Fort DeRussy Beach Park, the stretch of prime Waikiki beachfront beside you, remains a U.S. Army reservation, one of the last reminders in the middle of glittering Waikiki of the enormous military presence that has defined Honolulu for over a century. The military first established a presence on this land following the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the United States acquired the Philippines and Guam and suddenly needed Hawaii as a strategic Pacific base. Concrete gun batteries were constructed here during the Second World War to defend Honolulu against a possible naval bombardment or invasion following the Pearl Harbor attack — a threat that was taken very seriously in the anxious months of early 1942.
The Army Museum of Hawaii, housed in Battery Randolph on these grounds, tells the story of American military involvement in Hawaii and the Pacific from the Spanish-American War through Vietnam. During the Second World War and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, Fort DeRussy served as a rest and recreation facility for thousands of soldiers, giving them a brief respite from combat in one of the world's most beautiful settings. Today, military personnel and their families can still use the beach, but it is also open to the public — and the contrast between the concrete gun batteries and the tourist hotels just beyond is a striking reminder of Waikiki's layered past.