The National Japanese American Memorial Foundation will present its special recognition legacy award to four Japanese-American Medal of Honor recipients — U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, Hiroshi “;Hershey”; Miyamura, Barney Hajiro and George T. Sakato — at its annual dinner on Friday in Washington, D.C.

Funds raised will be used by the foundation, whose goals are increasing public awareness about the plight of Japanese-American civilians during World War II and the relevance of those experiences today. The foundation's chairman's award will be presented to CBS for its “;Cold Case”; report based on the Japanese-American internment camp experience. The episode focused on whether a man's internment in California during World War II had any bearing on his 1945 murder shortly after his release.

Mililani resident Natalia Cardona has been selected as the top Army ROTC cadet at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and will be joining key military officials this week at the 2009 George C. Marshall ROTC Seminar in Lexington, Va. Cardona also is a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, tutor for the UH athletics program and is regularly on the dean's list.

The Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Wing recently received an overall “;excellent”; rating during its recent operational readiness inspection by the active Air Force. The Hawaii Air Guard also recently awarded its annual “;Launa Ole”; awards for outstanding performance for individuals and teams over the past year. More than 2,500 officers and airmen in the reserve unit were eligible. The unit award was chosen from the Air Guard's three flying units (F-15s, KC-135s and C-17s) under the 154th Wing, the 201st Combat Communications Group, the 109th Air Operations Group and the 199th Weather Flight. The winners are:

» Staff Sgt. Ryan Yung, 154th Wing Financial Management, Traditional Airman of the Year.

» Senior Airman Kristen Kaikala, 199th Fighter Squadron, Full-time Airman of the Year.

» Tech. Sgt. Robert Kim, 154th Security Forces Squadron, Traditional NCO of the Year.

» Tech. Sgt. Douglas Motonaga, 154th Mission Support Flight, Full-time NCO of the Year.

» Master Sgt. Damon Duhaylonsod, 154 Operations Support Flight, Traditional Senior NCO of the Year.

» Senior Master Sgt. Terry Yonamine, 154th Communications Flight, Full-time Senior NCO of the Year.

» Master Sgt. Ramon Quizon, 154th Wing HQ, First Sergeant of the Year.

» Capt. Taryn Chung, 154th Operations Support Flight, Outstanding Traditional Company Grade Officer of the Year.

» Capt. Glen Hayase, 154th Operations Support Flight, Outstanding Full-time Company Grade Officer of the Year.

» Maj. Michael Blake, 154th Operations Support Flight, Outstanding Traditional Field Grade Officer of the Year.

» Lt. Col. Lawrence Otto, 199th Fighter Squadron, Outstanding Full-time Field Grade Officer of the Year.

» 154th Security Forces Squadron, Outstanding Unit of the Year.

MOVING UP

Sand Island: Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Bob Little has assumed command of the cutter Kukui, relieving Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Matadobra, who will become deputy commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Boat Forces Southwest Asia in Bahrain.

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”;In the Military”; was compiled from news reports and other sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached by phone at 294-4075 or by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).