Honor in sacrifice

The Legislature will recognize 67 servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan

ON FRIDAY, Pamela Fiscus visited Arlington National Cemetery where the ashes of her 26-year-old son, killed while serving with the 25th Infantry Division last year, is entombed.

Tomorrow, Fiscus will visit the islands for the first time and will be honored by the state Legislature for the sacrifice of her son, Sgt. Keith E. Fiscus, who was killed Dec. 2 in Baghdad, Iraq. Keith Fiscus had been assigned to the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, since 2002.

She will be one of 42 family members who will receive the Hawaii Medal of Honor in a joint session of the state Legislature in the Senate chambers, which will begin at 10 a.m.

The medal, designed by Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Pollick, historian for the Hawaii Army National Guard, features the state coat of arms and the Maltese Cross, which depicts four axes of the globe, representing Hawaii as the crossroads of the Pacific.

Sixty-seven servicemembers with ties to Hawaii who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan will be honored

This is the second time such a ceremony will be held. Last year 120 servicemembers were recognized.

"Arlington was just so beautiful," said Fiscus as she completed the 90-minute drive to her home in Townsend, Del. "But it was so very sad to see all the fallen soldiers."

She hopes to spend time with soldiers in her son's unit.

"I had wished to visit him when he was stationed here, but it didn't come true.

"This will be my first time. It will be very, very difficult."

Pamela Fiscus, who opposed her son enlisting in the Army, said she is still finding out how he died.

She said that her son, who had just been promoted and re-enlisted, wasn't supposed to be in the Humvee, whose doors didn't work, in a convoy that had turned onto the wrong road.

Her son was thrown from the Humvee and was killed instantly.

When she was informed that she and her son would be recognized by the Hawaii Legislature, "I was just elated," she said.

"I cried for the longest time. ... it's such an honor. Nothing will keep me from being there."

Michelle Sakoda, whose husband, Sgt. Steve Sakoda, was killed by a roadside bomb on April 29, 2006, said she remembers her husband last year trying to get recognition for a friend for the same award.

"I'm glad and honored," said Michelle Sakoda, who is now living near Seattle and working as a registered nurse.

She said her husband was motivated to join in part because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attack on the World Trade Center. Sakoda, 29, was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) when he was killed last year.

She said members of her husband's unit still keep in touch with her.

Rep. Mark Takai, who authored the 2005 law creating the Hawaii medal, said: "In the past four years, the war against terrorism has changed our world and our lives in a profound way.

"Ultimately, it's not about politics, it's not about money, and it's not even about winning. It's all about the families and their loved ones and what these brave men and women sacrificed to our country.

"The Hawaii Medal of Honor is a symbol of our remembering those who stood tall for our values so that we may live in a land perpetuated in righteousness."

2007 Hawaii Medal of Honor recipients

» 1st Lt. Dustin M. Shumney (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Richard A. Perez Jr. (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Kristen K. Figueroa Marino (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Nicholas R. Anderson (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Andres Aguilar Jr. (Marine Corps)
» Pfc. Joseph I. Love (Army)
» Staff Sgt. Jason C. Ramseyer (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Eric R. Lueken (Marine Corps)
» Staff Sgt. Metodio A. Bandonill (Army)
» Staff Sgt. Edward G. Davis III (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Brandon M. Hardy (Marine Corps)
» Sgt. Lea R. Mills (Marine Corps)
» Sgt. Steve M. Sakoda (Army)
» Lance Cpl. Adam C. Conboy (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Hatak Yuka Keyu M. Yearby (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Jose S. MarinDominguez Jr. (Marine Corps)

» Sgt. David R. Christoff Jr. (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. William J. Leusink (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Michael A. Estrella (Marine Corps)
» Staff Sgt. Jeffrey S. Loa (Army)
» Cpl. Jeremy R. Shank (Army)
» Sgt. 1st Class Michael T. Fuga (Army)
» Lance Cpl. Ryan A. Miller (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Yull Estrada Rodriguez (Marine Corps)
» Sgt. Velton Locklear III (Army)
» Pfc. Kenneth E. Kincaid IV (Army)
» Pfc. Christopher T. Riviere (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. James Chamroeun (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Michael K. Oremus (Army)
» Staff Sgt. Daniel Isshak (Army)
» Lance Cpl. Derek W. Jones (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Jeremy S. Sandvick Monroe (Marine Corps)
» Capt. Shane T. Adcock (Army)
» Pfc. Kenny F. Stanton Jr. (Army)
» 1st Lt. Joshua Deese (Army)
» Sgt. Jonathan E. Lootens (Army)
» 1st Lt. Joshua L. Booth (Marine Corps)
» Pvt. Edwardo J. Lopez (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Daniel B. Chaires (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Donald S. Brown (Marine Corps)
» Staff Sgt. Richwell A. Doria (Army)
» Lance Cpl. Timothy W. Brown (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Mario D. Gonzalez (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Michael D. Scholl (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. James R. Davenport (Marine Corps)
» Pfc. Heath D. Warner (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Joshua C. Alonzo (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Jeromy D. West (Marine Corps)
» Sgt. Keith E. Fiscus (Army)
» Lt. Col. Joseph T. McCloud (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Joshua C. Sticklen (Marine Corps)
» Maj. Megan Malia-Leilani McClung (Marine Corps)
» Pfc. Travis C. Krege (Army)
» Sgt. Jesse J.J. Castro (Army)
» Cpl. Jason I. Huffman (Army)
» Cpl. Yari Mokri (Army)
» Sgt. Joshua B. Madden (Army)
» Lance Cpl. Matthew W. Clark (Marine Corps)
» Staff Sgt. Henry K. Kahalewai Jr. (Army)
» Lance Cpl. Stephen L. Morris (Marine Corps)
» Cpl. Toby R. Olsen (Army)
» Gunnery Sgt. Terry J. Elliott (Marine Corps)
» Hospitalman Matthew G. Conte (Navy)
» Cpl. Kenneth T. Butler (Army)
» Cpl. David C. Armstrong (Army)
» Lance Cpl. Daniel T. Morris (Marine Corps)
» Lance Cpl. Anthony L. Aguirre (Marine Corps)

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Compiled by the Office of Rep. K. Mark Takai