The September 11th attack
Letters to the Editor
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We have published a great many of these and will continue to do so. So this is just a sampling of that outpouring, an attempt to capture the flavor of the voice of Hawai'i in the aftermath of this tragedy. This is what our readers — our fellow Island residents — had to say.
A time for tears and steely resolve
I will share this with you so that it may give you comfort, as it did me.
I live in Waikiki. I had just walked over to the Hale Koa at Fort DeRussy, next to the Hilton Hawaiian Village, to get some eggs and milk (they have a small BX) and there were two MPs dressed in camouflaged fatigues checking IDs. After showing my ID, I reached over and touched one of the MP's shoulders and said, "Thank you!"
While I was in the BX, the lieutenant came looking for me and she said, "You made me cry. I want to thank you for what you said," and we both hugged each other and let the tears fall.
After I left to go back across the park, I passed two different MPs, and one said the lieutenant told him about me. He reached out and touched my hand and said, "Don't worry, ma'am. We are here to protect you, and we will protect you day and night. Don't worry."
Betty Smith
From inside prison, a need to help
I'm serving a five-year sentence at Halawa Correctional Facility, Module No. 3. I woke up very early on Sept. 11 and what I saw on TV brought tears to my eyes and truly deep sorrow for all the victims and their families.
At that point, all my anger, frustration and self-pity that come hand-in-hand in prison just lifted and was replaced with a sense of what I can do to help all those people whose losses were so great at the hands of those terrorists.
I make 50 cents per hour working in the kitchen and requested that $25 of my monthly earnings be donated to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. I make $40 per month. A few other inmates on my "p.m." crew followed as well.
Even though I'm paying society back for my wrong, I finally feel I've done something right. God Bless America!
William F. McGuire
Terrorists failed: We're coming home
I grew up in 'Aina Haina. Kalani grad. BA and master's from Mainland universities. I quit acting and New York City to get married and be a housewife in Japan.
Recent years had me thinking that, other than having given birth to two wonderful little boys, I have done nothing to contribute to the good of this world, in spite of my education and other opportunities — I don't even teach English. But right now, at least I can do this much:
My boys and I are coming home to Honolulu for Christmas. Due to financial and school scheduling considerations, we usually can make it only once a year, in the summer. But this year, we are definitely coming home. On an airplane.
When we get home, I am going to shop (even though I hate crowds and I hate shopping): for presents, for omiyage, for local stuff to take back. We'll stand in line to see Santa or his helper. At home we'll probably eat laulau and poi and linguica with beans or Portuguese bean soup and saimin. We'll eat out at a restaurant or two. And we'll go "someplace" — maybe Bishop Museum or the Honolulu Zoo or the Missouri, or somewhere else. We will have to pay full price because I cannot get kama'aina rates anymore. But we will go anyway.
It is good for the airlines. It is good for the economy. It is good for my Grandpa and the folks. But mostly it is good for me and for my little boys. I refuse to be too scared to come home. I refuse to let my boys be afraid to visit Nana and Grandad. I refuse to be terrorized.
Ann Masae Azuma
Kobe, Japan
Willingness to join the fray is still there
There are so many thoughts running through my mind, the eve of my 46th birthday, and while tomorrow should be a day of celebration, I find my thoughts and feelings are elsewhere.
My 15-year-old son asked me on Tuesday evening if the draft was going to be reinstated and if so, would a "40-something" be drafted (the comment obviously directed at me, as he was looking straight into my eye). I told him I don't think so and if our country did, that I didn't think it would need a "40-something" in the armed services.
Yet the "20-something" in me said, "CAN DO!"
Mike Tasaka
We lost Christine, we gained an angel
How ironic this life turns out sometimes. My sister, Christine Snyder, lived her life trying to make this world a more beautiful place, and she left the world in one of the ugliest fashions I could ever imagine. For those of you who are interested, I would like to explain to you who she was.
As beautiful as she was on the outside, her inner beauty was just as apparent. She was the type of person who loved simple things — the colors in a rainbow, the sand on her feet, the sound of the waves crashing, Hawai'i's picturesque sunset, her husband and, last but not least, her family and friends.
There's no doubt in my mind that she helped disrupt the hijackers' plans when the plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Little did she know she would be a hero, too.
Our world lost a truly wonderful person, but we gained an angel.
