At Fort DeRussy, Nation Does Not Take Up Gun Against Nation, Nor Will They Train For War Anymore

"Tropical Depression" 
by Patti Liszkay
​Available  on Amazon:   
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY

​
​At Fort DeRussy, Nation Does Not Take Up Gun Against Nation, Nor Will They Train For War Anymore

​...Continued from yesterday:
        We stayed, as we always do while in Honolulu, at the Hale Koa,

...a recreation facility owned by the Department of Defense to provide rest, relaxation and lodging for active duty members of the U.S. military, ​

...and also for those retired from military service, as is my mate Tom, here a young Army lieutenant back in the early 1970's.

      The Hale Koa is located on Fort DeRussy, 

​...which was originally built in Waikiki by the American army in the early 20th century as a coastal defense unit called Battery Randolph. 

          Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor the Battery Randolph artillery guns were fired in a practice defense exercise.     ​

      Unfortunately, the blast of the guns shattered many of the windows in Waikiki's two upper crust society hotels of the time, the Royal Hawaiian, 

...and the Moana.

         The guns of Battery Randolph were never fired again and a re-think was given to having an artillery battery stationed along Waikiki beach.
         In the subsequent years the old Battery Randolph was transformed into Fort DeRussy, which today consists of 71 acres of beautiful green space, most of which is open to the public,

...and Fort DeRussy Beach, a lovely patch of sand and sea also open to the public, where now off the coast float not battleships, 

...but sailboats.

        And the snorkeling there, they tell me, is wonderful,

...as is the view of Diamond Head.

To be continued...