World War II

Legendary jazz drummer Danny Gottlieb and studio musician/percussionist Beth Gottlieb are both members of the Lt. Dan Band. Led by philanthropist, actor and bassist Gary Sinise, the Lt. Dan Band performs with the Gottliebs this weekend in a free concert at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Gottliebs speak with Classical Pacific host Sharene Taba about the Lt. Dan Band, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and honoring veterans, first responders, and their families.

Ceremonies on Aug. 6 to mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki included one at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. A contingent from Hawaiʻi included members of the Ohana Arts Youth Theatre Company, which staged a musical called "Peace On Your Wings."

Alan Rosenfeld, associate vice president for academic programs and policy for the University of Hawaiʻi System, will be giving a talk called “Lessons from Camp Honouliuli: Breaking Down Myths and Assumptions about Wartime Internment in Hawaiʻi.” The Conversation talked to him about some of the factors overlooked when talking about internment in Hawaiʻi.

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.