Three deceased U.S. military veterans from the Big Island who served in the Vietnam War will be honored Saturday in a national ceremony in Washington, D.C..
The three are: Cristito Tiogangco Jr., a Ka‘u native who lived in Hilo, served in the Army and died in 2022 at age 75; Ronald Lum Wong, a Philadelphia Chinatown native who lived in Hilo, served in the Marine Corps and died in 2003 at age 59 of lung cancer due to exposure to Agent Orange; and Gary B. Brown, a Captain Cook resident who served in the Navy and died in 2023 at age 76.
The trio are among 774 deceased Vietnam veterans, five from Hawaii, who’ll be inducted Saturday into the nonprofit Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s In Memory Program.
The VVMF is dedicated to ensuring all who served honorably in the Vietnam War are honored and remembered for their service. The In Memory program gives the families and friends of those who came home and later died the opportunity to have them forever memorialized.
Because of crowding due to Saturday’s military parade in Washington celebrating the U.S. Army’s 250th year, the ceremony is being moved from its usual venue of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Va., where each 2025 honoree’s name will be read aloud.
The 2025 In Memory ceremony will be shown live on VVMF’s Facebook page and on VVMF’s website (www.vvmf.org/live) starting at 4 a.m. Hawaii time Saturday. The recorded video of the In Memory ceremony will be made available shortly after the conclusion of the ceremony.
“For many Vietnam veterans, coming home from Vietnam was just the beginning of a whole new fight,” said Jim Knotts, president and CEO of VVMF. “Many never fully recovered, either physically or emotionally, from their experiences. As these veterans pass, it is our duty and solemn promise to welcome them home to the place that our nation has set aside to remember our Vietnam veterans.”
Tiogangco, who was also known as Cris or Junior, retired as a laborer from Isemoto Contracting and was a member of Hawaii Laborers Union Local 368 and an alumnus of Ka‘u High School Class of 1965.
He left behind a large immediate family of survivors, including his wife of 48 years, Celeste A. (Ahuna) Tiogangco of Hilo; hanai son, Bronson K. Silva; hanai daughter, Brittany M. Silva; brothers Truman (June) Ignacio, Melvin (Pam) Tiogangco, Gabriel Tiogangco, Richard Tiogangco, Daylan (Paula) Tiogangco, Dayton Tiogangco and Grant Tiogangco; sisters Lovey Mae Scott, Elizabeth Cadabona, Mabel (Dexter) Chaves, Joahan Tiogangco, Luana (Markham) Rosehill, Joyce (John) Nalimu and Joni (Kalan) Wong; brothers-in-law Alvin Ahuna and Harold Swain; and sisters-in-law Naomi (Ahuna) Campbell and Annie Tiogangco.
Tiogangco’s younger brother, Daylan, a well-known local musician, described his brother being honored in a national ceremony as “just mind-boggling.”
“He was such a beautiful person,” Daylan Tiogangco said. “I really love my brother Cris. Because of the age gap, I was trying to make more of a connection with him.
“I don’t want to put words into his mouth, but from what little I know of it, he was very proud of his service in the military.”
The singer-songwriter-guitarist described his older brother as “a man of few words” and compared him to George Ariyoshi, the 99-year-old former Hawaii governor who billed himself in political ads as “quiet and effective.”
“When he said something, there was an impact,” Daylan Tiogangco said.
“My brother Junior was a really beautiful soul. He looked like a tough guy … a little rough around the edges. But when you got to know him, he had a heart of gold.”
Wong, who served in the Marines from 1962 to 1972, joined the corps prior to finishing high school in Philadelphia. He moved to Hawaii — Honolulu first, then Hilo, where he owned and operated the dog-grooming service, Su Lin Kennels.
He served three tours in Vietnam, earning three stars on his Vietnam Service medal. Other medals and awards Wong earned include: the Good Conduct medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary medal, Presidential Unit Citation for service in Cuba, and two medals conferred by the former South Vietnamese government — the Vietnam Service medal and the RVN Meritorious Unit Citation.
Wong will be represented at the ceremony by his widow, the former Amy Wong, who remarried last year and is now Amy Kalua.
According to Kalua, Wong had a previous marriage during his time in the service and the couple had two children, Tammy and Ronald. She said Wong’s previous wife divorced him while he was still in the Marines.
“I’m so excited,” Kalua said. “Ron’s son, Ronnie, is going to meet me for the first time in D.C. this weekend. We’re both scared. We’re both nervous.
“The big part of this, is having this dedication and induction of Ron will give me more closure, for one. And number two, for his son — who he could never find, because his (previous) wife left him when he was in Vietnam, and he couldn’t find her for contact.”
Kalua, who now owns and operates Su Lin Kennels, said Wong’s daughter, Tammy, died a couple of years after his passing.
She described Wong as “kind-hearted but a proud, strong Marine.”
“And tough,” she added. “He was diagnosed with six months to live from stage 4 lung cancer, and he lived six years. He was determined to stick around. He went through so much pain, and he was just stoic.”
Wong is buried at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 2, Section C, Row 9.
“He loved Hilo,” she said. “He found this home that he just loved. I asked if he wanted to be buried on Oahu, and he said, ‘Nope. Just put me in Hilo cemetery, the veterans cemetery, where I can just look at the ocean.”
The Tribune-Herald was unable to locate relatives or find additional information about Brown, the Navy veteran.
Photos of the three men will also be displayed when VVMF’s mobile exhibit, The Wall That Heals, visits in an honoree’s home state. To view the 2025 tour schedule for The Wall That Heals, visit www.vvmf.org/The-Wall-That-Heals/.
The In Memory program was created in 1993 and has since honored more than 7,200 veterans. For more information about the program or to apply to have your loved one honored in 2026, please visit www.vvmf.org/inmemory.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
