child’s Eyewitness View of Pearl Harbor
from Attack to Peace
with Eyewitness Stories from
USS Enterprise • USS Nevada
USS Utah • USS West Virginia
Shipyard Worker • Japanese-American Neighbors
by
Dorinda Makanaonalani
Stagner Nicholson
designed and illustrated by
Larry Nicholson
Revised Edition, includes stories of other survivors, both military and civilian
Copyright ©2011 Dorinda M. Nicholson, all rights reserved
Web Site: www.pearlharborchild.com
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0354-0
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Summary
Dorinda Nicholson, a primary source, tells her personal account of witnessing the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the events that followed, including blackouts, rationing, air raid drills, gas masks, censorship, martial law, wartime currency, and finally, peace. Her unique experience is enjoyable reading for all ages, telling the story from a civilian point of view, written by a woman, through the eyes of a child.
FOR ORDERS OR AUTHOR VISITS (in-person or SKYPE)
or 1-816-356-6375
Also by the author:
Pearl Harbor Child DVD
Dorinda shows a group of Hawaii students where she lived and describes what happened during the attack. Other survivors, military and civilian, tell their stories on-camera, blended with action footage of the attack.
“Child” Teacher’s Resource Guide
30 Pages, spiral bound
Pearl Harbor Warriors—the Bugler, the Pilot, the Friendship
(Both Book and DVD formats)
The true story of an American Marine and a Japanese dive- bomber pilot, whose paths crossed during the Pearl Harbor attack—a moving account from hatred to friendship.
“Warriors” Teacher’s Resource Guide
30 Pages, spiral bound
“Remember World War II - Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories”
National Geographic, 2005
Awards
International Reading Association best non-fiction award
Warriors DVD—American Library Association “Notable DVD” award
DEDICATION:
Me ke aloha no . . .
Dedicated with the deepest aloha
to the memory of my mother,
Pansy Ka'ulaleianaikaohukalehua Akona,
and to her nine grandchildren
Jeff (Makalapa)
Greg (Ka Leo)
Andy (Akona)
Ryan (Ka’ula)
Ishmael III (Ke Alii)
David (Ke Aloha)
Brandon (Ke Koa)
Sean (Ka U’i)
Carmael (Makanaonalani)
Dorinda Makanaonalani Stagner Nicholson
FOREWORD
Dorinda and I first met on a misty, rainy morning in Hawaii. We were co-presenters, sharing a microphone as we told the story of December 7th for a shipboard audience while circling Ford Island inside Pearl Harbor. Her comments that day were from this book about a native-born child living in the harbor, and were blended with thoughts and perspectives from my military viewpoint and background. Later, our joint presentation, which began in the rain, was ended by an unforgettable double rainbow that appeared as we sailed out of the harbor.
As a WWII submarine commander and later an author of books about war and military history, I have always been fascinated with Pearl Harbor and what happened there. But until I met Dorinda that day, my knowledge of the attack was based on media reports and writings by other military authors and military reports, the reminiscences of naval persons who were there.
Dorinda's story is different, unique, and remained untold for fifty years, until she wrote this book. At the time of the attack, she was only six years old, but her memories are unforgettable, and Pearl Harbor Child duly chronicles those of her family and some of her friends as well—intense and personal at the same time.
She and her family lived on the Pearl City Peninsula, just across the channel from Ford Island, where lay the moorings of the aircraft carriers and battleships. The old battleship Utah was only a few hundred yards from her house. Standing in her front yard, she watched the Japanese torpedo planes scream past at treetop level, strafing her street on their way to attack the American ships anchored peacefully in the harbor. The attacking planes flew so low she could clearly see the goggles on the pilot's faces.
Turning back to look at her house, she saw incendiary bullets skitter across it as parts of the roof caught fire. Not knowing what to do, her father gathered his family into their '39 black Ford, and drove through the smokefilled streets away from the harbor into the nearby sugarcane fields, where they hid, fearing a Japanese invasion.
She tells us about watching our ships burn
