• Remember Kaua‘i’s missing in action • Hope exercise wasn’t tax-funded • Words of wisdom continued Remember Kaua‘i’s missing in action In every generation, members of our armed forces have answered the call of service in our nation’s hour of
• Remember Kaua‘i’s missing in action •
Hope exercise wasn’t tax-funded • Words of
wisdom continued
Remember Kaua‘i’s missing in action
In every generation, members of our armed forces have answered the call of service in our nation’s hour of need. When our country has needed them, our men and women in uniform have proudly stepped forward and selflessly endured hardships to defend liberty. We are grateful to all who have served, and on National POW/MIA Recognition Day, we give special honor to the extraordinary patriots who have been prisoners of war and to those who are still missing in action.
Sixty-five years after the end of World War II, the fate of more than 78,000 Americans who fought in that conflict remains unknown. More than 8,100 from the Korean War are missing, more than 120 from the Cold War, more than 1,900 from the Vietnam War. These Americans, who dedicated their lives to preserving and protecting our freedoms, will never be forgotten and we ask for God’s special blessing on their families who must courageously face each day without knowing the fate of their loved ones.
There are 93,250 total veterans still officially listed as Missing in Action from WW I until today. 8,100 of these are missing from the Korean War and five are Kaua‘i boys. They are:
— Sgt. Jose Balalong, declared missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950;
— Sgt. Sidney Kaui, declared missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950;
— Cpl. Mitsuyoshi Ishida, declared missing in action on Dec. 7, 1950;
— Cpl. Muneo Yaka, declared missing in action on Oct. 15, 1952;
— Pfc. Takeshi Sasaki, declared missing in action on April 26, 1951.
As recovery efforts have continued over so many years, their families’ hopes of their loved ones’ safe return have faded into hopes of recovery of their remains to at least allow a dignified burial.
Today, although the remains of five Kaua‘i boys have not been recovered, we pause to show our respect, to these our fellow veterans and their families, and we pray that they may find peace and some measure of comfort in knowing that on the 17th day of September, in the year 2010, Kaua‘i remembered.
Sgt. Maj. Tony Elliott, USMC (Ret.), Lihu‘e
Hope exercise wasn’t tax-funded
Recently, there has been some kind of training being held at the Hanapepe Armory. Words on the street are that it is open to the public and there is a free lunch involved. I hope they gave their flyer to the Salt Pond folks who could use the lunch. I never saw any announcements in town.
The picture on the front page of today’s (Thursday) TGI showed the “Mass medication exercise” that folks are to go through just in case.
One old timer told me that the training was about what to do in case WMD (weapons of mass destruction) are used against us.
I sure hope that in this political year this is not a politician’s stunt to show us how well government funds can be spent.
I sure wouldn’t vote for any ‘Wise Old Politician’ who is foolish enough to think anyone could or would want to survive a nuclear explosion on this island. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee!
There simply is no running away from a nuclear blast on Kaua‘i or anywhere. Who would want to live in such a world, anyway.
Temperatures and winds rival the surface of the sun.
Concrete is vaporized within a three-mile radius of such a blast. All life is instantly carbonized. Is there anything more that a politician or trained consultant is going to tell us about survival or about the sheer existence of life itself after such an event? Do we now have such a weapon stored on this island? How would we know?
I hope the participants of this training were all volunteers and not paid by our tax dollars. That way, I would feel more comfortable that my work for peace was at least on the same pay scale as the folks who created such an event in the first place.
My God, what would our ancestors say?
In peace,
Mark Jeffers, Hanapepe
Words of wisdom continued
Nothing they built did anything for sustainability or made bills cheaper. If anything all the bills went up. In time of crisis your solution was to widen the roads. Justification being, that so many years of planning went into that. We can’t just waste all that time. Let me end with this analogy: If a person was planning to cut a tree down and had it all figured out, but when the time came to do the job, the person realized that the tree would fall on his house, would that person follow through with the pre-made plans or would that person find another way? As far as I see, you guys would destroy your own home!!! Just because it was in the plans to sell out the island. It doesn’t mean that you have to follow through with it. Point — The same workers could be employed building toward sustainability instead of the present. If bills were cheaper instead of doubled, everyone could afford to put back into the economy. Not just the select few…I would run, but it’s not my time yet. So what I’m trying to say is, think before you vote or think before you act if being voted in….with much love for the ‘aina.
James Langtad, Wailua
