Violet Okino Hirata was born September 29, 1925 in Hilo. She was the third of seven children born to Yoshio Okino and Masako Kayano Okino, who owned and operated Okino Hotel on 482 Kamehameha Avenue. The hotel was started in 1913 by Yoshio's father, Yoshimatsu Okino, an immigrant from Japan. Violet Hirata grew up in family quarters in one section of the hotel. Along with her two older sisters, she helped her parents in the hotel dining rooin, serving food to customers and clearing tables. She also helped take care of her four younger brothers.

The youngest of eight children who survived childbirth, Vivian Leilani Vidinha Souza was born January 14, 1918 in Koloa. Her father, Antone Vidinha, Sr., was Portuguese born in Mana, Kauai and eventually became the sheriff of Koloa. Her mother, Alohakeau Hale Vidinha, was Hawaiian born on Niihau. Vivian's brother, Antone Vidinha, was a former mayor of Kauai. Vivian, a lifelong resident of Koloa and Poipu, completed the eighth grade at Koloa School.

The son of Okinawan immigrants describes his Haiku lifestyle. After graduation from Maui High School, he worked at Maui Pine and Libby, McNeill & Libby, where he met his wife. He describes his observations of the 1946 and 1957 tsunamis.

William M. Akutagawa, Jr. was born February 18, 1948 on Moloka'i. His late father, William M. Akutagawa, Sr., was the son of Japanese immigrants. His mother, Katharine Hagemann Akutagawa, is the daughter of a German immigrant father and Hawaiian mother.  William grew up in KamalO and visited his grandparents in 'Ualapu'e often, spending much of his youth fishing the waters off of 'Ualapu'e Fishpond. He attended Kilohana School and Moloka'i High School, graduating in 1966.

A woman talks of being hanai or adopted in the Hawaiian custom. She speaks of her adoptive mother, a lau hala weaver. She also remembers the 1946 tsunami, which her father foresaw in a dream, and describe the damage it caused to her home.

Yen Cheung Au, Chinese, the sixth of sixteen children, was born in Waiahole, Oahu on March 7, 1894. His father was a rice farmer in Waiahole. Yen Cheung helped his father in the fields by scaring away the birds which threatened the rice crops. He also helped the family by catching fish and shrimp.