Honoring those who serve

Isle officials praise the military's contributions in peace and war

Members of the military should be honored not just for the sacrifices they make to protect freedom, but also for helping victims of natural disasters at home and abroad, Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday.

Lingle was the keynote speaker at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, where the remains of more than 6,700 veterans of the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and two world wars rest.

Lingle said she fears people do not take today's war seriously because the global war on terror is different.

"And one of the reasons I speak out at the public events about our sailors, our soldiers, our airmen, our Marines, our Coast Guardsmen, our own Hawaii Guard is because I want the people in our state to know what a serious war the war on terror is," Lingle said.

Hawaii is believed to be the first state in the nation to award a medal to honor service members with local ties killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The state presented the new Hawaii Medal of Honor to family members of 48 service members during ceremonies in April at the state Capitol. There were 120 medals issued.

Lingle also called today's American service members the greatest warriors and the greatest life-givers.

In the wake of the December 2004 southern Asian tsunami, Hawaii-based active military and Hawaii Guard troops were the first responders to assist survivors of the disaster. Lingle said Hawaii-based military are also responding to the weekend's devastating earthquake in Indonesia.

Across Oahu, Mayor Mufi Hannemann spoke at a service held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

He spoke of the leis that had been draped at the 46,000 graves, a tradition dating back to when the cemetery opened in 1950.

Hannemann called the lei "a symbol of Hawaii's love and of Hawaii's equal appreciation of the sacrifices these men have made, a symbol that in taking their bodies into its keeping, Hawaii will forever cherish them in its heart as Hawaii's own."

"May they always serve to remind us that freedom is not free. Our debt to them will never be fully repaid and must never be forgotten," he said.

More than 30,000 leis sewn and donated by schoolchildren were placed on the graves of veterans at Punchbowl and other cemeteries.

Hannemann was joined by Hawaii Congressmen Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and military leaders in placing wreaths during the ceremony.

Frankie Naeole Kia attended the ceremony with his young son Masahiro.

"It's a patriot day for everyone," Kia said. "A lot of men died for our freedom, and I wanted to pass that on to my son."

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