Bryant Neal will be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset’s meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.

KAANAPALI — Bryant Neal will be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset’s meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.

The meeting will be held at the Royal Ocean Terrace Restaurant at the Royal Lahaina Resort.

The title of Neal’s presentation is “Maui at War – The Story of Camp Maui During WWII.”

According to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, “Hawaii during World War II served as a major training and staging and supply base for the entire region. Due to similarity of environments within the Pacific, the islands were particularly suited for jungle warfare exercises and amphibious operations.

“Maui during the war was fully engaged as a staging center and training base. There were almost 50 different military training areas on Maui, including live-grenade courses, pistol and rifle and machine-gun ranges, a bazooka area, a mortar and artillery impact area, a seacoast artillery range, an antiaircraft firing area, and combat firing ranges for maneuvering and firing of tanks and halftracks in coordination with the infantry. Maui also featured extensive jungle training areas and simulated village and cave fighting courses. Training was conducted both day and night and bivouacked encampments could be seen all over the island.

“Many units trained on Maui, but the island was home to one in particular, the 4th Marine Division or ‘Maui Marines.’ Construction of Camp Maui began near Haiku under the rainbows and the rain on the slopes of Haleakala in February, 1944. Eventually offices and living quarters, mess halls and the Post Exchange, and even baseball diamonds and boxing rings, were established. The camp would be home for the 18,000 marines of the 4th Division for two years.”

Neal is the owner of Story of Hawaii Museum Exhibit. He is known for his presentation on “Telling Hawaii’s Story” and is the owner of a vast collection of vintage antique maps and documents used to present the Story of Hawaii in chronological sequence.

Neal received his Bachelor’s Degree from Hendrix College in 1979. Since moving to Maui in 1982, he has served as vice president of Lahaina Printsellers. He is also the founder of the 501(c)(3) Arts Education for Children Group and Jazz Maui.

For more information, visit https://www.rotarycluboflahainasunset.org.