Delos Carleton Emmons Delos Carleton Emmons was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army . Essentially a " desk general " , he was the military governor of Hawaii in the aftermath of the Attack on Pearl Harbor and administered the replacement of normal U . S . banknotes with special war - emergency US banknotes in case the island were actually invaded . Biography . He was born on January 17 , 1889 in Huntington , West Virginia . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in June 1909 and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant . Emmons was assigned as commanding officer of Company B , 30th Infantry Regiment at the Presidio of San Francisco and in May 1912 went to Fort Gibbon , Alaska with the 30th . He returned to Plattsburg Barracks , New York . He became a first lieutenant in July 1916 and was detailed to the Signal Corps ' Aviation Section for pilot training in August 1916 . He was rated a junior military aviator in May 1917 and became a captain in July . Emmons next served as aeronautical officer of the Western Department at San Francisco and in December went to Washington as assistant executive in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer . The following June , Emmons was promoted to major and went to Mather Field , California . He became a lieutenant colonel in August and in December was transferred to McCook Field in Dayton , Ohio as assistant chief of the Engineering Division . Emmons transferred to the U . S . Army Air Service in July 1920 and a year later completed the Air Service Course at Harvard University . He returned to McCook Field for three years as chief of Production Engineering . Emmons went to Crissy Field , California in August 1924 , where he served as commanding officer , and then to Rockwell Field as commanding officer of the 91st Observation Squadron . He went to Washington , D . C . , in August 1927 as executive officer for the chief of the Air Corps . He held the same assignment for the Assistant Secretary of War for Air , F . Trubee Davison , in October 1928 . Emmons graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama , and the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . Emmons was concurrently commanding officer of the 18th Composite Wing and Air Officer of the Hawaiian Department at Fort Shafter in the Hawaiian Islands from March 1934 to July 1936 . He became a colonel in March 1935 . Emmons returned to the United States in July 1936 as commander of the 1st Wing , General Headquarters Air Force , at March Field , California , with promotion to brigadier general . Emmons received his second star in March 1939 as part of his appointment as commander of the GHQ Air Force at Langley Field , Virginia , succeeding Col . Frank Andrews , who had just completed four years in the position and was returned to his permanent rank . After the fall of France , the Americans and British increased their military cooperation ; Emmons was one of three American military observers sent to London on August 6 , 1940 . He was promoted to lieutenant general in November 1940 when Army General Headquarters was activated , to make him equal in grade to other GHQ subordinate commanders . He retained his command when GHQ Air Force was renamed Air Force Combat Command in June 1941 and made a part of the new United States Army Air Forces . This however caused command difficulties since he was now superior in rank to his boss , Maj . Gen . Henry Arnold , the new Chief of the Army Air Forces . Emmons was returned by Arnold to Hawaii as commanding general of the Hawaiian Department on December 17 , ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor . He organized the replacement of the island ' s U . S . banknotes with new dollars overprint ed with the word " HAWAII " ; if the area were occupied , U . S . authorities could declare all marked dollars void and thereby render worthless all money which fell into enemy hands ( by their capture of banks , businesses , etc ) . He also requested Army Air Force Headquarters to send additional planes and received them as rapidly as possible . Emmons built up the forces in Hawaii , anticipating the Battle of Midway . This was the only combat command he held during the war . Emmons promised the local Japanese - American community in Hawaii that they would be treated fairly so long as they remained loyal to the United States , and he succeeded in blocking efforts to relocate them to the outer islands or mainland in internment camps by pointing out the logistical difficulties . Returning to the United States in June 1943 , Emmons was assigned three months later as commanding general of the Western Defense Command at Presidio , San Francisco . Emmons headed the Alaskan Department at Fort Richardson from June 1944 until June 1946 . He became commandant of the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk , Virginia , in August 1946 and remained in that position until he retired June 30 , 1948 . Awards and decorations . General Emmons ' awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters ; Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster ; Distinguished Flying Cross ; Air Medal ; American Defense Service Medal with Foreign Service Clasp ; American Campaign Medal ; Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star ; World War I Victory Medal ; World War II Victory Medal ; Mexican Border Service Medal .