We love you, Christine.
Tom "Tommy" Schaefer
'Ewa Beach
We need Makua now more than ever
This is a follow-on to the Chamber of Commerce urging the silent majority to speak up now to support the Army on the Makua Valley issue. I could not agree more.
A handful of Malama Makua supporters, aided and abetted by the financial and legal backing of the EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund, have wrapped themselves in environmental laws to hold the Army hostage by denying them the opportunity to train at Makua.
In spite of the Army's best efforts to scale back the scope of training and minimize the environmental impact of its training, and despite the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Hawai'i Historical Preservation Office agreement that the use of the Makua range under the Army's revised training plan would not have a significant impact on the environment, this charade has continued.
In the meantime, 18 companies of about 200 soldiers each are not trained to the standards that will prepare them for the battles this country expects them to fight and win. Not to mention the endless hours the leadership of the 25th Infantry Division, from its commanding general on down, has spent defending the Army against this legal attack.
I am very much in favor of protecting the environment, as is the U.S. Army, but as of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, the liberties and freedom we in America hold so dear are now No. 1 on the "endangered species list." It is time for the silent majority to speak out and get the Army back doing what we want and expect it to: protect our liberties and freedom.
Ken Bailey
Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Kailua
The bad guys just won't leave us alone
As I listen to the "Give Peace a Chance" and "Books, Not Bombs" crowd, I am reminded of the battered wife who thinks her husband will stop attacking her if she treats him a little nicer.
And then I ask myself, how successful would Gan-dhi have been if his protests were directed against the Third Reich instead of the British Empire?
The bad guys have to be apprehended and restrained before they cause more harm.
Gil Riviere
We must not forget, but now we must pray
At first I couldn't comprehend what was happening on the morning of Sept. 11. I thought maybe the caption wasn't working right (I am deaf), or there was a movie on instead of the news. When I finally understood what was really happening because the reporter came on the screen, I was in shock, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
Every day since the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, along with the destruction of four of our airliners, I've gone about my business, but whenever I watched the news anywhere, the tears start to flow again.
This morning, Sept. 19, my wife found me reading The Advertiser in tears again. I needed to hug her and have her hug me. I told her how much I loved her and cared for her and appreciated her.
It's taken me this long to sit down and share my thoughts and feelings with you. The pain I feel, despite the fact I don't think I know anyone who was killed, injured or involved on Sept. 11, hurts terribly.
Despite all the pain, I sincerely believe in our country and our president to do what is right. Reading what President Bush has been saying, I'm confident he will do justice for those American lives lost, and justice for those Americans left behind. Revenge we don't need — that isn't the American way.
We must continue to pray for our people, including the many police, firefighters, doctors, nurses, EMTs and volunteers who are helping to look for survivors.
We must not forget those who have lost friends and loved ones, and of course the many who were injured. We must also pray for our president that the good Lord will continually help him, guide him and give him the courage, wisdom and perseverance to do whatever he has to do to move our country forward, and bring people to justice.
Art Frank
Call for no military response outrageous
I am outraged that any American can so calmly say that we should not respond militarily to this outrageous attack.
A Sept. 19 letter to the editor called recent events "disasters." While the effects were disastrous for our people, they were not disasters in the conventional use of the word, but attacks — acts of war — against our entire nation.
The writer is naive to think that we can in any way "be sure that this never happens again." No country could be that safe, especially one that prides itself on personal liberty.
These animals used our society, our freedom and our openness against us, and make no mistake — they will attack again whether we respond militarily or not. No one can really believe that this would be over if we did not retaliate.
I wonder, if this is not a good enough reason to go to war, what would be?
Kathryn Robinson
'Ewa Beach
Through the pain is a need for caution
The tears continue to flow on occasion as I think of Rich Lee, my grand-nephew, still missing in the World Trade Center disaster.
It is almost incomprehensible — the hatred among human beings that would prompt such acts of horror in the name of Allah and revenge, when the two are in opposition to each other.
It is more than a week since that fateful event took place, and I am still numb. I consider myself a strong person, but I cannot explain the deep traumatic effect it has had on me.
I have gone through the motions of everyday living — e-mailing my niece, mother of Rich, sending a check to the ARC for disaster relief, praying for all and for peace, understanding, patience, forgiveness, searching for meaning and sending a letter to President Bush to not rush into action but plan with deliberation.
