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New vets home will
honor nisei soldier
The State Veterans Home
on the Big Isle is scheduled
to open in 2007
HILO » When the new 95-bed State Veterans Home opens in January 2007, it will bear the name of World War II veteran and Congressional Medal of Honor winner Yukio Okutsu of Hilo, officials said yesterday.
Yukio Okutsu: The 442nd soldier took out three machine gun positions in Italy in 1945
Construction of the nursing home beginning next month will be done with $10 million in state funds, $20 million from the Veterans Affairs Department and $2.5 million in borrowed funds, Hilo Medical Center officials said.
Construction and operation of the facility will be done by the Hawaii Health System Corp., which also runs state hospitals.
Another $3.6 million was spent demolishing the Puumaile facility and removing asbestos construction materials.
Okutsu, born on Kauai, was a 23-year-old member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team when he knocked out three German machine gun positions at Mount Belvedere, Italy, on April 7, 1945.
He was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross in 1945, but had to wait until 2000 for the award to be upgraded to the Medal of Honor. He died at Hilo Medical Center in 2003.
The veterans home, open to vets statewide in Hawaii, will demonstrate appreciation for the former servicemen, said Gov. Linda Lingle.
"We didn't just say thanks when we needed you. We said thanks when you needed us," she said.
Big Island Mayor Harry Kim described the veterans as peacemakers.
"We need a peace force, and like it or not, the United States of America has been given and has accepted that role," he said.
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