The U.S. Pacific fleet is attacked by Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Wild rumors circulate the populace of fifth column activities by Japanese residents of the island involving sabotage. All of these prove to be false. Severe damage occurs in Honolulu, notably in the McCully district as a result of the attack, not from Japanese bombs but from incorrectly fused AA shells fired by panicked defenders of Pearl Harbor. In the aftermath of the attack angry Marines take to the streets threatening to kill all Japanese and fishing sampans returning to Kewalo basin are strafed by U.S. fighter planes seeking any opportune target.
Martial law is declared in Hawaii.
370 Japanese Americans of the University of Hawaii ROTC are immediately sworn into the Territorial Guard after Pearl Harbor to help defend the island. Meanwhile, the FBI and military intelligence conduct indiscriminate searches and investigations into the backgrounds of the Japanese population. But most of Hawaii's Japanese, who represent one third of the territory's population, escape wholesale relocation to mainland camps. However the recently sworn in Japanese Americans of the Territorial Guard are summarily discharged. In March of 1942 Japanese Americans are classified as enemy aliens and declared ineligible for the draft.