The occupied nation of Hawaiʻi, whose sovereign government was overthrown by the US Navy in an 1893 coup d'etat, is the current location of the headquarters of the US military presence in the Indo-Pacific.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /> The percentage of military-controlled land in Hawaiʻi is higher than in any other US "state". On the island of [[O‘ahu]], the US military controls about 25 per cent of the land.<ref name=":29">{{Web citation|author=Teuila Fuatai|newspaper=MR Online|title=From Hawai’i: To the U.S., we’re a giant military station|date=2025-03-26|url=https://mronline.org/2025/03/26/from-hawaii-to-the-u-s-were-a-giant-military-station/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401052050/https://mronline.org/2025/03/26/from-hawaii-to-the-u-s-were-a-giant-military-station/|archive-date=2025-04-01}}</ref> There are at least 11 recognized military bases in Hawaiʻi.<ref name=":29" /><ref>{{Web citation|author=Buddy Blouin|newspaper=MyBaseGuide|title=What are the military bases in Hawaii?|url=https://mybaseguide.com/military-bases-in-hawaii}}</ref>The island of [[Kahoʻolawe]] was taken under U.S. military control during the Second World War, first by a 1941 sublease from Kahoʻolawe Ranch Company, where the U.S. Army acquired bombing rights for $1 per year. It was then sequestrated by the Army for use as a live ordinance training area and its southern and eastern cliffs used for torpedo bomb testing and its western beaches as rehearsal landing areas. Following the war, the island was placed under the jurisdiction of the secretary of the U.S. Navy and continued to be used as a bombing target.<ref name=":13">[http://www.protectkahoolaweohana.org/history.html "History."] Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana.</ref> During the [[Korean War]], a mock airfield and vehicle convoys were set up on the island for practice bombing and strafing. During the Vietnam War, replicas of Vietnamese surface-to-air missile sites and radar stations were set up and bombed. In 1965, the Navy exploded 500 tons of [[Trinitrotoluene|TNT]] to simulate an [[Nuclear weapon|atomic]] blast and observe its effects on target ships moored nearby. This left a massive crater on the island as well as cracked the island's freshwater aquifer, destroying the island's ability to hold freshwater.<ref>Graff, Cory. [https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/kahoolawe-island-us-navy "Kaho’olawe: The Pacific’s Battered Bullseye."] The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, November 20, 2021. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240415120918/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/kahoolawe-island-us-navy Archived] 2024-04-15.</ref>
Though efforts to return the island to the people of Hawaiʻi had begun since 1941,<ref name=":14">[http://www.protectkahoolaweohana.org/mo699olelo-699256ina.html "moʻolelo ʻāina."] Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana.</ref> it was in the 1970s that a series of protest occupations of the island escalated and brought increased attention to the movement. Members of [[Aboriginal Lands of Hawaiian Ancestry]], or ALOHA, had been seeking recognition for Native Hawaiian rights and reparations, "inspired by recognition given to [[Indigenous peoples of the Americans|Native Americans]] at [[Wounded Knee]], and to [[Native Alaskans]]," as one activist later described.<ref name=":15">Noe Tanigawa. [https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/arts-culture/2022-02-18/navy-bombs-and-the-rescue-of-kahoolawe-in-the-1970s "Navy bombs and the rescue of Kahoʻolawe in the 1970s."] Hawaiʻi Public Radio, February 18, 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240502051559/https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/arts-culture/2022-02-18/navy-bombs-and-the-rescue-of-kahoolawe-in-the-1970s Archived] 2024-05-02.</ref> However, as legal methods stalled, they wanted to call attention to the condition of Native Hawaiians by occupying federal land, and organizing began to occupy Kahoʻolawe.<ref name=":15" />
The first successful landing on the island occurred on January 4, 1976 when nine individuals in one boat managed to get past the Coast Guard which was blocking most of the other people who came to join the occupation. Two of the nine individuals managed to remain on the island for two days, surveying the land. Witnessing the devastation of the bombings and acting out of [[Aloha ʻAina]], love of the land, a movement to stop the bombing also formed, notably coalescing into the organization [[Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana]] (PKO).<ref name=":15" />
Bombing on Kahoʻolawe was finally halted in 1990. The Navy finally transferred Kahoʻolawe to the state of Hawaiʻi in 2003, halting its clean up efforts, including the clean up of [[unexploded ordinance]], in 2004, with approximately 25% of the island remaining uncleared.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":13" /> As noted on PKO's website, "Selected areas were cleared for specific uses including revegetation with native species, trails and roads, cultural sites, camping areas, and educational facilities. However, the island and its surrounding waters remain dangerous. Therefore, access continues to be restricted."<ref name=":14" />
Regarding the significance of Kahoʻolawe and the struggle for its return and rehabilitation, PKO's website says "In working for the return of Kaho‘olawe, many of the current generation rediscovered what it means to be Hawaiian. Restoring the island will provide a place and a purpose for a new generation of Hawaiians to be trained in the rights and responsibilities of 'kahu o ka ‘āina,' or stewards of the land."<ref name=":14" /> One member of PKO was quoted in a 2011 Honolulu Civil Beat article as saying, "Coming out of a very conservative Cold War era to challenge the [[Military–industrial complex|military industrial complex]] was to set yourself outside of the dominant norm. It wasn’t easy."<ref name=":16">LaFrance, Adrienne. [https://www.civilbeat.org/2011/10/13158-who-remembers-the-hawaiian-renaissance/ “Who Remembers the Hawaiian Renaissance?”] Honolulu Civil Beat, October 7, 2011. [https://web.archive.org/web/20231202023826/https://www.civilbeat.org/2011/10/13158-who-remembers-the-hawaiian-renaissance/ Archived] 2023-12-02.</ref> The struggle for Kahoʻolawe has also been described as a significant landmark in the [[Hawaiian Renaissance]] of the 1970s.<ref name=":16" /><ref>[https://www.kaainamomona.org/post/5-major-events-of-the-1970s-hawaiian-renaissance-movement “5 Major Events of the 1970s Hawaiian Renaissance Movement.”] ʻĀina Momona, September 27, 2021. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240505073710/https://www.kaainamomona.org/post/5-major-events-of-the-1970s-hawaiian-renaissance-movement Archived] 2024-05-05.</ref>
