ASSOCIATED PRESS Allen Hoe, front, father of 27-year-old 1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe, hugged 1st Lt. Darren Glenn after a memorial service yesterday for his son at Fort Lewis in Washington. Nainoa Hoe, who was from Hawaii, was killed by a sniper Saturday as he led a foot patrol in Mosul, Iraq.

Fallen isle
soldier honored

FORT LEWIS, Wash. » A soldier from Hawaii who was killed in Iraq was remembered as a brother, husband and son yesterday during a memorial service.

"He was a great guy," said Pfc. Nakoa Hoe, the brother of 1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe. "He was a great brother, he was a great husband to my sister-in-law and he was great son to my parents.

"I'm very proud of him, and in 27 years of his life, I knew him for 19 of them. And I wouldn't have it any other way," he said.

Nainoa Hoe was shot to death by a sniper Saturday as he led a foot patrol in Mosul, according to the Defense Department.

"The truth of the matter is, Nainoa is not resting right now," his brother said. "There's no doubt in my mind that 1st Lt. Hoe is looking down on his men, protecting them, influencing their every decision and just adding that little bit of luck that everybody needs in combat."

The memorial service was held at the Main Post Chapel, where Hoe's father, Honolulu lawyer Allen Hoe, saluted a photograph of his son and embraced servicemen who came to pay their respects.

Nainoa Hoe graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1995 and earned his bachelor's degree in management information systems and a master's in business administration from the University of Hawaii. He and wife Emily married in June in Hawaii Kai.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis. He had been in Iraq since October.

Nakoa Hoe is with the 100th Battalion, 29th Brigade, based at Fort Shafter in Honolulu. The unit has left for Iraq deployment from Fort Polk, La., to Kuwait. Hoe has the option to seek a waiver from service in Iraq because he is the sole surviving son in his family, but has said he has not yet decided what to do.