Briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
VETERANS
Former POWs to be honored
An annual ceremony to recognize former American prisoners of war will be at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific April 9 at 10 a.m., officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs said.
A rehearsal will be conducted at 9 a.m. Monday.
Both events will involve U.S. Marine Corps firing drills using a 75 mm Pack Howitzer battery to conduct a 21-gun salute.
ARMY
WWII grenades found, removed
WAIMEA, Hawai'i — Three more live World War II-era hand grenades have been removed from a garden at Waimea Middle School on the Big Island, Army officials said.
The 1-acre garden was closed Feb. 5 after students found a live hand grenade.
The three grenades were discovered underground by Army contractors who surveyed the garden during spring break, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. The survey ended Thursday.
Seven bullets were also found. Explosive experts from the Army's Pohakuloa Training Area disposed of all the ordnance.
The school is in a former World War II training area called the Waikoloa Maneuver Area.
When the first grenade was found, several children handled it before a teacher told them to put it down and military experts took it away.
NAVY
Contract for housing given
The Navy has awarded a $35 million contract for construction of replacement housing at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base complex. Lend Lease Actus LLC was hired to design and construct 140 units at Ford Island and 30 units at Radford Terrace.
The contract also calls for demolition of 184 junior enlisted multifamily housing units at Radford Terrace and 74 units at Hale Moku. The work is expected to be completed in June 2004, said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i.
"This project means a lot to Hawai'i's economy," Abercrombie said in Washington. "It will provide jobs for the construction trades and work for island subcontractors."
The work will replace units that have reached the end of their usefulness.
"At a time when we are sending our service members into harm's way, we need to ensure that they and their families have decent places to live," Abercrombie said.
Correction: The annual ceremony recognizing former American prisoners of war will be at 10 a.m. April 9 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. A rehearsal will be conducted Monday. Also, there will not be an F-15 flyover during the ceremony. A previous version of these briefs was wrong.