Is it war? Is that the answer? Are we rushing to find the enemy? Who is the enemy or enemies? They say Osama bin Laden. So, they are going after him. Are they going to bomb? If they know where he is, are they going to endanger innocent people just to get him?
What about the "cells" they claim are linked to him? Getting bin Laden is not going to stop them from operating from their hiding areas. How are we going to get them?
President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Powell and those in high places who counsel the president should plan with caution and keep in mind what consequences their actions might bring in the future.
So many innocent people are still endangered and may bear the brunt of anger aimed at the United States. Some of them are in Afghanistan, and the mood of the Taliban is not merciful.
Our troops are called to duty. It is time to deliberate with caution and much thought.
Elaine Torigoe
Security measures can thwart hijackers
A few ways that could help prevent skyjackings:
• Install video cameras throughout the aircraft so the pilot can see what is happening in the passenger and baggage compartments.
• Upon seeing the passengers are being held captive, the pilot can put on the fasten-seatbelt signs. Then he could decide to dive the aircraft by 10,000 feet and perhaps flip the plane upside-down. This could catch the skyjackers off guard. Then they could be subdued with tear gas, pepper sprays or stun guns.
• A button could also be pushed to release tear gas in the passenger cabin. Then the skyjackers could be subdued and handcuffed.
• Another idea is having one or two armed security guards specifically trained to handle skyjackers riding in the aircraft. This will add costs and raise airfares.
• The pilot cabin could also be locked so the pilots never come out until the aircraft lands. It would have its own restroom. The cabin could be bulletproof, with an exterior emergency exit. If skyjackers cannot get into the pilot compartment, this may discourage them.
Lorrin L. Lee
Bomb Afghanistan to stop bin Laden
It is very terrible that America was attacked. Many people died.
Since we know that it was Osama bin Laden who caused it, we should bomb him and the country that hides him, Afghanistan. He deserves it. We have to stop him from bombing or attacking America again.
Darren Agena
Let 'others' fight
Drastic situations call for drastic measures so, as we prepare for war, let's take a moment to consider creating an army of clones instead of putting our boys in harm's way. If ground forces are necessary, send in the clones.
Robert W. Zix
Osaka, Japan
It's a time of change, and here's how to cope
Words cannot describe the sorrow and pain felt not only in the United States but all over the world. Each of us needs to realize that our lives will require some drastic modification. We all need to prepare for what will become a new America. Patience, perseverance and hope will allow us to prevail.
Here are some of my own ideas to modify our lives:
• Keep informed and tune in to the media, but don't overdose on too much information. Absorb only the facts. Try not to view the same stories more than twice.
• As difficult as it is, continue on with your lives. Activities need not cost much. For example, get together with friends and family, attend religious functions, see a movie, go to the beach.
• Be patient and supportive of others around you, in traffic, at the airports, standing in line at the market, bank, etc.
• Reflect on what you have now — your life, for one, and the love of friends and family. Be thankful.
• It is OK to cry; do not keep things inside. Seek out someone you can talk to and express your feelings of frustration and emotion. The strength of one person can help another get through any crisis.
• Do not find faults in people you may think are responsible. We will not sink to evil's level but rise above it.
• Do your best to just smile.
Lisa Tabata-Yokoyama
Bomb them with butter, bribe them with hope
A military response, particularly an attack on Afghanistan, is exactly what the terrorists want. It would strengthen and swell their small but fanatical ranks.
Instead, bomb Afghani-stan with butter, with rice, bread, clothing and medicine. It would cost less than conventional arms, pose no threat of U.S. casualties and just might get the populace thinking that maybe the Taliban doesn't have the answers. After three years of drought and with starvation looming, let's offer the Afghan people the vision of a new future — one that includes full stomachs.
Bomb them with information: video players and cassettes of world leaders, particularly Islamic leaders, condemning terrorism. Carpet the country with magazines and newspapers showing the horror of terrorism committed by their "guest." Blitz them with laptop computers and DVD players filled with a perspective that is denied them by their government.
Saturation bombing with hope will mean that some of it gets through. Send so much that the Taliban can't collect and hide it all.
