From the Big Island, Jim Reddekopp sends this retro-awesome Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium photo from his family archive. We only know two of the four guys in the picture, taken (we don’t know when) on the Ewa end of the Natatorium deck. On the left is Jim’s grandfather, Gene Froiseth, and on the right is Gene’s brother, legendary surfer Wally Froiseth, one of the developers of the Hot Curl board and a pioneer in the 1930s and 1940s of big wave surfing on the North Shore of Oahu. The Froiseth boys were part of the Natatorium’s glory days. Gene and
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Archives for photos
More Natatorium Memorial Day photos!
The consensus: It was one of the best ever. The 24th annual Memorial Day Service at the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. Just the right combination of solemn reflection, joyful performance and precision military pageantry. Just the right combination of revered older veterans and starry-eyed young dancers, singers and Pledge of Allegiance leaders. Just the right setting. Just the right weather. Just the right way to honor our nation’s war dead and veterans. And, especially, just the perfect way to commemorate the more than 10,000 from Hawai’i who volunteered for “The Great War,” World War I. They are the ones, after
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The Natatorium: The place to be
Here’s a slideshow of some wonderful historic photos of the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, unearthed in the collections of the Hawai’i State Archives. Several of them show the Natatorium as it was meant to be: A living memorial to Hawai’i’s honored war dead, a lively, active fun place where families and athletes and all of us could enjoy the freedom preserved for us by our warriors’ sacrifices. For so many years, the Natatorium truly was the place to be. It can be again. It should be again. For so many reasons: Because of the debt of honor we owe to
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