This republication of Nā Manaʻo Aloha o Kahoʻolawe, the diaries of Walter Ritte Jr. and Richard Sawyer, preserves and perpetuates a piece of Hawai‘i history for future generations. Written in 1977, the diaries are a day-to-day record of their thoughts and reflections when the two men occupied the island of Kahoʻolawe for thirty-five days, using their bodies as shields to stop the bombing and desecration of the island by the US military.
One of the catalysts of the Hawaiian Renaissance, the Kahoʻolawe movement was a vibrant time with the awakening of a long-buried spirit of identity rising to its rightful place of prominence in Hawaiʻi’s history. It was not, however, without sacrifice and struggle—the biggest of these being the tragic loss of George Helm and Kimo Mitchell.
Walter and Richard are both 1963 Kamehameha School graduates, groomed at a time when there was little, if any, attention paid to Hawaiian history, consciousness, identity, or culture. Most of their learning and experience was military-based and of a Western perspective, yet they heard the call of Kanaloa and joined with others to protect Kaho‘olawe.
