Vol. 12, No. 1 State of Hawaii Office of Veterans Services April 2008

West Hawaii Veterans’ Cemetery Update

By John Grogan

The West Hawaii Veterans’ Cemetery Development and Expan-

sion Association (WHVCDEA) has been a very active community

participant in the maintenance of the West Hawaii Veterans Ceme-

tery. Although the County of Hawaii is responsible for maintaining

the cemetery, the commitment and dedication of the WHVCDEA’s

members provide a community based relationship that has allowed

62 acres and implement a reforestation plan that has turned the

area into a green oasis as a result of hundreds of community vol-

unteers planting several thousand donated plants. A recent project

included building an irrigated greenhouse for new plants and in-

stalling brass flower vases on grave/columbarium sites. The refor-

estation effort recently garnered the U.S. Dept. of Interior’s coveted

“Take Pride in America Award” with similar recognition from both

the Kohala/Kona Chamber of Commerce and the Kona Outdoor

Circle. The cemetery’s recognition extends to Washington D.C. as

the Chief of our Nation’s Natural Resources came to our cemetery

basis but also provides

the one element the cem-

etery needs most – water.

Without Kukio’s commit-

ment, any expansion of

the cemetery would be

improbable.

The cemetery has a

new image, which has

caused the cemetery to

struct the expansion of a new burial area and add an additional

300 burial plots to cemetery. Phase IIB also included approved

change orders requested by the Kona Veterans and the County to

save an ancient Lama tree, and provide a rock landscaped border

which was completed in Mar. of this year.

With regard to future expansion lead by the State of Hawaii,

discussions are currently ongoing between State and Federal

government agencies to secure those additional funds needed to

complete Phase IIC. This final phase of the project will include a

Committal Shelter, restroom, maintenance building, a new colum-

future years.

Currently, the WHVCDEA is also working with

the State and County towards the common goal of

acquiring a long-term water source. The cemeteries

improvements are scheduled to be completed in time

for Labor Day 2009.

The WHVCDEA are very hopeful that our vision

of the “Arlington of the Pacific” will soon become a

reality.

Office of Veterans Services

kawa, Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona and retired Maj. (Ret.) Mark S.

Moses director of the Office of Veterans’ Services presented a grant

check for $750,000. Mr. Hiroshi Arisumi received the check on

behalf of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. Arisumi is the presi-

dent of the NVMC and is also a veteran of the 442nd Regimental

Combat Team.

The monies will be used to complete the second phase of the

center. This phase includes construction of an education center

and the extension

of the play area for

to build a classroom

for student semi-

nars and archives.

The archives will be

fully air conditioned

Nisei Veterans Memorial Center gets grant

documents, photographs, medals and achievements from the Nisei

veterans of WWII. The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center will honor

and commemorate the men of the 100th Infantry, 442nd Regimen-

tal Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service.

For more information about NVMC, check out their web site,

www.nvmc.org.

Photo By Nisei Veterans Memorial Center

A, 100th Battalion stationed in Cerasuolo,

Italy.

took an enemy machine gun position, kill-

nine of the enemy, taking four prisoners

and forcing the remainder of the force to

withdraw from the hill.

Private Hayashi’s extraordinary heroism

and devotion to duty are in keeping with

the highest traditions of military service

and refl ect great credit on him, his unit,

and the United States Army.

Veteran Newsletter, your Offi ce of Veterans’

Our Veteran’s organizations continue

to take great pride in cleaning the Korean

and Vietnam War Memorials located on the

State Capitol grounds. However, we found

that these veterans, many of whom are in

their 70’s and 80’s fi nd it increasingly diffi -

cult to rake and bag leaves, and to drag the

hose to wash down the area surrounding

the Memorials. We also heard about them

picking up hypodermic needles found in

to have contractors clean the granite slabs

and State grounds keepers will police the

area and maintain the landscaping.

Make your plans now to join us at the

Governors Annual Memorial Day ceremony

at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery on

Mon., May 26th at 1:15 PM. Uniform for the

event – Aloha. Hope to see you there.

Director’s Message

Ms. Stevens served

Kaka’ako area.

Ms. Wieland retired

from the U.S. Navy

Reserve and is the

VA Volunteer Ser-

vice Manager. She

is the Commander

of several DAV Aux-

iliaries.

Mr. Kalua is retired

Ms. Stine is the

Chair person for

the OVS Advisory

Board. She served

in the U.S. Navy and

is an active member

in the veteran com-

munity.

Mr. Sodetani was

the past 29th In-

fantry Brig. Com.

for the HI Army Na-

tional Guard. He is

currently the Pres.

Mr. Honjiyo is a

ber and founder of

the Vietnam Veter-

ans’ of America.

Mr. Lum is our new-

est OVS Advisory

Board member. He

served in the U.S.

Marine Corp. and is

a Korean War Vet-

eran.

