Hawai‘i lost a part of its living history last month. Paul Phillips passed away at the age of 94. He was the last survivor of a U.S. government project that sent scores of young men from Hawai‘i to colonize islands in the South Pacific. We get more perspective on the project and its aftermath from HPR Guest Commentator Noelle Kahanu.

Paul Phillips will be laid to rest this Thursday morning at 11 AM at the Hawai‘i State Veterans’ Cemetery in Kāne‘ohe.

More than 130 young men of Hawai‘i made up the Hui Panala’au—sent by the federal government to colonize islands in the South Pacific from 1935 to 1942. They endured endless sun with no trees or fresh water, rats, millions of birds, shark infested seas, and ultimately enemy fire. They did so in order that the United States could expand its holdings in the Pacific and maintain them as potential military outposts. In the process, three young Hawaiians would lose their lives, including Joe Keliihananui and Dickey Whaley - killed by a Japanese aerial attack the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Paul Phillips was 94 at the time of his death, and my grandfather George Kahanu passed away last year at the age of 98. Both had hoped to live to see the day the men of the Hui Panala’au would receive the recognition they so honorably deserve. Paul Phillips worked with Hawaii’s Congressional delegation to advocate for some semblance of recognition and in May 2015 Senate Resolution 109 was passed. But its companion measure, House Resolution 169, championed by the late Representative Mark Takai, awaits a vote in a short post-election session.

I too used to see Congressional recognition as the end goal, but truthfully, perhaps it is not about what happens in the seat of our Nation’s capital thousands of miles away. Rather it is about what happens right at home, like when 125 5th graders from Kamehameha Schools took to the stage and performed a play to commemorate the men of Hui Panala’au. In the end, what matters is that we are the collective memory keepers. Let us thus remember Paul Phillips and all of his civilian comrades who claimed islands and represented their home, families and community in the distant South Pacific Seas.

You can find more information about the Hui Panala‘au from NOAA and the University of Hawai‘i.