World War II

Off the coast of Japan 80 years ago, a U.S. naval captain ordered his battleship to hold a burial at sea for a kamikaze pilot who died slamming his fighter plane into the American vessel. The funeral following the Battle of Okinawa is one of the more unusual and little-known episodes of World War II.

The Honouliuli National Historic Site on Oʻahu will kick off its 10th anniversary with two events this month. Commemoration events will run through January 2026.

The Pentagon says internet pages honoring a Black Medal of Honor winner and Japanese American service members were mistakenly taken down. But it is staunchly defending its overall campaign to strip out content singling out the contributions by women and minority groups, which the Trump administration considers “DEI.”

Across the country, there was a call to stand up for veterans and rally at state capitols on Friday. It was just getting underway as a Honolulu Civil Beat column flagged that the U.S. Army website had scrubbed a page detailing the story of the 442nd Infantry Regiment — the most decorated unit of World War ll composed of Japanese Americans.

Dozens of people gathered outside the Hawaiʻi State Capitol over the weekend to protest the immigration raids now sweeping the country. The Conversation spoke with civil rights lawyer Elizabeth Fujiwara about the historical parallels between the incarceration of Japanese Americans in 1941 and the current immigration policies.

The oldest living survivor of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the last remaining survivor of the USS Utah has died at age 105. Warren Upton died Wednesday at a hospital in Los Gatos, California.

A new film about the experience of the decorated veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team will be shown this Sunday. The Conversation talked to two of the actors featured in the film, Dann Seki and Allan Okubo.

A 100-year-old survivor of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor has died. Bob Fernandez died on Wednesday in Lodi, California, shortly after deteriorating health prompted him to skip a trip to Hawaiʻi to attend a remembrance ceremony marking the 83rd anniversary of the attack that propelled the U.S. into World War II.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor 83 years ago launched the United States into World War II. Two survivors returned to the Hawaiʻi military base for a remembrance ceremony on the attack's anniversary.

Today on the Conversation, we're re-airing a selection of interviews that focus on World War II.