Page 2 - MidWeek - Nov 9, 2022

2 MIDWEEK NOVEMBER 9, 2022
Hallowed Ground For Our Veterans
“We do not know them all, but we owe them all.” — Unknown
IValiant Veterans
My first visit to the Hawai‘i State Vet- erans Cemetery at Kāne‘ohe in September 2021 was to say farewell to a good friend, a U.S. Navy veteran. His service with full military honors was moving. Taps brought tears. The cemetery honors those who fought for our freedoms and provides a beautiful resting place for their bones and ashes. Their souls are long gone but the sense of their spirits and sac- rifice remains like soft mist. It evokes awe and gratitude and makes the ground hallowed.
Veterans cemeteries are special places because they are the final resting places of special people: military men and women who sacrificed so much for the freedoms we en- joy and often take for granted. Many gave their lives. When you visit a veterans cemetery, you will never take our free- doms or their sacrifices for granted. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said:
We stand in the presence of our honored dead.
We stand accountable to them
and to the generations yet unborn
for whom they gave their lives.
God ... watches over these hallowed graves
first met J about 18 years ago. I’ll simply call him “J” because he’s too humble to want recognition. J was our waiter extraordinaire in a Waikīkī hotel
al “Silver Helmet Award” for outstanding service to veterans. It was awarded to him in 2022 for his long and distinguished service.
suite 12 hours a day as we presented TV advertising campaign opportunities to potential local business clients. Through 20-25 meetings, he was the best — calm, quiet, observant, thorough, polite, unobtrusive and friendly — everything we needed to help make the meetings memorable.
Veterans cemeteries are special places because they are the final resting places of special people.
The plaque on a monu- ment at the cemetery im- plores:
As we finished annually, we’d exchange bro hugs and goodbyes and say, “See you next year, same time, same place.” But in 2007, J told me he was soon head- ing to Afghanistan. I knew he’d served in the U.S. Navy and was now in the Reserves, and I realized the severity of what might lie ahead for him. He was a father and a husband, and he had become my friend. His duty was to answer his country’s call.
I had been to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (“Punchbowl”), many times: services for friends, fellow Vietnam Marines, in- terment of my parents’ ashes. Taps always brought tears. Punchbowl, too, is hallowed ground. I knew it was nearing burial capacity and knew the
ian Memorial Park, and an easement to connect to state land. A combat veteran (Ko- rea), he witnessed the cour- age and sacrifices made by those who fought. For more than 60 years he has worked to improve the lives of veter- ans. He envisioned a “beau- tiful final resting place for veterans.” Vision realized.
May God keep us forever grateful
As we remember their courage and sacrifices
I worried that I might not see him again — a stark reality. So when he returned from that deployment, we hugged again. I never bothered to ask him details about what I knew he couldn’t tell me. He is the best in so many ways, and I was happy to work with him again in our now comparatively mundane marketing endeavor.
And blesses the souls of those who rest here.
I know that my ashes will be at peace here.
A month ago, I dined recently at that same hotel — 15 years later — and there was J! He’s grayer (who’s not?) and his son is now approaching age 30. J is now the service boss at the hotel; but hey, he’s been a leader in many ways for many years.
KELLEY
Veterans Cemetery opened in 1991. I just never had occa- sion to visit. Its setting and serenity moved me.
The Kāne‘ohe Veterans Cemetery exists because of the efforts of many people working together for many years. The final piece was a donation of 35 acres by John Henry Felix, CEO of Hawai-
AMVETS-Hawai‘i Com- mander Donovan Lazarus nominated John Henry for the most prestigious nation-
David Fairbanks is a re- tired attorney. He lives in Niu Valley with his wife, Sharon, and rescue cat Tiro.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
with David Fairbanks
which “echo into eterni- ty.”
So here’s to J on Veterans Day 2022. Here’s to the people who put themselves in harm’s way for you and me, and a system that is sadly under fire these days ... from within. Here’s to all the men and women serving in our armed forces.
And here’s to you, Dad, gone now for 15-plus years, for the job you did on the front lines in Italy during World War II. You sacrificed 85% of your hearing to a mortar shell that killed a half dozen soldiers in your infantry unit who were charging up that muddy hill, just yards away from you. You lived with those memories and wounds for 62 more years — you never complained, never looked back. Like others in the Greatest Generation, you did what was necessary — humbly, valiantly, without personal expectations — and for that we are eternally grateful.
Think about it.
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com