FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii dedicated its new Victim Memorial to drunken-driving victims in Kakaako Waterfront Park yesterday. After the ceremony, Maka Manu, left, carried flowers to place at the memorial and a picture of her aunt Johnelle Tapu, who died Feb. 22 after her car was hit by a drunken driver. Linelle Manu, Tapu's sister, held Lawrenzo Manu.

Memorial remembers
drunken-driving victims

The Kakaako monument symbolizes
the pain caused by such accidents,
while offering solace for families

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

The soft sobs of a mother whose 22-year-old son was killed by a drunken driver broke a moment of silence at yesterday's dedication of a bronze sculpture in remembrance of victims of alcohol-related accidents.

Carmen Malunao could not contain the pain she still felt for her son Gavin, killed in 1994, two weeks before his 23rd birthday. She placed a single white rose in his memory at the foot of a 13-foot-high memorial overlooking the ocean at Kakaako Waterfront Park. Dozens of other family and friends of victims in similar crashes did the same.

About 200 people, including police officers and legislators, joined Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii at the unveiling of the Victim Memorial.

The memorial serves as a reminder to the public of those lost to drunken-driving crashes, and as a place to grieve with those who have lost loved ones.

"We hope it will be a place of peace and solace ... especially for those whose lives have been forever changed by the loss of someone to drunk driving," said Yvonne Nelson, MADD Hawaii president.

Artist John Tanji Koga said the holes in the hearts of three abstract figures represent the loss felt not just by mothers, but by the whole family.

"But through the holes ... there's light coming through, that ray of sunshine," he said.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Richard Lee, left, held a basket of flowers as Robert Gore prepared to lay two red roses at the base of the memorial in memory of his two grown children killed by a drunken driver.

The memorial cost $50,000, which has been paid for by donations, according to a MADD spokeswoman. Efforts are under way to raise an additional $10,000 for maintenance.

Wendy Hamilton, MADD national president, shared the losses within her family: Her sister and nephew were both killed by a drunken driver. Hamilton said that while their lives ended as victims, "my life continues as a victim."

"What's happened to my family is happening to families in Hawaii," she said, adding that 43 percent of traffic fatalities in Hawaii are caused by drunken drivers, a "100 percent preventable crime."

MADD lobbies lawmakers for tougher laws relating to drunken driving, provides outreach programs as well as victim help and counseling.

Also in attendance was the family of Johnelle Tapu, 36, an airport security guard who was killed while driving to work the graveyard shift Feb. 21.

Her car was crushed by a vehicle that hit her from behind, according to the family attorney.

Tapu left behind six children, ages 2 to 15.

"She's not going to be there to take these kids to their weddings or graduations," said her sister Glynis Vete.

"(Her death) is a hole in our heart," Vete said, but the memorial "gives us peace."

"I think it's beautiful," said older sister Ruby Fatuesi as Tapu's daughter cried on her shoulder. "Just seeing it helps."

Tapu's son Kata Finau, 14, said, "It's the greatest place," and plans to visit with his family.

In Hawaii, 60 people died in 2001 from drunken-driving crashes, 54 in 2000 and 43 in 1999, while nationally, 17,448 died in 2001, according to Gov. Linda Lingle, who attended the ceremony.

The memorial is a tangible acknowledgment of MADD's mission to remember victims, said Carol McNamee, founder of MADD Hawaii.

"Before 1980 you probably could not remember the name of a single victim," but MADD worked to change that, she said.