For Daniel Martinez, history is anything but the past.
He has spent 44 years with the National Park Service, serving as a historian at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.
As he enters retirement, he hopes to keep stories of the war alive.
Martinez’s family knows the events of December 7, 1941 all too well. His grandfather, who worked as a foreman at Red Hill, watched as the planes flew overhead.
His mother attended Sacred Hearts Academy and witnessed the bombing.
“[She] had her last hula lesson with Hilo Hattie the day before, on Dec. 6,” Martinez said.
Although Martinez himself grew up in southern California, he never forgot the impact the attack had on his family.
“You can go back to certain places and touch the history of the past,” he said, “and in turn, it touches you.”
Throughout his career, Martinez met several historical and political figures, including Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and President George H.W. Bush.
He also connected with many survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese and American alike, which he called “an honor and a privilege.”
“I've been very fortunate at the end of my career to have terrific people in the National Park Service that I worked with,” Martinez said.
Using the support of his colleagues, Martinez has worked to share survivors’ stories. He is proud of the way visitors have come to appreciate the significance of Pearl Harbor.
“This battlefield that we are on is a battlefield just like Gettysburg,” he said.
Going forward, Martinez will work part-time at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. He hopes to offer more educational opportunities at the site, especially for local students.
“That’s really their history,” he said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on June 19, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.
