Hawaii sailors savor
By Gregg K. Kakesako
the flavors of home
Star-BulletinIf L&L Drive-In had a run on plate lunches today, it's because that was the first stop several island-born sailors made soon after their aircraft carrier pulled into Pearl Harbor.
"Lemon chicken, two scoops rice and mac salad," was the fare Petty Officer Sandy Kearns went searching for.
"No one knows how to make macaroni salad there," he said, referring to Bremerton, Wash., where the 100,000-ton USS Carl Vinson is homeported.
Petty Officer Arnold Lagat of Kihei and Seaman Sean Leffew of Papakolea chimed in with their favorites -- sashimi, tako, ahi and, of course, poi and laulau.
For Lagat, the celebration will be tonight in Kihei at the home of his parents, Pat and Ederlina Lagat, where they will celebrate not only his homecoming but also, belatedly, the sixth birthday of his first daughter, Victoria.
"I was out to sea on June 27 and missed her birthday," said Lagat, a 1989 Baldwin High School graduate.
Both of Lagat's daughters were born on the mainland, and the last time he and his family were home was two years ago when his ship stopped in Hawaii for another naval exercise.
"I always try to have them come home to visit their grandparents when I can make it," he said.
Chief Petty Officer Scott Robinson, a 16-year naval veteran, made a beeline for the airport as soon as the Vinson was tied up to make his flight to Maui and four days of leave.
"It's the people and the culture I miss most when I am away," said Robinson, who joined the Navy in 1982. He's from Kihei.
The Vinson is one of 50 ships participating in the Rim of the Pacific, the largest naval exercise in the world.
The monthlong training will end Aug. 6 with more than 28,000 people and 200 aircraft from six Pacific Rim nations.
The biennial event brings together the maritime forces of Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Vice Adm. Herb Browne, Third Fleet commander, said Hawaii's strategic location and "excellent training areas" make the naval exercise "the perfect place to showcase the Pacific Fleet armada."
Besides the Carl Vinson, two other carriers, the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Independence, will visit Hawaii.
The Kitty Hawk and the Independence are the Navy's two remaining non-nuclear carriers, and the only types the Japanese allow to be be home-ported in their country.
The Kitty Hawk will be replacing the Independence, the Navy's oldest ship, which will be decommissioned in September.
