Hawaiian Department

[kiaiokalewa]

Earlier last week there was an interesting photo grouping that was posted on the forum on the 21st Infantry Regiment that served here in Hawaii around the mid 1930's under the Hawaiian Division up at Schofield Barracks. There were several good question brought up about the shoulder sleeve insignia that would had been worn during the attack of Pearl Harbor. There had been some confusion between the Hawaiian Division, the Hawaiian Department and the 24th Infantry Division. Part of the problem was that historical reference was made on the classic film called "Here from Eternity" made during the 1950's. As my Dad (Wailuna) pointed out the U.S. Army was obviously cooperative in the making of the film and the soldier up at Schofield Barracks were used as doubles during the attack scenes at the various quads and fields. This is what Wailuna had to say,

 

"The Hawaiian Department SSI was worn in the movie (but known as Central Pacific Base Command when the movie was actually filmed in 1952/53). As much of this movie was filmed at Schofield Barracks, it did (and does) appear to be highly realistic, although not necessarily completely accurate. The SSI is one inaccuracy. The Infantry organizations at Schofield Barracks did not wear the Hawaiian Dept. SSI. The Hawaiian Division SSI was worn until the division was separated into the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions in October 1941, after which 24th ID continued to wear the former Hawaiian Division SSI (the 25th ID SSI was not approved until September 1944).

 

Why didn't the film get it right? The Army obviously cooperated in the filming of From Here to Eternity. However, by the time the movie was filmed, both divisions associated with Schofield and the events of late 1941 were long gone from Hawaii (and they were in Korea at the time). The Base Command SSI probably was the dominant insignia worn at Schofield in the early 1950s (by which time SSI wear on the khaki shirt was common practice). This was a level of detail that evidently did not register with either the filmmakers or the Army.

 

Here are a couple of other details from the film of militaria interest:

 

1st Sgt. Warden wears the 5-stripe chevron. The 6-stripe 1st. Sgt. chevron was not worn until Sept. 1942. The technical advisor nailed this one.

 

A DI is worn on campaign hats in some scenes, although I could never figure out which regiment it supposedly represents. The unit in the film is identified as Co. G, 219th Infantry (which does not exist). 19th Infantry was assigned to 24th ID on December 7, 1941. James Jones himself was assigned to Co. F, 27th Infantry, which was assigned to 25th ID on December 7th. I suppose the moviemaker's intention was to create a fictitious unit for the film."

 

What was interesting in this particular photo grouping was the abscent of the Hawaiian Division shoulder sleeve insignia. Most all of the soldiers where wearing their inner garment shirts with neckties and rarely their M-1924 service coats which by the way would have been the proper location for the wear of the Hawaiian Division shoulder sleeve patch.

 

One of the forum members inquired about a mannequin display that he had put together dated specifically to Dec. 7, 1941. It was nicely put together and I had answered his question about the insignia:

 

"He would have worn his 21st IR DI on his Campaign Hat, his chevrons, but no DI's, no Hawaiian Division patch on his shirt however on his tunic, jacket or coat which ever you decide to call it he would have worn his collar brass, DI's, chervons, Hawaiian Division patch, service stripes if any, service ribbons if any and qualification badges if any. I'm going to call the shoulder sleeve insignia the Hawaiian Division patch since it was actually in a transitional state when it converted over to the 24th Infantry Division title. The mass produced machine embroidered patches of WWII would be your definate 24th ID patch but it would have not been worn during the attack."

 

There was also confusion about the Hawaiian Department patch and since it was used in the previously mentioned film I think "Wailuna" cleared up that issue. But here's the deal the soldiers up at Schofield started wearing the the Hawaiian Division patches as early as 1923. Capt. Charles Welsh, 11th Sig. Co., Hawaiian Division, up at Schofield Barracks had patented his "Quick Removable Devices for Insignia" in 1924 but had applied for the patent in 1923. This is those metal back patches that you find on the Hawaiian Department, Hawaiian Division, Hawaiian National Guard and the Hawaiian Separate Coast Artillery Brigade (HSCAB) SSI's. The Hawaiian Department SSI was indorsed by the WD on November 2, 1921 however the Hawaiian Division fell under its command along with Hawaiian Coast Artillery District later redesignated HSCAB. Both did have their own insignia but for about 15 years HSCAB did use the insignia of the Hawaiian Department. Back to the original topic the 21st Infantry Regiment was a subordinate of the Hawaiian Division and would have only worn its patch.

 

I was asked about a prototype 25th Division patch earlier last year and my reply kind of ties into this discussion:

 

"Prior to WWII the WPD anticipated involvement with the worldly events and started to make adjustments. The WD started to breakdown the active squared division into more flexible triangle unit systems. One of the results was that the massive Hawaii Division was divided into two separate divisions. To carry on the legacy the Hawaii Division was redesignated on Aug 26, 1941 and became the 24^th Division. This is why the 24^th still to this day continue to wear the old Hawaii Division insignia.

