MEMORIAL DAY

FL MORRIS / STAR-BULLETIN
Sean Tachibana, a Cub Scout from Pack 277, prepares
a lei to be placed on a grave yesterday for Memorial Day
ceremonies at Punchbowl National Cemetery.

Pacific Islanders
hailed for their
wartime sacrifices

Hawaii veterans remember
fallen comrades

---

By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

After Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898, deposed Queen Liliuokalani flew only one flag on the grounds of her residence, Washington Place, a Hawaiian one.

But 10 days after World War I began in 1917, news came that Hawaiian seamen had been killed in the line of duty aboard a ship that had been sunk. The next day, an American flag joined the Hawaiian flag at the queen's home.

"The great queen felt that if sons of Hawaii were willing to risk their lives for the United States ... it was time to begin reconciliation," said Gov. Ben Cayetano last night at a ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the Korean War at the Armed Forces Eternal Flame, next to Washington Place.

The governor's words would have been fitting at another memorial service at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Punchbowl Crater yesterday afternoon, where veterans and families gathered together to honor Pacific Islanders who fought for the United States.

FL MORRIS / STAR-BULLETIN
Bob Freitas, left, and James Ward greeted each other
yesterday before the start of the Sunset Memorial Service
at the Eternal Flame in downtown Honolulu. Freitas is
commander of Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 1,
and Ward is president of the Aloha Chapter of the
Chosin Few, a Korean War veterans group.

At the Roll Call of Honor in Remembrance, the names of 160 soldiers of Pacific Island ancestry were added to 3,900 others at a coral monument erected last year at the national cemetery in a cooperative effort of the Pacific American Foundation and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Delivering the keynote address, retired Gen. Irwin Cockett remembered the "Pacific Island warriors," not only those who gave their lives for the United States, but also those who continue to serve in the U.S. armed forces today.

"The history of our Pacific islands is steeped with the warrior spirit of our people," Cockett said.

Their bravery extended beyond the islands and atolls they originated from, he added, noting that Hawaiians had fought for the United States in Gettysburg, Flanders, Europe, the Pacific, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.

"When our people were called, they answered. When asked, they served. When needed, they gave," he said.

FL MORRIS / STAR-BULLETIN
Frank Velligas and Raymond Akiona, along with
other members of the 5th Regimental Combat Team,
were in the audience during the Roll Call of Honor in
Remembrance ceremony at the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

Bill Emmsley performed an awa ceremony in the Samoan tradition, in which chiefs gathered warriors for the ritual before battle and, win or lose, repeated it afterward "to thank those who have fought hard for the principles they believe in," he explained.

As one of the organizers of the ceremony, which honored American Samoans, Fijians, Hawaiians, Maoris, Tahitians, Tongans, Pacific Island Americans and veterans who call the Pacific their 'aina, Michael Nahoopii pointed out that whatever island or atoll these soldiers came from, they were bound "not because of a common home, but because of a common goal, a common ideal of liberty and freedom."

The mayor's annual Memorial Day ceremony will take place this morning at 8:30 a.m. at Punchbowl cemetery, where Boy Scouts decorated the more than 32,000 graves yesterday with flags and lei.

The governor's annual ceremony at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe begins at 1 p.m.