Sunshine broke through on a previously cloudy Monday morning as the emcee of Hilo’s Veterans Day ceremony declared it an “amazing, amazing Veterans Day.”
Chelsea Mack, senior vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3830 in Pahoa, surveyed the approximately 60 attendees at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 1 and said it was “an honor and a deep privilege” to “join together as a community.” unite to honor the brave men and women who have donned the uniform of our great nation and defended the freedoms we hold so dear.”
Complementing the festive celebration of our former armed forces, the Hawaii County Band led by Paul Arceo filled the air with a joyful medley of military marches, while also playing the National Anthem, plus “Hawai’i Pono’i” and “God bless America.” There were also floral tributes, plus “Taps” and gun salutes fired by American Legion Hilo Post 3 veterans.
Mack, a real estate agent and combat veteran who served eight years in the military, invited attendees to “pause to remember the sacrifice, dedication and courage of our veterans – those who fought on distant shores, and those of you here . at home, as well as the family members who support them.”
“Each of us here again today, gathered here, plays a crucial role in ensuring that the stories of those who left to defend our freedoms are not forgotten,” she continued. “We are bound together by a shared understanding of sacrifice, duty and love for our country.”
Beyond the pavilion where the ceremony took place, neatly mowed rows of deceased U.S. military veterans and their spouses stood silent sentinels as the miniature American flags that adorned their graves fluttered in the wind, as if approving the gathering above ground.
Mack said that in Hawaii “we are blessed to have a unique bond with our veterans.”
“The spirit of aloha embodies the values of compassion, respect and unity that we all hold so dear,” she said. “It reminds us that as we honor our veterans, we also embrace each other so that no veteran feels alone or forgotten.”
Fa’amanu Teofilo, the commander of VFW Post 3830, described Veterans Day as “a happy day.”
“We thank the Lord for what he has given us; we thank the veterans for what they sacrificed,” he said.
Keynote speaker George Capron, a 92-year-old Navy veteran of the Korean War, said that in keeping with Teofilo’s “happy day” theme, he would share some sea stories from 1952 and 1953.
“Some of that is even true,” Capron joked, drawing laughter from the audience.
“I was sworn into the Navy by Admiral Chester Nimitz in January 1952,” Capron said. “The Navy ordered a troop transport… 3,000 seasick boots headed for our assignments in the Pacific.
“I was the only one who didn’t get seasick,” he added, laughing.
An enchanting storyteller, Capron wove funny nautical tales. The naval stories, which are common to the Navy and usually contain details that require some suspension of disbelief, include the equatorial hazing of “pollywogs” – sailors and Marines who had not crossed the equator during their service – only to immediately turn them into “shellbacks,” master seamen , to change. who have traveled across the invisible ocean line at zero latitude.
“We earned the title by taking up the gauntlet. … I crawled all the way, kissed the ‘royal baby’ and – the rest is a secret,” Capron said, laughing even more.
“In the Navy we all started as deck captains,” he recalled. “When we weren’t officers or in a general room, we were sleeping, eating, fixing something, painting something – or trying to find candy or cigarettes.”
Mack described Veterans Day — which is always celebrated on Nov. 11, regardless of the day of the week the date falls — as “more than just a date on our calendars.”
“It is a solemn reminder of the lives dedicated to the service of our nation,” she said. “It is a day of reflection, gratitude and celebration.
“We honor those who stood firm when our nation called, who faced adversity with unwavering determination, and whose actions shaped the course of history.”
Email John Burnett at [email protected]
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