Interview with Evelyn "Evie" (Jewell Craddock) Smith

Description

Evie Smith describes growing up on a pineapple plantation on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii that was run by her father. She talks about the different ethnic groups inhabiting camps on the plantation, including Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese workers. She speaks about the US military’s war games that preceded the attack on Pearl Harbor in the week prior to December 7, 1941. She describes the bombing of Hawaii by Japanese forces and the deaths of civilians at the hands of Japanese pilots. She discusses the mistrust of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor, and the fear and confusion felt by the Japanese who lived in Hawaii. She remembers being upset to find out that Japanese Americans on the mainland were placed in internment camps. She speaks about damage done to airfields and airplanes by the attack. She talks about brown outs and other aspects of life on Hawaii after Pearl Harbor. Interviewer David Sundal talks about Japanese families in the Grand Valley during World War II, including the Mitsushima family. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.