Fort Shafter, Territory of Hawaii
1st Hawaiian Infantry around 1917. Just before Lt. Fred Callsen was ‘attached’ and likely before it was increased to ‘war strength’ by the draft. Used with permission, “Pineapple Army Archive, CAR”.
1st Hawaiian Infantry. Used with permission, “Pineapple Army Archive, CAR”
Proud of his new commission and eager to see action, Lt Callsen gives a rather unflattering picture of the Hawaiians in the 1st Hawaiian Infantry, describing them as ‘pirates’ and complaining about military discipline. We can only guess at the knowledge Lt Callsen had of the annexation of Hawaii; my guess it was limited. The last monarch of Hawaii, Queen LiliÊ»uokalani was deposed in the late 1890s, by a pro-annexation Sanford Dole. Hawaii becomes an official U.S. Territory in 1900, only seventeen years before Fred’s service. Worldly and sophisticated, with strong support from Britan’s Queen Victoria and The Japanese Empire, Queen LiliÊ»uokalani fought a complex and sometimes violent struggle to keep the Hawaiian Islands independent. Still defiant but gracious in defeat, toward the end of her life in 1917 she honored Hawaiian sailors who died during WW1. It seems understandable that the Hawaiian conscripts may have been somewhat ambivalent toward their new country and military service.