Kaua‘i mayor Bryan Baptiste had mixed feelings when he saw the three National Guardsmen in his office Friday afternoon.
1st Lt. Chad Daniels, escorted by Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Kamakea and Staff Sgt. Al Emayo were on a mission to present Baptiste with an American Flag that had flown in Iraq.
The mayor’s elation, however, was quelled when he found out that six of the approximately 40 Hawai‘i Army National Guard soldiers who deployed Thursday were Kaua‘i boys.
Daniels said the flag was being presented to the mayor because of his support for the troops before, during and after their deployment to Iraq.
Among the six who left Thursday for Fort Bragg, N.C., en route to an 18-month deployment in Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Jon Miyajima is going on his third tour of duty into the area.
“He came back with us from Iraq,” Daniels said. “But he turned right around and volunteered for this Afghanistan tour.”
It will be Staff Sgt. Eddie Resinto’s second tour.
The four remaining Guardsmen — Spc. Efren Yanos, Spc. Rey Castro, Spc. Eric Oroc and Spc. Danen Holi-Kunishige — are embarking on their first tours of duty.
The assignment will be the first tours for about half of the 40 or so Guardsmen — all of whom volunteered — that are going.
The six Kaua‘i Guardsmen are part of the 158th Battalion from Arizona, Daniels said.
“They are part of the 29th Infantry Brigade, which is Hawai‘i’s unit,” he said.
Before deployment, Daniels said all of the Guardsmen and their families were the guest of Gov. Linda Lingle at a luncheon.
Following the presentation, Baptiste said he’ll look into finding a flag case, preferably one made of koa, so he can properly show Kaua‘i’s support for its troops.
