Isle military ties prove to be a family tradition
POSTED: Sunday, November 09, 2008
| This story has been corrected. See below. |
It's an island cliche to say that the Hawaii National Guard is an “;ohana.”;
But it is hard to walk the flight line at Hickam Air Force Base or the parade grounds and armories at Kalaeloa and not come across generations of Hawaii Air Guardsmen and women and Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers.
Of the 826 married soldiers in the Hawaii Army National Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team, there are now five married couples who have deployed together to Kuwait for a year. One of them is Spcs. Nelson and Wienee DeGuzman who were married in 2007 and now serve together in the 29th Brigade Support Battalion at Camp Virginia in central Kuwait.
For Lorna Souza, the Hawaii Air National Guard has always been her family.
“;After all,”; she said, “;my sons grew up in the Air Guard. Their support was in the Air Guard - their uncles and aunties.”;
Her husband, Chief Master Sgt. Stan Souza, joined the Hawaii Air Guard in 1982 after serving for three years in the Army. He was working at the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe when his brother and several friends, including Robby Shigeta, persuaded him to visit a Hickam weekend drill session.
“;There was a lot of local people,”; said Stan Souza, whose father served for many years as president of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild. “;We shared the same cultural background. I was motivated to become a member.”;
After serving for several years as a traditional “;weekend warrior”; with the 199th Fighter Squadron's F-4 Phantom jets, Souza went to work for the Air Guard full-time and today after 27 years he is the quality assurance supervisor with the 154th Maintenance Group.
Five years ago his first two sons, Staff Sgt. Kalani Souza and younger brother Senior Airman Payton Souza, joined the Hawaii Guard. Kalani Souza, 23, works on the night shift as avionics technician on C-17 Globemaster cargo jet transports, while Payton Souza is a crew chief on a KC-135 jet tanker. Both are assigned to the 154th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Payton Souza is preparing for his first overseas mission to South Korea later on this month.
Payton Souza's twin brother, Senior Airman Preston Souza, enlisted soon after graduating from Castle High School in 2005 and now is also a crew chief on a KC-135 jet tanker. He also is a member of the 154th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
Even their mother, Lorna Souza, is employed by the Hawaii Air National Guard's family readiness group after working as a volunteer for 10 years.
Lorna Souza said there was never any pressure from her husband for their three sons to follow their dad into the Hawaii Air Guard.
“;They grew up being accustomed to the military lifestyle,”; she said. “;They had both worlds. They had friends whose fathers were in the military and left and serving here for two years.
“;They also had a close group of local friends. It was normal and natural for them.”;
The chance of being “;a part of a team of professionals”; in addition to be part of the Hawaii Air Guard ohana also motivated Kalani Souza to leave a better paying job as an elevator mechanic. “;I think I am a better person for making that choice,”; he said.
Their cousin, Airman 1st Class Sean Souza, a F-15 jet avionics technician, left the job of an airport screener because “;I was tired of doing the same thing. I wanted to go back to school, to better myself and to get a better career,”; said the 2004 Castle High School graduate.
In the Hawaii Army National Guard, the DeGuzmans, both of whom graduated from Campbell High School in 2001, said they sought the education benefits offered by the National Guard. They were married last year just after Nelson DeGuzman returned from his Iraq deployment with the 29th Brigade.
Now they are part of the security force at Kuwait's Camp Virginia, leaving relatives in Ewa Beach to take care of their 3-year-old daughter, Kiara Leigh.
“;We were surprised (when the 29th Brigade was mobilized just 20 months after returning home),”; Nelson DeGuzman added, “;but we knew were going, but didn't think it would be so soon.”;
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