LETTER FROM BRITAIN.
Opera House,
Dudley, England,
Nov. 4, 1916.
To my true friend, Dick Kekona,
Aloha oe:–Perhaps you are surprised receiving this letter. I have tried all means to release your beloved son Diamond from the British armed forces. I appeared before the American Consul in the countryside here in England, telling them that Diamond is an American. They responded that they will put my request before the head consul in London. On the 17th of September, I went to the Consulate in London, they told me that the consul could not order the British government to release Diamond because he is 25 years old; only those below 20 years old, if they are American citizens. These past days, I decided to have your daughter-in-law (Amy Kekona) to come to see me, and get together with her to think of a way to release her husband; for these good reasons, I ask that you send me his birth certificate, or to go to the governor of Hawaii to write to the Hawaiian Delegate Mr. J. K. Kalanianaole in Washington D. C., to go to the State Department in Washington and have the American Ambassador in London investigate the circumstances of his enlisting in the armed forces, and you verify that your first-born son is a true Hawaiian. He had a document in the city of Paris, France, from the office of the American General, written on the 13th of February, 1914, attesting to the fact that he is a Hawaiian. If he finds these documents, he will be victorious. Do not neglect this, for I am still regretful not having his acting. He has much knowledge in this area, and his showing this to the world would bring fame to the Hawaiian Lahui. I will organize everything here and send it to London. With our sleuthing, I believe everything will progress; may God watch over and keep safe the life of your child until we meet again, amen.
With aloha to your family and the Hawaiian Nation.
JOSEPH PUNI.
Write me at your daughter-in-law’s, c/o 143 Baxter Ave., Kidderminister, England.
(Aloha Aina, 1/19/1917, p. 3)
