A slice of life in Hawaiʻi during World War II. That’s what Dee and Jack Buckingham collected as part of a new installment in the national book series “Images of America.”
More than 150 archival photographs paint a nuanced picture of military and civilian life in the territory.
It might come as a surprise to see a photograph of Mary Kawena Pukui helping with a top-secret effort to weave camouflage nets, or one of Oʻahu’s beaches strung with barbed wire, to prevent a potential invasion.
The Conversation spoke with the Buckinghams about their research process and some of the lesser-known stories of the war in Hawaiʻi. Jack is a retired Marine Corps pilot and a docent at Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum; Dee is an author and former librarian.
Together, they went through thousands of pictures, choosing photographs focusing on military and civilian images.
"I wanted to make visible how the war impacted women and children," Dee Buckingham told HPR. "I wanted them to see women digging trenches at the schools and the teachers; I wanted them to be aware of the fact that this was a war zone, that there was a possibility of land invasion. It was clear and present danger that people were evacuated, that military wives were evacuated. So I wanted those pictures."
Jack Buckingham said, "I thought maybe I was going to wipe out my hard drive storing them all, but we probably looked at and copied from the archive well over 1,500 pictures to acquire the ones we used, and then it just became a function of Dee and I sitting down with these photos that are in the public domain, fortunately, and then determining this one versus this one. ... And again, for us, it was to try to get the greater impact in terms of people and life here, not so much the military look, but the impact of it for them."
Dee is also the author of a new historical fiction book about the Women’s Air Raid Defense (WARD) in Hawaiʻi.
Known as the shuffleboard pilots, they were tasked with plotting the positions of aircraft — a top-secret mission formed in response to the Pearl Harbor attack.
"What I want them to take away from this book about the WARD in particular is, it was the first organization of women that were given secret clearance," she shared.
"They actually plotted what was going on. They were the ones who called the air raids, and that's a big responsibility, because it shut down all of the businesses. It shut down everything, transportation, communication, everybody goes inside. I want the readers to just really fall in love with them and respect them."
"Code Name Rascal" comes out Sunday, Dec. 7.
This story aired on The Conversation on Dec. 5, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