[[File:Hawaii protest.png|alt=Demonstrators hold various signs such as "Stop the bombing", "Stop bombing Hawaii", "Protect Pohakuloa", "Boycott Hawaii", "Stop bombing paradise", "Aloha 'Aina", and "Malama 'Aina, Malama Pohakuloa"|thumb|Demonstrators in Hawaii hold signs demanding an end to bombing and to protect Pōhakuloa]]
Parts of Mākua valley have been used for live-fire training since the 1920s. After the attack on Pearl Harbor during the Second World War, martial law was imposed in Hawaii and the US military took control of Mākua and Kahoʻolawe. Local families who were displaced by this land seizure were told at the time that it was temporary and that most would be able to return after the war. However, in 1945 the War Department sought the transfer of 6,608 acres at Mākua for training, and in 1964, the Army paid $1 for a 65-year lease to continue training on Mākua and other areas.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Kevin Knodell|newspaper=Honolulu Civil Beat|title=A Shaky Truce: The Army And Native Hawaiians Both Want Oahu’s Makua Valley|date=2021-08-15|url=https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/08/a-shaky-truce-the-army-and-native-hawaiians-both-want-oahus-makua-valley/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401053904/https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/08/a-shaky-truce-the-army-and-native-hawaiians-both-want-oahus-makua-valley/|archive-date=2025-04-01}}</ref> The current lease on Mākua expires in 2029.<ref name=":30">{{Web citation|newspaper=Mālama Mākua|title=Homepage|url=https://www.malamamakua.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401054851/https://www.malamamakua.org/|archive-date=2025-04-01}}</ref>[[Mālama Mākua]] is an organization formed in 1996 which strives for the return of Mākua Valley from US military occupation and states its solidarity with "other Indigenous Peoples throughout the world whose lands are threatened by all manner of settler-colonialism, whether it be through militarism or settler-colonial land grabs."<ref>{{Web citation|author=Mālama Mākua|newspaper=Mālama Mākua|title=About Us|url=https://www.malamamakua.org/about-mlama-mkua}}</ref> They state on their homepage that "Sacred Mākua is a place where Papa (Earth mother) and Wākea (sky father) created human life, a place of healing and refuge, not a place for bombs and bullets or military training by the US military."<ref name=":30" />[[File:Hawaiians protest fuel contamination from U.S. military Red Hill facility.jpg|alt=Protestors hold signs saying "Water is life", "Ola i ka wai", "Poisoned by the U.S. military", "Red Hill poisoning Hawaii for imperialism", "water pollusion is genocide", "Demilitarize Hawaii", "Shut Down Red Hill"|thumb|Demonstrators against the contamination of water by the U.S. military]]
A fuel storage facility built during the Second World War and located on [[Kapūkaki]], also known as Red Hill, has been leaking since 1943, releasing a conservative estimate of 200,000 gallons of fuel into the surrounding environment. It is located just 100 feet (30.48 meters) above Oʻahu’s primary drinking water supply. A 2021 fuel leak from the facility poisoned the water system for nearly 100,000 residents, sending thousands of people into acute reactions due to petroleum exposure.<ref>[https://sierraclubhawaii.org/redhill "Shut Down Red Hill."] Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi.</ref> Following the incident, more than 70 organizations joined in the cause for closing Red Hill, including organizations such as [[Oʻahu Water Protectors]] and the [[Sierra Club]]. The military initially denied the problems, but finally suspended operation of the facility, though still fought against citizens' demands to close the facility completely. In the face of continued pressure, the Department of Defense eventually agreed to shut down the facility.<ref name=":10" />
Though the DoD agreed to shut down the facility, the medical repercussions for citizens harmed by the past leaks are ongoing, and residual fuel remains in the facility and the soil which poses a danger of contaminating Oʻahu's sole source aquifer. Speaking on the state of affairs in a 2024 interview with [[The Red Nation Podcast|The Red Nation]], activist [[Mikey Inouye]] commented "At this point, we are going to have to organize around Red Hill for, probably, the rest of our lives."<ref name=":11">Mikey Inouye, Jen Marley. [https://therednation.org/the-red-nation-podcast-from-hawaii-to-palestine-occupation-is-a-crime-w-mikey/ "From Hawai’i to Palestine, occupation is a crime w/ Mikey."] Episode 348, [[The Red Nation Podcast]], March 5, 2024. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240503140758/https://therednation.org/the-red-nation-podcast-from-hawaii-to-palestine-occupation-is-a-crime-w-mikey/ Archived] 2024-05-03. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKLNxHjELGA YouTube version]).</ref> Inouye observed that the facility was not "defueled" so much as it was "dispersed [...] into our drinking water, into our sole source aquifer that provides water to nearly half a million people on the this island, it was dispersed into our bloodstreams, into the blood of children, including civilian children, including Kānaka Maoli children--Native Hawaiians, into our ecosystem, into our other-than-human relatives, and until that is removed from Hawaiʻi, Red Hill, to me, has not been shut down yet. And so, it's going to be the work of, possibly, generations."<ref name=":11" />
