COURTESY OF THE FERNANDEZ FAMILY Kyle Ka'eo Fernandez, 26, was killed Thursday in Afghanistan. The Pearl City soldier leaves behind a wife, Celeste, and two young children.

Isle GI’s dad says
Bush must go

The father of a soldier slain in
Afghanistan claims the president
rushed troops to war

Mourning the loss of his oldest son, the father of a Pearl City soldier killed in Afghanistan called for a "leadership change" in the United States.

"This president rushed our troops into battle. I'm not endorsing any candidate, but I think we do need a change," Renald Fernandez, father of Spc. Kyle Ka'eo Fernandez, told reporters yesterday afternoon.

SERVICES SET FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY Funeral services for Kyle Ka'eo Fernandez are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. Friday at Borthwick Mortuary. Call after 6 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday. A committal service is set for 11 a.m. Friday at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe. Fernandez, who was born in Spokane, Wash., is survived by wife Celeste, son Keahi, daughter Kyla, parents Renald and Noe Fernandez, sister Kehau, brother Koa and grandparents Renald and Helen Fernandez and Uilani DuPont. Aloha attire.

"I think we should exercise our right to vote. ... A leadership change would eventually, perhaps, lead to different policy, where maybe the troops could come home."

Kyle Fernandez, 26, was killed Thursday along with Sgt. Brian Hobbs, also based at Schofield Barracks, when the Humvee they were traveling in struck a homemade bomb. Three other Hawaii-based soldiers wounded in the attack were last listed in stable condition at the Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

Fernandez's family gathered yesterday to talk about the soldier's service and sacrifice. They said they want people to know him not as a statistic, but as a hero who loved his job and his family.

"My son was a warrior. He was an island boy, proud of his Hawaiian-ness," said Renald Fernandez, who served in the Air Force and whose father was in the Korean War. "I can feel for the other parents who have to go through this. ... This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Fernandez said that he had questioned the Bush administration's decisions even before his son's death.

But, he said, his son's loss has strengthened his political opinions.

"I've served. My father's served. We're proud Americans," he said. "I do support our troops there (in Afghanistan and Iraq), and I supported my son through everything that he went through. But I do think we need a change."

Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, the state adjutant general, said "a loss like this is always tragic," but added that he thinks the Bush administration is taking the right steps in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lee also said that the United States is "going to see lots more combat regardless of who will be elected president."

"I think Americans are not being realistic when they say, 'Give them six months, a year, and we can turn things around (in Afghanistan),'" Lee said. "Afghanistan is the hotbed of terrorism. ... We cannot cave in under pressure by a handful of terrorists. We need to provide security for the country so that they can go on with their normal lives."

Meanwhile, Kyle Fernandez's younger brother, Koa, has a tough decision ahead of him. The 24-year-old enlisted in the Army earlier this year and was set to report for duty Nov. 2 -- Election Day. But because of his brother's death, the Army has given him the option to get out of his service commitment.

Fernandez said he will likely report for duty, but added that he has not yet made up his mind. "I'm sure he (Kyle) wouldn't want me to back out now," he said.

Kyle Fernandez -- known as Ka'eo by family and friends -- was a 1996 Aiea High School graduate. He married his high school sweetheart, and the couple had two children together, ages 4 and 1.

Fernandez's sister, Kehau, said her brother entered the service after trying his hand at several jobs in the islands. She said he looked forward to coming back to Hawaii and his family after his deployment but wanted to make a career in the Army.

"He loved the Army a lot," she said through tears. "It was his passion. ... He gave his life for his country. He believed in the freedom that we all enjoy."

Kyle Fernandez was set to come home on leave Dec. 7, and had vacation plans with his wife and children, family members said. He left for Afghanistan in April, and his deployment would have been complete in May.

Fernandez's mother, Noe, said her son would always reassure her and tell her not to worry about his safety in Afghanistan.

"At the end of a (phone) conversation," she said, "I would always start weeping. He would say, 'Mom, what you crying for? You know I'm the Hawaiian Supa Man.'"

A private prayer service will be held for Fernandez and Hobbs tomorrow morning in Schofield Barracks' main chapel.

Hobbs, 31, of Mesa, Ariz., enlisted in the Army 13 years ago and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in 2001. He leaves behind a wife and three children. Services for him have not yet been set.

The soldiers, along with the three wounded in the attack, were with the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment. Six Hawaii-based soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, all of whom were members of the 25th Division.