In the fall of 1941 Dorinda began first grade at Sacred Hearts Convent in Nu’uanu.

The 350 bombers, torpedo planes, and zero fighters started their deadly mission, just a few hundred yards from her house. “The Japanese planes moved into the harbor with the big bright red circles on the wings”, said Dorinda.

The morning of December 7,1941 Dorinda started to eat her breakfast and heard a loud bang. Her whole family ran outside to see what was going on. Suddenly her kitchen was on fire and half of the roof was gone. Her family and she went in their car to a hill close by where they could see the harbor. Her friends came up to the hill they were on.

“We forgot about the harbor burning and played while our parents figured out what they were going to do” said Dorinda. Dorinda didn’t know where her dog was, she was scared and wanted to comfort her puppy. Everyone was in a huddle when they saw it. A plane that kept on passing though the black smoke. They saw photos that the Japanese took and they thought it was from the plane that kept on passing though the black smoke in the sky.

Dorinda was so scared that she began to sob. She and her family watched the harbor burn as they listened to the radio. Everyone had questions that they wanted answered, but the problem was finding someone to answer those questions.

Soldiers came and told them they couldn’t go home but, to go with them. They showed them to a shelter so they wouldn’t be out on the streets. Everyone was terrified! Dorinda and everyone else were there days and about a million things happened that Dorinda couldn’t understand. Things ended after a while, but she will NEVER forget that horrible day on December 7, 1941.