The Taliban is telling its people to prepare for jihad. Instead, let's give the Afghan people their first good meal in years. Seeing your family fully fed and the prospect of stability in terms of food and a future is a powerful deterrent to martyrdom. All we ask in return is that they, as a people, agree to enter the civilized world. That includes handing over terrorists in their midst.
In responding to terrorism, we need to do something different. Something unexpected — something that addresses the root of the problem. We need to take away the well of despair, ignorance and brutality from which the Osama bin Ladens of the world water their gardens of terror.
Kent Madin
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Other Letters to the Editor
Let's also crack down on speeders, drunks
I agree with Chester Lau in his Sept. 6 letter that we need to crack down on street racers. Confiscating their property, putting them in jail and revoking their licenses sounds great. But why just target the young street racer? Why not the adult, middle-aged reckless driver, too?
And why not the drunk driver? If "at least 13 people have died in racing-related accidents on O'ahu since 1995" ("Racing in the streets," Honolulu Advertiser, Sept. 2), how many more people died since 1995 in alcohol-related accidents? Why not put these people in jail, revoke their licenses and confiscate their cars after their first DUI? Why give them more chance to harm others?
It is easy to pick on the younger driver, especially with the two high-profile street racing-related accidents that have occurred this summer.
But let's be fair. Most of the reckless drivers I see speeding and weaving in and out of traffic when I am on the road are not kids — but, then again, I'm not likely to be out on the road at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m.
Why not apply Lau's proposed penalty to all street racers, drunk drivers and reckless drivers who drive more than 20 mph over the speed limit? That would get these dangerous offenders off the road and in jail and make the streets a lot safer — and less congested — for law-abiding citizens.
Roy M. Ishikawa
'Aiea
OHA failed to deliver on its Hawaiian mission
Your Sept. 13 editorial encourages our political leaders to "find a formula" that "honors the state's obligation to the betterment of Hawaiians." I remind you this is an American democracy under which each of us is entitled to the equal protection of the laws without regard to ancestry or race.
The Hawai'i Supreme Court's landmark decision Sept. 12 in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs vs. State of Hawai'i blew away the black cloud that had hung over Hawai'i's economy for five years. It reversed the 1996 Heely decision that could have cost the state $300 million to $1.2 billion. It invalidated Act 304 and wiped the slate clean. It requires all of us to rethink OHA.
OHA has had 23 years and hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars to show its worth. It has spent many millions for slick ads and TV commercials extolling its own virtues, trashing America and advocating the creation of a separate sovereign government for Hawaiians only.
It has spent many millions on legal fees (mostly in a losing effort to either protect itself from constitutional scrutiny or to extract still more money from the state). It has spent perhaps millions more for lobbying and expenditures such as a cocktail party in Washington, D.C.
It has enriched an entourage of lawyers, bankers, investment advisers, advertising agencies, lobbyists, politicians and service providers. It has created a bureaucracy whose livelihood depends on keeping Hawaiians in a permanent victim status. And it has regularly filled the media with stories about its own vicious internal bickering.
In those 23 years, has it bettered the condition of native Hawaiians? Not in any noticeable way.
Before 1978, when OHA was created, the income from the ceded lands went primarily to the Department of Education, where it benefitted all students. Kids of Hawaiian ancestry make up about 26 percent of the public school student body so that Hawaiian kids benefitted somewhat more, proportionately, than others. Now the public schools are dilapidated, textbooks are in short supply and test scores are below par.
Twenty-three years of buffoonery is enough. It is time to ring down the curtain on this sorry drama. It is time to put OHA in the dustbin of history along with apartheid, white supremacy and the kapu system. It is time to take back the $300 million of our taxpayer money now in the dysfunctional hands of the OHA trustees and restore it to the public schools.
H. William Burgess
Seafarers union is in need of housecleaning
The Sept. 10 letter on the benefits of working maritime industry by Neil Dietz is not all that he makes it out to be. I, like a few others I know, have had a child work on the cruise ships for several years.
They became union members, being taught that a union will always fight for the working man. Well, have you checked the number of turnovers of employees? What were the reasons? What has the union done for those who were terminated from their positions aboard these ships?
There is so much favoritism and unfair treatment going on, and there is no room for advancement. Some can be terminated for unjust cause.
Others, who stand and fight against what's wrong, who aren't afraid to face up to management, will get booted out. What has the union representative done for them? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The union rep for these ships will sweet-talk the union member, say he'll do something, and guess what? — he does nothing.
