Sneak Attack: Small Arms at Pearl Harbor - The Ayoob Files

American Handgunner, Jan-Feb, 2002 by Massad Ayoob

Harada replied, "I'm afraid. I don't know what will happen if I go against the pilot."

What occurred next happened swiftly, and historians differ on the details. It is certain that Kanahele, who had the large and powerful physique traditionally associated with Polynesian Island males, jumped the Japanese pilot and was joined by his wife. Harada, holding the shotgun in one hand, tried to pull Ella Kanahele away.

At that time, pilot Nishikaichi shot Beni Kanahele. One historian says that the bullet hit the big American in the chest. Another account has the Japanese shooting the American in the stomach, groin and leg with either his own Nambu or the revolver stolen from an American by his cohort for his escape. But all accounts agree on what happened next.

Beni Kanahele picked up the pilot exactly the way he picked up sheep to slaughter them-- by the throat in one hand and by one leg in the other-- and smashed him bodily, head-first, into a nearby stone wall. The impact shattered Nishikaichi's skull, killing him instantly.

But, erroneously believing himself mortally wounded and wanting to make certain that his tormentor did not take revenge upon Kanahele's widow, the big Hawaiian reach down for his hunting knife. This armed citizen of an American territory then slashed Out the pilot's throat, finishing the fight.

Yoshio Harda stood by, frozen in horror, holding the stolen shotgun. In a moment, he was dead, killed by a muzzle-contact wound from his own weapon. Historian Walter Lord says he simply committed suicide.

But historian Stanley Weintraub reconstructs it this way: "Grunting in pain, (Kanahele) lifted Nishikaichi and threw him against a stone wall. His skull shattered. To make certain he was dead, Kanahele drew his hunting knife and slashed Nishikaichi's throat. Horrified, Harada broke free from Ella and pressed a shotgun against Kanahele's stomach. Ella clutched Harada's arm and the bullet (sic) missed. Pushing her away, Harada fired again, blowing away his own belly."

The last mortal conflict of the Battle of Pearl Harbor had ended, many hours later, with the last surviving enemy pilot who was part of the attack. He was killed by an armed citizen of an American territory. Nishikaichi, who had attacked both the island of Oahu and the island of Niihau like a fox attacking a chicken coop, had literally been slaughtered like a sheep by a righteously outraged American directly defending his own family and home.

Lessons

Those of us who have visited Pearl Harbor and have stood over what remains of the USS Arizona, knowing that brave citizens of our country who fought and died on December 7, 1941, were entombed therein from that moment, understand lessons that must not be repeated.

There must be armed force in readiness. Warning signals cannot be ignored. The price that we pay for failure to heed this, in the presence of predators predisposed to attack, is death.

Those who would argue that Second Amendment provisions are meaningless in the time of 21st century weaponry all said the same about 20th century weaponry. Of the 29 Japanese planes destroyed during the multi-pronged air raid that has become known simply as "Pearl Harbor" by those of us who weren't alive when it happened, a significant number were neutralized by small-arms fire from the ground.