In honor of the 80^th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the story details the key role members of the University of Hawai'i football team played in the formation of the school's Varsity Victory Volunteers. This story was written by Kyle Galdeira and featured in UH's 2016 Military Appreciation Night game program "The Huddle" versus New Mexico for the 75^th anniversary.
 
While today's crop of college football players works tirelessly to win the many battles on the gridiron between the lines, a unique group of University of Hawai'i athletes will always be remembered for stepping up to fight for the country at one of our nation's most trying times.
 
There was a time when UH student-athletes and coaches were called upon to protect O'ahu's land and people as the country was attacked. Part of that special unit included representatives from the UH football program who played key roles in the formation of the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV). Former Rainbows Tommy Kaulukukui, Jyun Hirota and Unkei Uchima made their marks on the field and as VVV participants.

 

On Dec. 7, 1941, as reports of the now infamous aerial attack on Pearl Harbor streamed in, members of the UH Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) were instructed to report to campus. Those cadets became the first senior ROTC cohort to be designated for active duty. Composed largely of Nisei – first and second-generation Japanese Americans – each newly minted soldier was handed an old Springfield rifle with a single clip of five shells and was tasked with, essentially, defending Honolulu as chaos and confusion ensued.
 
The VVV's service was initially cut short as President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order to designate all Nisei as IV-C, or "enemy aliens." This prejudiced proclamation prohibited the cadets from entering the military. On Jan. 21, 1942, military governor General Delos Emmons ordered the HTG disbanded.
 
However, the counsel of YMCA Secretary Hung Wai Ching provided another means for VVV participants to participate in the war effort. Emmons accepted a petition from 130 UH students to serve as volunteers in a manual labor support group, and on Feb. 25, 1942, the VVV enjoyed a resurgence behind a 169-man support unit for the 34^th Engineer Battalion at Schofield Barracks. 
 
Heading the unit was Captain Richard Lum, and at his side was the famed "Grass Shack" in Kaulukukui, Hawai'i's first All-American football player. While at UH, the Kalihi-born star picked up 17 letters in five sports and his number (32) is retired for the Rainbow Warriors. Kaulukukui earned his nickname after legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice watched the 5-foot-4, 145-pounder return a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown in the Los Angeles Coliseum against UCLA. The kick return remains the longest run back in UH football's rich history. After being named to the All-American Board of Football team as a player, Kaulukukui stayed on as a coach and eventually became the team's head coach during a tenure that spanned four years when the program was put on hold due to World War II.

 
In his six seasons as Hawai'i's skipper, Kaulukukui amassed a 34-19-3 record before moving on to coach 'Iolani at the prep ranks and founding Hawai'i's first Pop Warner youth football league.  He was eventually selected as a charter member of the National Football Hall of Fame Association and was also part of the UH Circle of Honor's 1982 class.
 
Also among the VVV ranks, Hirota – a future Hawai'i two-sport star – got his first exposure to Kaulukukui's leadership; he would later play halfback for the coach when the team returned to the gridiron in 1946. On the field, Hirota was selected as co-captain of the UH football team in his final season (1949).
 
The McKinley High School product enjoyed a productive run on the baseball diamond and, before suiting up for the Rainbows, he spent the war years playing baseball for the local Athletics affiliate. Due to the war, baseball games were played exclusively during the day and Hirota played against opponents including a team featuring Joe DiMaggio while also serving with the VVV.
 
The Yomiuri Giants would eventually acquire Hirota, who earned the nickname "Curly" because of his hair and served as a pioneer for Japanese Americans aiming to play professionally in Japan. In four seasons with the Giants, Hirota's squad won the Japan World Series every year. He eventually returned to Hawai'i and served as assistant special events manager and then events manager at Aloha Stadium from 1973-1994. He was inducted to the UH Circle of Honor in 2009.  

 
At the forefront of the VVV's formation, offensive tackle Uchima embodied a leadership role in organizing the unit, one similar to his vital assignment on the offensive line. After the war, Uchima served as a captain on Kaulukukui's squad from 1946-47, when the teams went 8-2 and 8-5.
 
The VVV quickly earned acceptance through their vital contributions, including constructing military buildings, building furniture and field ice boxes and cooking for the unit.
 
Professors traveled from UH to Schofield and helped VVV members maintain their education as the university accepted the credits. During the non-combat unit's downtime, Kaulukukui was able to sharpen his coaching skills via the VVV fielded regimental teams in both basketball and baseball, in addition to two football teams –a barefoot league and another that played against local opponents.
 
In a time of increased suspicion and scrutiny, the VVV's service represented a turning point in the acceptance and treatment for those of Japanese descent locally. However, earning the respect of the soldiers and the community was just one key byproduct of the VVV's progress. 
 
Early in 1943, members of the VVV joined the segregated 442^nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service – the Triple-V was represented well when the RCT stood in formation on the grounds of 'Iolani Palace before shipping out. Forbidden to fight in the Pacific Theater, the 442nd was paired with the existing 100^thInfantry, the "Hawaiian Provisional Battalion," at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and became enlisted soldiers. 
 
In June of 1943, the 442^nd saw its first action in the town of Belvedere, Italy, alongside the 100^th, commencing a distinguished campaign for the RCT in the European Theater. It would end the war as the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare, fighting behind the iconic Pidgin English phrase "Go for Broke."
 
After a long and complicated journey, the 442^nd RCT returned to Honolulu and was deactivated in 1946 as victors of two wars – the first against a tangible enemy overseas, and the second against racial discrimination in a fight for equality. The VVV are celebrated with a sculpture honoring their service to the Army and Hawai'i, which is housed within the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center on the UH campus and bears the names of the 169 members of the VVV.