Ghosts of Honolulu by Mark Harmon & Leon Carroll Jr

This is a nonfiction book about the US Navy's counterintelligence unit in Honolulu, HI in World War II. It's written by Mark Harmon, of NCIS fame, and Leo Carroll, who is a former NCIS Special Agent. I have read a lot about Pearl Harbor and visited it several times. I used to live on Oahu as well. I also know a lot about World War II in general. I figured this book about counterintelligence would fit right in my wheelhouse. 

This book involves a lot of people, most with Japanese, Hawaiian, or German names. It was truly difficult to keep track of everyone and their roles in this historic event of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. There were counterintelligence agents for the Americans, the Japanese, and the Germans. The main focus however was Douglas Wada. His story was very interesting. He was born in Hawaii, but when he was a teenager his father pretty much tricked him into "visiting" Japan. Douglas thought it was a visit, but his dad's intent was for him to stay there to learn the culture & language. He ended up finishing his education in Japan. He had a knack for languages, so by the time he escaped back to Hawaii, before he could be conscripted into the Japanese military, he was fluent in Japanese. Once the US Navy found him, they wanted him to work undercover in Naval Intelligence. They didn't necessarily want people to know he was connected to the Navy because he was very charismatic, personable, knew fluent Japanese as spoken in Japan, so they wanted to use him to translate wiretaps of the Japanese Consulate, gather information on the streets as a reporter, and interrogate a POW captured in Honolulu.

The book also explains how the Japanese Americans living in Hawaii and California at the time of Pearl Harbor were treated. One thing I didn't realize before reading this book is that the Japanese Americans living in and around California are the people who ended up in the internment camps in the US. The Japanese Americans living in Hawaii, like Douglas Wada's family and friends, were affected (ie their temples being shut down, etc), but they were not sent to camps as POWs.

Although we learn all about Douglas Wada, his childhood, family, and career with Naval Intelligence, I wouldn't classify it as a narrative. Like I said earlier, it was hard to keep track of everyone. There was a point when I stopped trying to remember who everyone was and just kept track of the key people, especially those associated with Douglas.

Wendy's Rating: ***1/2