 

 

 

The CG of the Hawaii Department (Gen. Short) was aware of the fact that he needed to form another division and on Oct 1, 1941 the 25^th Division was activated. It wasn’t until Sep 25, 1944 before the 25^th had an insignia officially approved. So there was a long period of time for creativity. Radio call signs were developed for the newly formed divisions and the 24^th was recognized as Victory. The 25^th call sign was

Lightning. Note that it is Lightning and not Tropic Lightning. The Nickname came after hard fought battles in the Pacific Theatre of Operations.

 

 

 

During the initial formation period it had to been frustrating for the HQ Staff to distinguish between the two Divisions visually since they had to have all been wearing the old Hawaii Division insignia interchangeably. At some point I believe that at a staff level members of the 25^th Division wore the Hawaii Department patch in addition to unauthorized Lightning insignia. The reason I state this is that I have a PFC Signal Corps tunic with a Hawaii Department patch on the shoulder and a small felt red disc with embroidered yellow border and lightning bolt from this time frame.

 

 

 

All the quads up in Schofield Barracks did have tailor and laundry shops and it would be hard to believe that the Chinese entrepreneurs didn’t capitalize on making new 25^th Division insignia concepts for the soldiers. The patch that you have is what I believe to be a proto-type design for the 25^th. As you know the construction and materials is 100% correct for the Pre-War years and is locally made here in Hawaii. There is no question in my mind that this color concept was not intentionally made."

 

I thought this might help clarify some of the confusion about the Hawaiian Division, Hawaiian Department and 24th Division insignia issues that seem to continuely pop up on a regular basis.

 

Mahalo,

 

John

[Johan Willaert]

Very interesting info! Thanks!

[Steindaddie]

Just to add my 2 cents - I have the 1940 yearbook for the 27th Infantry Regt. and of the hundreds of soldiers pictured, about 98% are wearing no patches of any kind regardless of the type uniform worn.

[Salvage Sailor]

Aloha John,

 

Can you tell me what this HAWAIIAN 24th Division Patch is and what era it is from?

 

Mahalo

[kiaiokalewa]

Aloha John,

 

Can you tell me what this HAWAIIAN 24th Division Patch is and what era it is from?

 

Mahalo

 

Aloha,

 

I'm going have my Dad (Wailuna) explain this one. Just for Identification purposes it is not a variation of the 24th Division. It called the Hawaiian Cadre.

 

Mahalo,

 

John

[J_Andrews]

Even though the 25th's SSI was not APPROVED by OQMG/WD until 1944, it was being worn on Guadalcanal in early 1943. I have seen such wear in photos, but cannot locate any now.

 

The spliting of the Hawaiian Div into two -- 24th and 25th -- was made possible by the activation of the Inf Regts of the Hawaii National Guard in Oct 1940 -- or more to the point, its extension of active duty from Oct 1941 -- allowed breaking up the old SQUARE Div into two TRIANGULAR ones. In Oct 41, the 298th Inf was subordinated to the 25th, and the 299th to the 24th.

 

Of course, neither the 298th nor 299th stayed with the 24th or 25th Divs to deploy for combat, due to the anti-Japanese hysteria. Many Americans of Japanese Ancestry had joined the NG in peacetime and were on active duty on Pearl Harbor Day. But they were soon presumed disloyal and Relieved From Active Duty and Assigned to the Inactive Reserves. The remnants of the NG Regts were merged into one, weith the 299th being inactivated in July 1942, and the 298th continuing to serve with the 24th -- until it deployed in Jun 1943.

 

However, personnel from the NG units managed to later return to active duty and serve in combat -- as individual volunteers for the 100th Inf Bn, in an Eng Gen Svc Regt in Hawaii, and as interrogators and translators in intell units.

[Wailuna]

...Can you tell me what this HAWAIIAN 24th Division Patch is and what era it is from?

As Kiaiokalewa says, this is the SSI of the Hawaiian Cadre. Here is a Japan-made version formerly in his collection:

The most authoritative published source on this unit that we know of is an article by Aaron Polick entitled "The Hawaiian Cadre" (ASMIC Trading Post, April-June 2001). This brief synopsis is based on Polick's article: In March, 1943, the War Department directed Hawaiian Department to organize a unit manned by soldiers of Hawaiian descent for service outside Hawaii (an intended counterpart of 100th Bn, 442nd Infantry). The unit's initial cadre of 13 officers and 297 enlisted men was drawn from 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments (federalized Hawaii National Guard units) and the unit was soon on its way to Camp Mackall, North Carolina. However, the unit was disbanded within a matter of months (reason given: racial problems) and the troops were dispersed throughout the Army in groups of eight or fewer men.

 

According to the article, the Hawaiian Cadre patch was issued to men in the unit and worn at Camp Mackall before before the unit was disbanded (see image below -- from Kiaiokalewa's collection, not the article). The Hawaiian Cadre patch definitely was unauthorized (no record at TIOH) but confirmed to have been worn by members of the unit, both on left sleeve (as shown) and on right sleeve by former wartime members of the unit (as shown in the article). The Hawaiian Cadre patch is almost always misidentified as an unauthorized variant of 24th Infantry Division SSI (including in USMF's Infantry Division SSI reference section -- link here). The Division SSI clearly inspired the design of Hawaiian Cadre SSI; otherwise, there was no direct link between these two units.

