HONOLULU — U.S. Congressman Ed Case is urging the Air Force to name one of its U.S. facilities — possibly one in Hawai‘i — after Hawai‘i-born astronaut Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, a press release states. An air station in California
HONOLULU — U.S. Congressman Ed Case is urging the Air Force to name one of its U.S. facilities — possibly one in Hawai‘i — after Hawai‘i-born astronaut Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, a press release states.
An air station in California that now bears Onizuka’s name is scheduled to be closed as a result of the Pentagon’s base relocation and closure process, the release states.
In a June 29 letter to Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, the Democratic senator from Hawai‘i’s 2nd Congressional District asks Wynne to “direct the commencement of action to continue our efforts to memorialize the life and service of Lt. Col. Onizuka, an Air Force officer and NASA astronaut who perished, along with six fellow astronauts, aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986.”
Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale, Calif., with remote tracking stations used to control military satellites, was included on the final list of installations to be closed as part of the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission process, Case’s office said in the release. The BRAC Commission has directed that the backup node be moved to Vandenberg Air Force Base and close Onizuka Air Force Station on or before 2011.
“It is fitting and appropriate that, well prior to then, the Air Force provide for continuity in remembrance of Lt. Col. Onizuka by renaming another appropriate Air Force facility after him,” Case said in his letter.
Built in 1960 on land near Moffett Field, the Air Force’s Sunnyvale installation was originally known as the Air Force Satellite Test Center. It was later renamed the Air Force Satellite Control Facility, and Sunnyvale Air Force Station. In 1986, the base was renamed the Onizuka Air Force Station in honor of Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka.
“I fear that our country may lose a fitting tribute to Lt. Col. Onizuka’s name and great deeds, and that our Hawai‘i will lose a memorial to one of its greatest sons,” Case said. “It is only right that we continue to remember the dedication and perseverance of Colonel Onizuka.”
Case’s request to the Air Force followed what would have been Onizuka’s 60th birthday on June 24 and precedes a Fourth of July parade honoring him on the Big Island.
Onizuka’s wife, Lorna, will serve as Grand Marshall of the Kailua-to-Kona Independence Day Parade, accompanied by one of her daughters, Darien, who is working for Boeing on what is to become the next generation of vehicles for human space transportation, Case’s office said.
“He is remembered as a true hero to this day in his native Hawai‘i, where his personal motto is timeless: ‘Make your life count and the world will be a better place because you tried,’” Case said in his letter.
“I know that this action would be received warmly by Mrs. Lorna Onizuka, with whom my office communicated on this matter during the BRAC process, as well as all who remember Lt. Col. Onizuka. And I am equally sure that the people of Hawai‘i would warmly welcome your consideration of an Air Force facility in Hawai‘i for this high honor.”
