In the immediate aftermath of the deadliest military attack on U.S. territory, Hawai'i residents joined the rest of the nation in shock, mourning and outrage, not knowing that a singular and protracted ordeal awaited them.
Just 3 1/2 hours after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, territorial Gov. Joseph Poindexter, in consultation with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, suspended the writ of habeas corpus and declared martial law in Hawai'i.
With that, the U.S. military took control of civilian courts and law enforcement agencies. A 6 p.m. curfew and nighttime blackouts were imposed. Saloons were closed. Military bases, harbors and other sensitive areas were declared off-limits. Japanese-owned property, including banks, stores, schools and shrines, was confiscated, and Islanders were required to turn over all weapons, cameras and communication devices.
The military government also closely monitored all mail sent from Hawai'i, censoring or confiscating letters deemed questionable.
The government had its hands full, to be sure, with strictly enforced food and gas rationing, and logistical snafus brought about by the onerous bureaucracy that formed as military and civilian functions merged.
In his memoirs, Poindexter wrote that he authorized martial law believing that it would last no more than a few months. It lasted three years.
