Air Raid Warden
or
My Mother, the Warden!

This is a completely unbelievable story about my mother. She was the most un-assertive person you could imagine! I can't conceive of her doing this! As told to me (WGI) by my father (WOI) on 13 January 1996. I have done some editing and rearranging, to improve the readability and keep things in sequence. - WGI

Also see the photos: The Air Raid Warden and The Lima St. House 

WGI:  You were an air raid warden at one time?

WOI:  You mother was an air raid warden.

WGI:  Oh!

WOI:  Yeah.  I wasn't an air raid warden.  I was too busy in 
      the harbor.  But she was an air raid warden for about 4 
      blocks.

WGI:  This was around your original home in...

WOI:  This was around the original home on Lima [pronounced 
      "lime-ay" -WGI] road in Waikiki.  
      
      [They had moved to Lime St. after living on Dow St. 
      in Nuuanu Valley for about 6 months. They were on
      Dow St.  during the attack - WGI]  
      
      We had a bomb shelter across the road by 
      a school house.  We were across the road from a school 
      house - they'd built a bomb shelter there.  She was the 
      air raid warden for 5 or 6 blocks.

      She'd have to go by and make sure the blackout was 
      [enforced, that] no lights were showing and so on.  I 
      was working in Pearl Harbor about 12 or 14 hours a day.
Copyright © 1996 by William G. Innanen. All rights reserved.
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