Medal of Honor Recipient Shi-

Commander in Chief

The Adjutant General

OVS Director

Editor/Layout

www.hawaii.gov/dod/ovs

email: [email protected]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye

is pleased to announce the appointment of

retired Air Force Col. Walter Kaneakua as

his new Honolulu-based executive assis-

tant for Military Affairs, Feb. 7

Kaneakua, an Air Force command pilot,

retired after 27 years of active duty service

with both the U.S. Air Force and the Hawaii

Air National Guard. He commanded the 9th

Airborne Command and Control Squadron

Gen. Alexis T. Lum, who faithfully served

as the Senator’s executive assistant for Mil-

itary Affairs from 1991 to 2007; he retired

to spend more time with his family. Prior

to his service with Senator Inouye, Lum

served as the adjutant general for the State

of Hawaii. He retired from that position in

1991 with more than 43 years of decorated

service to the U.S. Army and the Hawaii Na-

tional Guard.

Senator Inouye said: “Alex Lum is a vet-

eran of World War II, the Korean War and

Vietnam. He is a decorated warrior. He rep-

resented me well with the military and vet-

erans throughout Hawaii. He was an advo-

cate of service members and their families.

Alex provided me with wise counsel and

guidance on matters of importance to the

military, veterans and civilian communities.

I am happy that he is relaxing and spend-

waii. I have also asked Walt to reach out to

both the military and members of our Na-

tive Hawaiian community in an effort to find

compromise and common ground. Walt will

also be responsible for civil defense, veter-

ans affairs, and homeland security matters.

I have a robust agenda for which I have no

doubt Walt will add insight and wisdom to

our collective efforts for the benefit of the

people of Hawaii.”

cil member Mel Rapozo and passed in December 2007.

The bill provided a one time tax credit of a war veteran

or widow’s property tax assessment of up to $1500.00 on

their primary residence. The veterans must have served in

a combat or hazardous duty zone in any conflict or area.

Veterans should have filed for the credit by Feb. 1, 2008.

The second part of the bill provides a full tax exemption

for those subsequently assigned to a combat zone after

calendar year 2007. The exemption form must be filed by July

1, 2009. The bill initially proposed a yearly tax credit, but was

Social Security, Railroad Retirement or vet-

erans’ benefits who have already filed but

did not report their qualifying benefits on

either Line 14a of Form

1040A or Line 20a of Form

1040 that they may need

to file an amended return

in some situations to re-

ceive a larger stimulus

payment.

payers who don’t have any other require-

ment to file a tax return that submitting a

tax return to qualify for the economic stim-

ulus payments does not create any addi-

tional tax or trigger a tax bill. In addition,

the stimulus payments will not have any ef-

fect on eligibility for federal benefits.

The VA Pacific Islands Health

Care System (VA PIHCS) re-

cently dedicated a new 64-slice

rial catheter placements. The

64 “slices” refer to the number

of images that are gathered at

one time. Original CT scanners

used only one detector to gather

information, modern scanners

use multiple detectors to create

images of the body. This tech-

nology can create more detailed

images in a shorter amount of

fense Attache to Hawaii, Korean Consul-

ate Gen. called Dir. Mark Moses at the

beginning of Dec. Capt. Joo had extra

funds available for a donation. Capt. Joo

wanted to give the money to a deserving

korean veteran. Depending on the Ko-

rean Consulate’s funds, Capt. Joo hopes

to do this every year.

Moses contacted James Ward, Presi-

dent of the Aloha Chapter, The Chosin

1st Marine Div.

Sandy’s brother, Albino Sandobal is

M i s s i n g

In Action

(MIA) and

has not

been ac-

counted for

to this date.

A memo-

ian State Capitol grounds in his honor.

Sandy’s wife, Jane had a massive stroke and has had to be

cared for 24 hours a day. It is very hard on Sandy, emotionally

and financially. It has been especially difficult for Sandy’s family.

Therefore it is with great honor, we recommended Sandy for the

Korean Consulate General’s generous monetary gift. Congratula-

tions Sandy! We hope this monetary gift will help.

Photos by Jayme Sato

Greg Reed, Dir. Mark Moses, Capt. Hyung-Kyu Joo

Defense Attache, Pansobila M. Sandobal.

from a grant in aid request to the Legislature. Maj. Gen. Robert

G.F. Lee, the Adjutant General and our OVS Dir. Mark S. Moses

presented the check to the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans or-

ganization.

On hand to receive the check was Robert Arakaki, the Pres. of

the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans’ and office manager Amanda

Stevens.

The purpose of the grant is to fund the construction of an edu-

cation and resource center. One of the projects being implemented

is documenting the oral histories from the 100th Infantry Battal-

donut-shaped x-ray machine

that takes x-ray images at many

different angles around the body.

In each of these images the body

is seen as an x-ray slice, which

is recorded digitally. Imagine

the body as a loaf of bread and

you are looking at one end of the

loaf. As you remove each slice

of bread, you can see the entire

els are further added together, a

three-dimensional picture of an

organ or body structure can be

obtained. That picture can then

be rotated and

viewed from all dif-

ferent angles. VA

PIHCS’s new CT

Scan is only one of

two located in the

veterans.

Photo by Fred Ballard