I grew up in Waimea, a small town USA that was a ranch town. Waimea is located on the north tip of the Big Island of Hawaii and nestled in a crease of the Kohala mountain. I was born three years after WWII ended. Hawaii was a US Territory then and a training area for twenty to forty thousand marines, prepping for assaults on Iwo Jima, Tinian, and Okinawa. Fortunately, the war ended with the Iwo Jima incursion. 

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My family was poor. In fact, everyone was poor except for Richard Smart, the owner of Parker Ranch.  We were all in the same boat. The irony is, we were happy. Very happy as we were rich in spirit. Most of us sat on a three-legged stool.  1 Church. 2 School. 3 Family.