Rescuing history

The Fire Department needs help recovering lost pieces of its past

Honolulu firefighter John Alawa Gilman never spoke about being wounded while fighting the flames at a Hickam Air Force Base hangar on Dec. 7, 1941.

Not that he could have talked about it, even if he wanted. His granddaughter Terri Kekoolani said that he was shot during the attack by Japanese airplanes and suffered a stroke while at Queen's Hospital, leaving him partially paralyzed and only able to mumble.

Got memorabilia? Anyone wishing to donate or loan items to the HFD museum is asked to call Capt. Dennis Lewis at 527-6741 or 282-2211.

"He'd put a picture of the bombing and his Purple Heart on his Bible, and he used to cry," she recalls. "He used to be a musician, a Hawaiian guitar singer, but not after that.

"He was still a strong man afterwards ... but that was my experience with him ... crying and reliving the day of Dec. 7."

Gilman was one of nine Honolulu firefighters -- three were killed and six wounded -- awarded the Purple Heart for their actions that day. They are the only civilian firefighters in the United States ever to receive the honor.

Though Gilman died in 1983 at the age of 76, his family is hoping his story will live on by allowing the Honolulu Fire Department to display his Purple Heart in the Pearl Harbor exhibit of HFD's new museum, which is scheduled to open in late spring.

"If it can help honor him, then we're for it," Terri said.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM A fire gong from the turn of the century.

The Fire Department has been around for a century and a half but is low on memorabilia.

For that reason, HFD officials are asking families of retired firefighters, or others with ties to the department, to check their homes for pieces of HFD history.

The Fire Department is celebrating its 155th anniversary next year with the opening of a long-awaited museum and is looking for more historical items to exhibit -- which they know are still out there.

"When we took inventory, we were surprised at the small amount that we had, considering our history," said outgoing Fire Chief Attillio Leonardi. "I mean, we're the only fire department in the world which was formed by a reigning monarch.

"We've already seen some things on eBay, and that's a shame. ... Hawaii's history is being sold for a few dollars."

Leonardi said he has seen small items such as old leather HFD helmets and HFD stamped license plates being sold online. He believes other items were lost during the department's many relocations to different administrative buildings.

"A bunch of things disappeared," he said. "People got rid of things, some people have taken items and thought maybe it looks great in their garage ... or a family might even throw them away, not knowing what they had."

The Fire Department's history goes back to 1851, when it was formed under the monarchy of King Kamehameha III. Both Kamehameha and King David Kalakaua after him were active members of the Fire Department -- then as volunteers, according to Leonardi.

"They were both seen fighting fires," he said. "We have documentation to prove it."

Other items the department has for its museum might seem like old junk in someone's attic or back yard: big bulky metal canister fire extinguishers dating back to 1901, a hollow wooden surfboard used for ocean rescues in the 1940s, dozens of brass fire hose nozzles and even a fire "gong" that rang a certain number of times for the area where an alarm box was pulled.

"I think they installed the alarm boxes around 1904, and they kept using them to the start of World War II and then went to switchboard," said HFD Museum curator and Station 25 Capt. Dennis Lewis.

"We have a few alarm boxes, but it would be great to find more."

Lewis said he is also looking for metal fire "trumpets," which were used by fire chiefs to bellow out orders in the days before the megaphone. At one point, Lewis said, there were 20 such trumpets in the department.

"Now we only have one," he said.

Besides finding more trumpets, Lewis would love to display all nine Purple Hearts awarded to the department. So far, only the Gilman family has donated one.

It makes Leonardi wonder what other pieces of HFD's storied past are out there, maybe gathering dust under someone's bed or collecting rust outside in the yard.

"Whatever they have, we're willing to take it as a donation or a loan," he said. "It's our past, and we just ask that people consider us before putting it on eBay or throwing it away."