Posted on: Monday, November 4, 2002

Waimea Marine exhibit to open

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

WAIMEA, Hawai'i — A ceremony Wednesday will mark the opening of an exhibit that recalls Waimea's role in training Marines for combat in the Pacific during World War II.

Between 1942 and 1945, Camp Tarawa in the rural Big Island community was home to 50,000 Marines from the 2nd and 5th Marine Divisions and the V Amphibious Corps as they prepared for the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The base was dismantled in 1947.

Parker Ranch owner Richard Smart volunteered his home — Pu'u'opelu — as divisional headquarters, and 40 years later he donated land to establish a Camp Tarawa monument near Mamalahoa Highway west of Waimea, near the entrance to the Parker Ranch Historic Homes attraction.

The special exhibit at Pu'u'opelu will include artifacts on loan from Hilo's Lyman Museum and others collected from South Kohala residents. The exhibition will continue through the end of the year.

A Marine band and color guard from O'ahu will appear at Wednesday's ceremony to be held from 4 to 6 p.m. There is no charge to see the exhibit during the opening event, which is open to the public. The usual home tour prices will be in effect afterward. They are $8.50 for adults, $7.50 for senior citizens and $6 for children 12 and younger.