In honor of Hawaii's fallen heroes
Relatives gather at the Capitol as the state awards posthumous Medals of Honor to 120
Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Martin Liberato Bolor didn't want his son Kyle to grow up without a dad, like he had.
"We were only 2 when our father died," said Bolor's twin brother Keith, of Maui. "It was hard growing up without a dad.
"He wanted so much to retire from the Army and spend more time with his son, since he knew what it was like never having a dad. Now Kyle is living the same way -- growing up without a dad."
Sgt. Bolor was one of 17 101st Airborne Division soldiers killed Nov. 15, 2003, during a collision of two Black Hawk helicopters.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
"It was really a tough year for us," said Kelly Bolor, remembering her husband, Kelly Martin Liberato Bolor. "I lost my father that same year ... (My son) Kyle still looks at pictures at our house and wishes his father was there." Mother and son were at yesterday's ceremony at the state Capitol.
|
|
Yesterday the Bolors were among more than 200 family members at the state Capitol attending the first joint House and Senate session to posthumously honor 120 soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors with Hawaii ties killed in Iraq and Afghanistan between March 2003 and Feb. 28.
The Hawaii Medal of Honor, encased individually in a koa frame, was presented to family or friends of 49 service members. As House Clerk Patricia Mau-Shimizu read each of the 49 names, a lone sailor tolled a brass bell and a family member or friend walked to the podium to receive the medal from Gov. Linda Lingle, Senate President Robert Bunda, House Speaker Calvin Say and Maj. Gen. Bob Lee.
The family members and friends, who came from as far as Saipan and the East Coast, had paid their own way to participate in the first presentation of the Hawaii Medal of Honor. Medals for the other 71 fallen warriors were to be mailed or hand-delivered to their families.
The reading of the last name yesterday was followed by a 21-gun salute. As a bugler played taps in the capitol courtyard, a woman could be heard sobbing as the audience stood silently at attention inside.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
More than 40 families attended yesterday's Hawaii Medal of Honor ceremony during a special joint session of the state House and Senate. Melissa Jack tearfully accepted a medal and certificate from state Rep. Ken Ito.
|
|
Lingle told the gathering that she remembered sitting with a group of widows as they dealt with their lives and the infant children who would never know their fathers.
"I hoped that the children would one day appreciate the sacrifice that their father had made and their mother made for our country," she said.
While providing a medal can't take away the pain of losing a loved one, it shows that Hawaii will never forget them, she said.
The sentiment provided some comfort to families who have sacrificed so much.
"It's been a rough road for us," said Brandy Williams, of Waipahu, who received the medal honoring her husband, Sgt. Eugene Williams. "And ceremonies like this, remembrances, you know, and our memories, that's all we have."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
After the ceremony, Kaleb Witkowski, 5, proudly held the medal awarded posthumously to his father, Spc. Philip Witkowski. Looking on were Tina Witkowski with her other son, Kyle, 2, and her father, Karl Ross.
|
|
Sgt. Williams, of Highland, N.Y., was serving with the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq when he was killed by a suicide bomber posing as a taxi driver on March 29, 2003.
His wife attended the ceremony with daughters Mya, 6, and 3-year-old Monica, who wore a pink dress and a pin with a photo of her father's smiling face. "We made this for the funeral," Brandy Williams said.
For the Bolors, the state's honor is added to several tributes to their family hero.
Keith Bolor said that for the past three years, friends on Maui have held a softball tournament in his brother's honor on Veterans Day, a few days before the anniversary of his death.
And Sgt. Bolor's wife, who is also named Kelly, said that in June, the Army Reserve will rename its training center for the 137th Quartermaster Company in El Monte, Calif., after her husband. A former Army reservist, Sgt. Bolor was called into active duty twice, first for Desert Storm in 1991 and then for the current war in Iraq.
Mrs. Bolor, who lives in Whittier, Calif., with 6-year-old Kyle, said her son took the loss of his father "really hard." She sought counseling for him and enrolled him in martial arts to help him manage his anger.
"It was really a tough year for us," she said. "Kyle still looks at pictures at our house and wishes his father was there."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sgt. Eugene Williams