[AT YOUR SERVICE]

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U.S. NAVY / COURTESY TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Philip "Moki" Martin posed recently in front of the plaque of
the building named after him on Pearl Harbor. Martin, born in
Paia, was a Navy SEAL until he was forced to retire because of
a car accident. He is now confined to a wheelchair.

New Pearl Harbor
building named
for Hawaii-born
former SEAL

Moki Martin meets all
the criteria -- except, of
course, he's alive

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

PAIA-BORN former Navy SEAL Philip "Moki" Martin says he still can't believe there is a building named after him at Pearl Harbor.

After all, he only met three of the four criteria for naming the SEAL Delivery System Facility: The honoree had to be a SEAL, from Hawaii, combat-experienced and deceased.

"I'm still alive," said Martin, 58, who joined the Navy hoping to fulfill a childhood desire to become a diver following graduation from Maui High School in 1960. "And I am still amazed," Martin said of the recognition.

But Martin is considered a pioneer in the Navy's underwater demolition program and participated in the only SEAL delivery vehicle and submarine operation in the Vietnam War in 1972. The building, which is on the Pearl City peninsula part of Pearl Harbor, is the home of the Navy's first minisub designed for SEALs and their special clandestine operations.

He had been asked for names and had submitted three whom he had known -- one of whom was killed in combat in Vietnam. Martin himself was deployed to Vietnam seven times in 1964-74.

Martin was medically retired from the Navy as a lieutenant in 1983 but continued to work with the SEALs training unit in Coronado, Calif., lecturing to their incoming officer and enlisted classes on his Vietnam experience.

It was a continuation of a career committed to training SEALs -- the Navy's elite underwater demolition experts. It's a commitment that had him overcoming a personal tragedy. In 1982, while bicycling to work in Coronado as part of his personal training regimen, Martin had a head-on collision with a car.

His spine was fractured, and he was unable to move his legs and arms and is now confined to a wheelchair. Despite that handicap, Martin helped design a triathlon to challenge SEALs. He also took up another occupation, painting. He has even earned a degree in art from San Diego State.

"I think taking up art had a lot to do since I am in a wheelchair," Martin said. "It has given me a different focus on life and made me challenge my disability."

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Medal of Honor recipient Army Sgt. 1st Class Rodney J.T. Yano, a native of Kealakekua, has received another honor.

Yano, who was killed in the Vietnam War, already has a learning center at Schofield Barracks and a Navy ship named after him. This week, a $15 million, 62,652-square-foot fitness center at Camp Zama in Japan was dedicated in his honor.

The facility was funded by the Japanese government through the facilities improvement program. Included in the two-story building are a 25-meter heated pool, a children's wading pool, a solarium, a weight training area, a cardio room, saunas, a whirlpool, three racquetball courts and a gymnasium that can be converted into three basketball courts or two volleyball courts and one for badminton.

Yano served in the U.S. Army air cavalry with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. On Jan. 1, 1969, while serving near Bien Hao, Staff Sgt. Yano was a crew chief aboard the troop's command-and-control helicopter.

Exposed, and facing small-arms and anti-aircraft fire, he fired back from the helicopter and marked the enemy's position with smoke and white phosphorous grenades, allowing his commander to direct artillery fire against the emplacements.

A grenade exploded prematurely and left him covered in phosphorous and severely wounded. Flaming fragments from the grenade caused supplies and ammunition in the helicopter to detonate. Partially blinded by the explosion, and having the use of only one arm, Yano began throwing burning ammunition from the aircraft. He ignored the additional wounds and helped his crew to land safely but died doing so. For his actions he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and promoted to sergeant 1st class.

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Retired General Dynamics executive Gordon England has been nominated to be the new Navy secretary, more than three months after the post was left vacant by Richard Danzig.

President Bush also nominated former Navy Capt. James Roche to run the Air Force and retired Army Brig. Gen. Thomas White to run the Army.

Roche is a corporate vice president with Northrop Grumman Corp., which builds aircraft and electronics equipment, including the Global Hawk, an unmanned reconnaissance plane.

White is the vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, a division of Enron Corp., the Texas energy company that was a leading contributor to Bush's campaign last year.

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Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.