Maui resident Janna Hoehn has been working for several years to help locate photos of fallen soldiers to augment the online website of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. She’s made great inroads, but is asking for kokua from Big Island residents to complete the mission. Two soldiers on the remaining list are from Hawaii Island. They are Steve F. Johnson, born in 1946 in Kailua-Kona, and Wolfgang T. Mohl, born in 1943 in Papaikou.
“The goal is to put a face with every name that is etched on the wall,” said Hoehn, who after joining the cause after a visit to The Wall five years ago, hooked up with Jan Scruggs, the founder and president of the Vietnam Wall, who recruited her to help him find the photos for the 42 Maui County soldiers that were killed in Vietnam.
“I told him it would be an honor. I have always hoped I could to do something for the Vietnam Veterans as the way they were treated when they returned. Here was my chance.
“What I thought would be a very easy project, with Maui being so small, was anything but easy. I started by combing the phone books, calling every ‘like name’ of each soldier, I found about 10 of them this way, then off to archived yearbooks for every high school on Maui, I found a few more…then to the library to look for obituaries… found three more … then I went to the Maui News, they printed a beautiful front page article about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the Education Center.
“I started receiving calls from all over the United States sending me photos. I was unaware how many people read the Maui News online …. Once I finished finding all the Maui County photos I moved on to my hometown in California and found the six soldiers from my childhood home, Hemet and San Jacinto, California.
“I have been very involved in trying to locate photos of the Native American soldiers, which brought me to start searching for all soldiers in California,” she said. More than 50 newspapers have run the story throughout California.
“The response has been amazing,” she said.
Working together with newspapers on Maui and in California, Hoehn has collected over 700 photos since May 2013. All will be submitted to the “Wall of Faces” online memorial with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, as well as in the future Education Center that will be adjacent to the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.
“Putting a face with a name changes the whole dynamic of The Wall, it keeps these soldiers alive and will honor them; our heroes’ stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” she said.
“My plea is this: If anyone is related, a friend or a classmate to any of the young men on the list I would very much appreciate hearing from you. Even if you don’t have a photo but know which school any of these young men attended, it would be so helpful. We need to obtain a photo of every single soldier whose names are etched on The Wall, all 58,300 of them. To date we have over 35,000 photos.
“I am also looking for an individual that would like to volunteer to do some footwork in your community if we do not find all the photos.”
Submit any photos or information to Janna Hoehn at neverforgotten2014@gmail.com. For more information about the Education Center, visit www.vvmf.org/thewall.
Statewide, Hawaii had 277 fallen heroes from the Vietnam War.
“We have collected all but this remaining list,” she said.
These are the soldiers: Rodolfo R. Allagonez, 1946-1969, Honolulu; Fuifuitaua Amisone, 1929-1967, Kahuku; Tony R. Arriaga, 1938-1966, Waipahu; Larry K. Bilonta, 1939-1967, Honolulu; Steven S. Ching, 1947-1967, Honolulu; Joseph J. Del Rosario, 1926-1969, Aiea; Samuel E. Dick, 1950-1970, Honolulu; Samuel P. Giffard, 1933-1966, Honolulu; Alexander Gonzales, 1921-1967, Honolulu; Kaoru Honda, 1928-1967, Hilo; John E. Horn, 1946-1966, Honolulu; Herman B. Hose Jr., 1941-1969, Honolulu; Felisisimo A Hugo, 1925-1967, Wahiawa; James H. Ishihara, 1922-1963, Honolulu; Frederick Jarrett, 1944-1968, Kaneohe; Steve F. Johnson, 1946-1970, Kailua-Kona; Samuel K. Kahana, 1943-1968, Honolulu; Melvyn H. Kalili, 1942-1970, Hauula; Joel K. Kamalolo, 1944-1971, Haleiwa; Edward K. Kea, 1924-196, Oahu; Edward Y. Kim, 1930-1966, Wahiawa; Dixon T. Kinard, 1934-1969, Honolulu; John Levinthol Jr., 1948-1968, Honolulu; Robert R. Lindbergh, 1947-1968, Honolulu; Roberts Machado, 1927-1966, Honolulu; Leonard G. Maquiling, 1948-1971, Honolulu; Richard D. Martin, 1947-1968, Honolulu; Raymond E. Meyers, 1920-1966, Hauula; Wolfgang T. Mohl, 1943-1967, Papaikou; Melvin T. Nishiyama, 1945-1966, Honolulu; Rockne M. Noguchi, 1946-1967, Honolulu; Robert L. Nueku, 1943-1966, Nanakuli; Florendo B. Pascual, 1924-1965, Honolulu; Teofilo C. Pimentel, 1926-1966, Wahiawa; Rudloph Remular, 1945-1967, Honolulu; Ricky W. Richardson, 1947-1967, Kailua; Arturo S. Rodriguez, 1945-1968, Honolulu; Thomas A. Salvatore, 1949-1969, Waimea; Alfredo Sanut, 1926-1970, Paauhau; Allyson Y. Sasaki, 1948-1967, Honolulu; Lee E. Sinclair, 1940-1969, Honolulu; Philip H. Stevens, 1934-1972, Wahiawa; David K. Suapaia, 1947-1967, Honolulu; Clifford K. Taira, 1948-1969, Honolulu; Albert H. Tatsuno, 1934-1966, Aiea; Pelesasa S. Tauanuu, 1940-1968, Honolulu; William R. Taylor, 1947-1968, Honolulu; Richard R. Tesoro, 1947-1968, Honolulu; Elliot M. Yoshida, 1943-1971, Wahiawa, and Eugene C. Zamora, 1948-1969, Honolulu.
