CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
At the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl yesterday, Christopher Anno tended to the grave of his father, Vicente Anno, who fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Isles honor war dead
with speeches, salutes
Hundreds of veterans, military personnel, government officials and families spent the day yesterday remembering those who gave their lives to protect America.
Mayor Jeremy Harris talked about the "selfless sacrifice of those buried" in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl:
>> In World War II, Robert Kuroda led an attack on enemy snipers and machine gun nests in France.>> Benjamin Wilson stopped an enemy counterattack in a one-man charge in Korea.
>> Terry Kawamura threw himself on an explosive during a surprise attack in Vietnam.
In Makawao, Maui, Sgt. Felipe Omar Burgos placed a wreath at the Veterans Cemetery. The 82nd Airborne Division soldier was wounded in Iraq but has recovered enough to return home.
GARY T. KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Army Sgt. Felipe Omar Burgos, wounded during the Iraq war, saluted the American flag yesterday after presenting flowers during Memorial Day services at the Maui Veterans Cemetery in Makawao. Burgos, a Maui High School graduate, is spending a month on the Valley Isle recuperating.
At the Governor's Memorial Day Ceremony at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, Gov. Linda Lingle took time to honor the veterans of the Korean War, acknowledging their contributions 50 years ago.
"If you had not met the communists' aggression, the Pacific region would be a much different place," she said.
Lingle assured the crowd that there will "never come a day when Americans will forget what veterans have done."
The memorial ceremony included a 21-gun salute by Alpha Battery, 3/7 Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, and a helicopter flyover by the Company C, 193rd Aviation, of the Hawaii National Guard. As a final tribute, groups of pigeons were released into the skies: Pigeons of different colors represented Hawaii's diverse cultures; white ones represented the goal of peace; and red, white and blue birds represented the United States, for which these servicemen and women gave their lives.
GARY T. KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A plaque posthumously honoring Medal of Honor recipient Kaoru Moto was unveiled yesterday at the Maui Veterans Cemetery in Makawao. Moto's wife, Violet, and her sons Brian , right, and Eric and daughter Carol, not pictured, helped in the unveiling. Moto, a private first class, took out two enemy machine gun emplacements while fighting with the 100th Battalion in Castellina, Italy, on July 7, 1944. He was severely wounded and received the Distinguished Service Cross. About two years ago he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
LeAnn and David Loftus, of Hickam Air Force Base, wanted their children to recognize the sacrifice of these men and women and took their children to the governor's ceremony instead of the beach.
"We wanted to give the kids a sense of why we celebrate those who have fallen," said LeAnn Loftus. One of their young daughters understood why they were there. "It's important to come and honor the people who died," she said. "It's the right thing to do."
