All Officers

At Camp McCoy, Wisconsin in September 1942, photographs of the officers and each company were taken by Army Signal Corp photographers. These photos were framed and hung in the Honolulu clubhouse that was built in 1952 by the veterans who had formed Club 100 after the war.

The Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion was formed in May 1942. After the battalion arrived in Oakland, California in June, it was designed the 100^th Infantry Battalion (Separate). On page 63 of “Ambassadors in Arms: The Story of Hawaii’s 100^th Battalion” by Thomas Murphy, it was noted that its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Farrant Turner, was told the rifle companies could not be commanded by officers of Japanese ancestry. He proceeded to select Caucasian officers who had either been born in the Islands or had been living in Hawaii and were familiar with the local population. By the time the 100^th left for Oran, Africa in September 1943, this directive was no longer in effect.

The captains he selected were Alex McKenzie, Phillip Peck, Clarence Johnson, Charles Brenaman, and Jack Johnson, commanders of Headquarters, A, B, C and D Companies. On pages 63 and 64, Murphy described the background of these four officers:

• McKenzie was born in the islands, a graduate of the University of Hawaii and Southern California. He had joined the Hawaii National Guard in 1937 as an enlisted man and had risen in rank. His civilian job had been at the Stanford Oil Company of California in Honolulu.
• Also joining the Guard in 1937, Peck was a graduate of the university in Hawaii and in California. He had worked at the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company.
• C. Johnson had arrived in Hawaii as a private in the Army, and after his enlistment ended in 1934, he went to work at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. The next year, he joined the Guard and rose in rank.
• Brenamen was a soldier in France during World War I and in 1929 had arrived in Hawaii as a sergeant in the Army. He became an instructor for the Guard and maintained his active status even after he left for a job in the private sector. When he reported for duty, he was forty-two years old.
• J. Johnson was well known in the islands as a football star on the University of Hawaii’s football team. At the University, he was student commander of the ROTC and joined the Guard in 1939. Two years later, he was sent to officers school at Fort Benning, Georgia.

The captains of Japanese ancestry were Dr. Isaac Kawasaki (Surgeon), Dr. Katsumi Kometani (Morale Officer), Taro Suzuki (Supply Officer), and John Tanimura (Utilities). Major James Lovell was the Executive Officer.    

The five images below were scanned by volunteers at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center in Kahului, Maui. The original photograph was a panoramic image of all the officers.

< Back to Officers

< Back to Officers