Letter for Friday, October 4, 2019

Details on location of grave sites

The Hanapepe Massacre victims (Visayans) are not buried at Hale-Kipa grave site, but mauka behind the Olokele’s manager’s house just below the “big ditch” near the domestic water pump/tunnel. This was the site of the World War I and Spanish/American veterans’ graveyard.

I worked for Olokele/G&R Sugar for 40 years. At one time I was the cultivation crew chief/surveyor. This area has dusty Mahina soil next to a row of iron wood trees. This place was chosen for its remoteness and hidden away due to the danger of martyrdom. I don’t think there are any WWI men buried at Hale-Kipa Veterans. The Chinese graves and tombs are in the koa trees near the old dog pound. Visayan and Ilocano didn’t get along too well due to language and location in the Philippines.

I sprayed sabidong for the first four years at Olokele after spraying two years for Grove Farm and McBryde. When we went to that field, it would be my duty to spray there by myself. Being haole, the Filipinos would not go there, and if they did they would always fall down … bad juju. It is about a quarter acre.

Olokele usually had Patrick Agotto (Camp 6) dig the graves at Hale-Kipa and Perry Aguinado (Kaumakani) for G&R both using the company backhoe at Hale-Kipa. Early on the area on top was used caused it was sandy soil. The area down by the road was hardly used due to the stone bottom. My daughter’s padrino (godfather) is buried there below and their grandparents above.

Boxer Masuda was the field supervisor, and also was in charge of cleaning the Japanese gravesites within and outside the plantation. I sprayed many of these sites for extra money on the weekends. Boxer was my boss and I went to church with him.

Bobby Ritch, Kaumakani