 

[Teamski]

Excellent thread! I sure love the photo.

 

-Ski

[kiaiokalewa]

Just to add my 2 cents - I have the 1940 yearbook for the 27th Infantry Regt. and of the hundreds of soldiers pictured, about 98% are wearing no patches of any kind regardless of the type uniform worn.

 

Aloha, The yearbook that you refer to is it called, "The Bark"? I loaned mine to a good buddy of mine and hadn't seen it for at least two or three years. Mine was for 1939. He had the years 1940 and 1941. As I can recall it was a soft bound book of black with orange illustrations and was about 14"x10" in size. At least two or three pages was reserved for each of the companies and a bunch for the athletic teams and the events. Please post some other images from yours.

 

Mahalo,

 

John

[Salvage Sailor]

As Kiaiokalewa says, this is the SSI of the Hawaiian Cadre. Here is a Japan-made version formerly in his collection:

 

Thanks Wailuna,

 

So is the patch I showed a later knock-off or a vet add on? It's sewn on the left shoulder of an ike jacket but I can see the impression where a round 24th ID patch was originally on the left shoulder.

[norwegian blue]

great information on the pre-war Army, I've always been fascinated by the uniforms of the regulars in Hawaii,

reading the James Jones was also an eye-opener after seeing the movie

thanks to wailuna and family!

[Wailuna]

...So is the patch I showed a later knock-off or a vet add on? It's sewn on the left shoulder of an ike jacket but I can see the impression where a round 24th ID patch was originally on the left shoulder...

I don't know the answer to your question. It is difficult (impossible?) to positively discern the true story behind an isolated article of uniform without provenance. However, given the brief history of Hawaiian Cadre, could your variant of the patch plausibly appear on an Ike jacket's left sleeve? What is the date of the Ike? Post a picture and more info and give the uniform and patch experts a shot at it.

[Wailuna]

...I have the 1940 yearbook for the 27th Infantry Regt. and of the hundreds of soldiers pictured...

Thanks, Steindaddie, that is a great picture -- it looks like Sgt. Ike Galovich. See if you can find Pvt. James Jones in your album. He was assigned to Company F from November 1940 until March 1943.

[Steindaddie]

Here's the yearbook in question - the 1940 Bark of the 27th Infantry Regiment. Alas, no James Jones is seen - he arrived late in the year. However, these are no doubt some of the men with whom he served. I will say that the soldier here pictured does bear a striking resemblance to Montgomery Clift/Pvt. Prewitt

[Steindaddie]

Regimental Non-Commisioned Staff

[Steindaddie]

A Company commander Lt. J.W. Bowen

[Steindaddie]

Dayroom scene in the barracks

[Wailuna]

...Alas, no James Jones is seen - he arrived late in the year....I will say that the soldier here pictured does bear a striking resemblance to Montgomery Clift/Pvt. Prewitt

Boy, I'll say! The resemblance to Prewitt is uncanny. Thanks for posting those pictures. Jones himself probably appears in the 1941 edition...I'll talk to Kiaiokalewa's buddy about that and post the results, if we can find him there (in fact, I believe a "Bark" picture of Co. F and Jones appears in his biography, Into Eternity).

[Steindaddie]

Glad you liked the photos. I bet you are right about Jones being in the 1941 book as I too have seen that company photo in his autobiography. The 1940 Bark has no group photos of any company - that's a shame.

 

Will

[pathfinder505]

Great topic.... I appreciate the information as I didnt know a lot about this subject

[kiaiokalewa]

Glad you liked the photos. I bet you are right about Jones being in the 1941 book as I too have seen that company photo in his autobiography. The 1940 Bark has no group photos of any company - that's a shame.

 

Will

 

 

Here's a cover shot of a January 1931 "The Bark". The monthly newsletter was established in July of 1926 and was published at Schofield Barracks withiout expense to the US Government. It is a ashame that these earlier monthly volumes didn't have any photo shots in them however the Army and Navy monthly volumes did. I think there are about a dozen or so from between the years of 1933-1937 or 1938 at Wailuna's place.

[Wailuna]

Art imitating life? Or is it the other way round? Here's Montgomery Clift going to the source on the set of From Here To Eternity. Clift is not quite in character yet: Note the loafers and fancy socks he is wearing with his Army blue denim fatigues.

 

 

Maybe Clift was prepping for this scene:

 

[Wailuna]

Here is that elusive D.I. worn in From Here To Eternity. This shot of Prewitt is a promotional still of a scene not shown in the movie and the D.I. is clearly shown without the blur usually present in clips lifted from digital renderings of the movie. The unit in the movie represented by this D.I. was 219th Infantry, a fictitious regiment that never existed in the U.S. Army.

 

[Wailuna]

And worn by Pvt. Angelo Maggio.

 

[Wailuna]

And worn by 1st Sgt. Milton Anthony Warden, out on a spree.