Mr. Dietz, I feel that the Seafarers International Union here in Hawai'i needs housekeeping. Get rid of the lame and employ someone who can and will be fair to all union members, and who will fight for their members.
Sharolyn Josiah
Kane'ohe
Revitalization essential to program's success
I was pleased to read your well-thought-out editorial on District 8's opportunity to improve its community through the Weed & Seed strategy (Sept. 17). As The Advertiser's recent coverage on this issue accurately points out, it's up to the residents to generate the West O'ahu community's support needed to make the Weed & Seed strategy a success.
But just reducing crime will not create a strong and vital community. I commend The Advertiser for correctly recognizing that the importance of "seeding" the communities with a variety of human services, including prevention, intervention, treatment and neighborhood revitalization, is the most essential part of long-term success.
Maile Kanemaru
Weed & Seed coordinator
There's wider message in the play 'Language'
Regarding the recent review of the play "A Language of Their Own," currently running at Kumu Kahua Theater: I would like to share my views on the play.
Your reviewer was concerned that the play would appeal to a limited audience because of its content. However, I was deeply moved by the play and I must say that I came away with a much different view.
I was touched by what the play had to say about all relationships — not just gay relationships. I do feel that the lessons offered in the play have a much broader appeal than what the reviewer suggests. Additionally, the play offers an insightful look at what it's like to be Chinese in America, and it has a lot to say to a multicultural society such as ours.
I urge your critic and all of your readers not to overlook this play. It is an important piece of artwork.
Terrence Lebeck
'Aiea
Ehime Maru may want to be left where she is
I was asked whether ships have souls. Yes, they do.
When the Navy attempted to retrieve bodies from the USS Arizona, the sunken battleship refused to give them up. The correct decision was to leave her and her 1,102 entombed shipmates where they fell as a memorial to the tragic "Date of Infamy" that launched the United States into World War II.
Similarly, the Ehime Maru has been frustrating all efforts to move her and the bodies entombed within to shallower waters. Isn't she telling us to leave her where she lies?
Michael A. Lilly
Captain, USNR (Ret.)
State should return insurance premiums
Following Hurricane 'Iniki in 1992, most insurers bugged out on their loyal customers because of lost profits. So typical.
Once the insurers started coming back, the state bugged out of the Hawai'i Hurricane Relief Fund and kept our money. Also, so typical.
I got sucked into paying into the HHRF for two years. Then I switched to a large insurer on the Mainland who was still offering reasonably priced homeowners policies that included hurricane coverage. Years later my former insurance company notified me it was back in the homeowners policy business. I told it to bug off. If only it were that easy to switch state governments.
Many are still wondering where the money is that they pumped into this fund.
Many were lied to and told that this money was insurance. If the "Hawai'i Highway Robbery Fund" is insurance, dig up your policy and check to see how much coverage you had on your home.
The $175 million in that fund belongs to the people who were forced to pay into it. The state should give it back — now.
John H. Mayer\
Hawai'i Kai
There's a better way when closing roads
Our roads remain closed for many hours while the Honolulu Police Department investigates accidents. Although it is frustrating sitting in the back-ups, I do agree with the chief that a thorough investigation is necessary.
Why doesn't the Department of Transportation assist the HPD with these closures? The DOT has the equipment available (i.e., reader boards, cones, detour signs) to advise the motorist in advance of approaching a scene that there is a problem ahead.
The DOT in the State of Washington, many years ago, established an "incident response team" — a group of trained DOT workers whose specific responsibility is to assist law enforcement with road problems. The team arrives, sets up detours or shuts down the road if deemed necessary, and remains on the scene until the roadway is clear. This allows law enforcement to do duties other than traffic management.
Inter-agency cooperation is the key to success. Let's give it a try.
Bill Michel
'Ewa Beach
Here's a way to save money on foolish project
The city is always short of money for worthy programs. Well, I have an obvious way to save $750,000.
Spend only $50,000 of the $800,000 currently allocated for repair of the "Stairway to Heaven." Spend the $50,000 to remove the top and bottom 50 feet of stairs. No one could possibly climb up or down. Presto! — no liability problem and a big chunk of money for city parks or other hiking trails that are not tragic accidents waiting to happen.
Lunsford Dole Phillips
Kailua
