GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Jack Nicholson, left, and Gene Castagnetti prepared to place the urn containing the cremated remains of Army Sgt. 1st Class Edward Pomroy in the National Cemetery of the Pacific's new columbarium yesterday.
Punchbowl wait list
shrinks slowlyAt least 400 veterans still await
their place at the cemetery
Army Sgt. 1st Class Edward Pomroy, who saw combat in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, was finally laid to rest yesterday, two years after he died at age 83.
Pomroy was the first of at least 400 veterans who have been waiting several years for niche space at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Punchbowl crater.
"Punchbowl has always been a cemetery of choice," said Gene Castagnetti, the cemetery's director.
However, burials are no longer allowed, and all of Punchbowl's 35,000 grave sites were filled years ago.
This was also true for the 5,000 niches in the first columbarium built on the mauka slope of the volcanic crater. Last year, work began on an adjacent $2.5 million columbarium that will hold 4,160 niches when completed.
But the nearly month-long concrete strike might delay the completion of the last two courtyards, which are supposed to open in April.
Castagnetti said island mortuaries have been storing the cremated remains of at least 400 veterans for several years.
"My goal is to try to place 12 or so a day into these niches," he said.
The 14-by-8-inch niches are deep enough to accommodate two urns. He said that veterans and their families waiting for niche space should contact a local mortuary, which will make the arrangements.
Jack Hirai, president of the Hawaii chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association, hailed the completion of the latest columbarium, noting "it is in a really good location and overlooks many of the grave sites. It's a beautiful area here."
However, Hirai, 76, also said "the waiting period was too long."
Robert Hamakawa, past Hawaii president of the association, echoed Hirai's sentiments. "We needed these spaces for a long time. There have been people and their families waiting ... some waiting for more than a year."
Besides Punchbowl's columbarium, Castagnetti said there are at least 70,000 grave sites available at the State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe as well as plots in three state cemeteries on the Big Island and similar state facilities on Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Kauai.
"Although Kaneohe is nice, Punchbowl is the place everyone wants to be buried. It is a national cemetery," Hamakawa said.
Retired Brig. Gen. Jack Nicholson, undersecretary for memorial affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said his agency is committed to opening 11 new cemeteries on the mainland.
Nicholson, who oversees the operations of 120 cemeteries, said that during the next five years, he expects these cemeteries to increase their capacity by 85 percent.
