Mardi Gras came to Honolulu Hale yesterday morning in a burst of Dixieland music and bead-tossing, as New Orleans and Honolulu began to forge a partnership to deal with military issues. City creates military
pact with New OrleansBy Burl Burlingame
Star-Bulletin"It is envisioned that our two cities can share information and work together to both support our local military, while at the same time prepare for the potential onslaught" of upcoming base closings, testified attorney Frank Uddo, chairman of the Mayor's Military Advisory Committee of New Orleans.
The plan, ratified by both the New Orleans and Honolulu city councils, is to create a "Community Patriotic Partnership" due to the many similarities between the two cities, Uddo said in an interview. Both cities are multicultural seaport communities with long histories of military involvement.
"And both cities have a wonderful record of hospitality," Uddo chuckled.
The idea grew out of a visit last summer to the New Orleans D-Day Museum by Kamuela's Alice and "Bee" Clark, who were promoting a Pacific War Memorial for Hawaii. They were impressed by the close relationship between the Louisiana city's government and the volunteer military advisers. The Clarks put Uddo in touch with the Honolulu Office of Economic Development's Manny Menendez and "things started happening very quickly," said Uddo.
Even though Honolulu and New Orleans are thousands of miles apart, said Uddo, they are connected through the "Higgins boat" landing craft, the primary vehicle of the war in the Pacific, which was designed and manufactured in New Orleans. The D-Day Museum is housed in the old Higgins factory, and on Dec. 7 the Pacific War wing will be unveiled.
Col. John Hawkins, deputy chief of public affairs of the U.S. Army, was at Honolulu Hale to lend Pentagon support. "Frankly, it means a lot to soldier, sailors, airmen and Marines to have the support of the cities they're in," said Hawkins.
"We're taken for granted quite a bit. This is particularly important to the citizen-soldiers of the National Guard and the Reserves, to know that their employers support them," added Hawkins. "The No. 2 reason that people drop out of the Reserves -- after loss of family time -- is pressure from their employers. And every trained serviceman we retain saves taxpayers a bunch of money."
Information about the Honolulu and New Orleans Community Patriotic Partnership is available at 504-832-7204 or at ginaatuddoofc@aol.com.
City & County of Honolulu
