Reading an interesting book called "December 1941" It's a day by day account of the lead-up to (and aftermath of) Pearl Harbor.
The Dec. 17 chapter had this citation, from the NY Times:
"... a Japanese pilot on that day had landed his troubled plane on the island of Niihau, two hundred miles northeast of Oahu. Without phones or radios, these islanders knew nothing of the morning's attack. There the pilot encountered a native islander, Benny Kanahele. After being shot by the pilot three times, the large Hawaiian grabbed the pilot and rammed his head into a stone wall, killing him. 'The pilot shot me... in the ribs, hip and groin. And then I got mad. I threw him against a stone wall.' Benny, for the record, was a woman."
Unfortunately, while a good story, the NY Times author (and the December 1941 author) didn't quite do enough fact checking as a Navy intelligence report and some additional books on the "Battle of Niihau" reveal that Benny was actually a man. He was a large Hawaiian and descendant of Hawaiian warriors. Not knowing about the Pearl Harbor attack, he was not hostile toward the Japanese pilot until the pilot shot him three times. Then, despite his wounds, Benny picked up the pilot and dashed him head first against a stone wall. It was his wife, Mrs. Kanahele, who "finished [the pilot] off by pounding his brains out with a lava stone."
No word on whether Mrs. Kanahele was also 'powerfully built.'
When I read the initial story... I thought immediately that Shankster would love that woman!
Cheers,
Sirhr
The Dec. 17 chapter had this citation, from the NY Times:
"... a Japanese pilot on that day had landed his troubled plane on the island of Niihau, two hundred miles northeast of Oahu. Without phones or radios, these islanders knew nothing of the morning's attack. There the pilot encountered a native islander, Benny Kanahele. After being shot by the pilot three times, the large Hawaiian grabbed the pilot and rammed his head into a stone wall, killing him. 'The pilot shot me... in the ribs, hip and groin. And then I got mad. I threw him against a stone wall.' Benny, for the record, was a woman."
Unfortunately, while a good story, the NY Times author (and the December 1941 author) didn't quite do enough fact checking as a Navy intelligence report and some additional books on the "Battle of Niihau" reveal that Benny was actually a man. He was a large Hawaiian and descendant of Hawaiian warriors. Not knowing about the Pearl Harbor attack, he was not hostile toward the Japanese pilot until the pilot shot him three times. Then, despite his wounds, Benny picked up the pilot and dashed him head first against a stone wall. It was his wife, Mrs. Kanahele, who "finished [the pilot] off by pounding his brains out with a lava stone."
No word on whether Mrs. Kanahele was also 'powerfully built.'
When I read the initial story... I thought immediately that Shankster would love that woman!
Cheers,
Sirhr
