Two Hawaii Island communities, Puna and Hakalau, will honor the fallen Saturday with services in observance of Memorial Day.
Military members killed in action will be remembered with services, both at 10 a.m., at Puna Hongwanji Mission in Keaau and Hakalau Jodo Mission in Hakalau.
Puna Hongwanji invites the community to honor Puna District veterans in the Centennial Memorial Garden fronting the temple in Keaau. There will be a prelude before the service by the Hawaii County Band led by band master Paul Arceo at 9:30 a.m. Come and enjoy the music.
The guest speaker is retired Air Force Col. Gary Thomas. His 27 years of service included three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his two tours in Afghanistan he served as an intelligence senior officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency. Thomas, who retired in 2014, currently serves on the leadership faculty of Global Hope. He also is the executive director of Sure Foundation Church in Puna.
All the families, relatives and friends of veterans from the Puna District who were killed in action are invited to come and join us. Various organizations have been invited to join this event.
Veterans that will be remembered are: Stanley Cabral, Yuzo Hayashida, John Hernandez, Seiji Higa, Isamu Kanetani, Yutaka Kawamoto, Morio Mizumoto, Frank Mugihira, Shoichi Nakahara, Tadao Nakamura Mitsuru Ochiai, Eishin Oshiro, Seikichi Oshiro, Kazumi Tsutsui and Alfred Veriato (World War II).
David Aspili, Julio Figueroa, Yoshimi Fukumoto, Isaac K. Hale, Koichi Moriwaki and Paul K. Ura (Korean conflict).
Moses I. Kuahiwinui Jr. George G Luis, Gilbert Olivar, Hayward K. Peleioholani and George S. Salema (Vietnam War).
Ray M.J. Fuhrmann II (Iraq-Afghanistan conflicts).
The public is invited to join the families of the departed soldiers, veteran groups and members of the Hongwanji. This event is hosted by Puna Hongwanji Mission. Refreshments will be served in the social hall after the service. Call the temple at 966-9981 for more information.
The Hakalau Jodo Mission invites all in the Hamakua area to join them at the same time, 10 a.m., at the Veterans Ball Park in a service to honor fallen military members.
The guest speaker will be retired Lt. Col. Delbert Nishimoto. In 2005 he was hired to serve as U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s field representative for East Hawaii on the Island of Hawaii. He was born and raised in Hakalau and Ninole.
District fallen to be honored are: Thomas Smith (World War I); Onso Chinen, Hiroyuki Hiramoto, Isamu Ikeda, Yasuo Kaneshiro, Yoshitaka Kataoka, Satoshi Matsuoka, Toshiaki Morimoto, Hiroshi Motoishi, Saburo Nakazato, Masayoshi Ogata , Eishun Soken and Ronald K. Takara (World War II); Jun Mastushige (Korean conflict); and Lester W. Alipio and Bobby J. Barcena (Vietnam War).
Refreshments will be served after the service at Hakalau Jodo Mission’s dining room at 28-2271 Old Mamalahoa Highway. The mission extends an invitation to the public. This event is sponsored by Hakalau Jodo Mission.
Service organizers want everyone to remember that these men gave their lives for freedom, peace and democracy.
