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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, February 13, 2002

O'ahu kids send valentines to military staff overseas

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nobody thinks of a warship as The Love Boat.

O'ahu grade-school kids made valentines for Hawai'i-based forces cruising the Indian Ocean as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Illustration above by Ashleigh Ware, Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary

Photos by Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Adverrtiser

Nobody, perhaps, except a girl like Ashleigh Ware.

The Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary School sixth-grader was told about The Advertiser's collection of valentines for offshore Hawai'i-based military people supporting anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan. And she thought The Love Boat was the perfect image for her love note.

"Thanks for saving us and for keeping Bin Laden away from Hawai'i," she wrote inside the handmade card.

Ashleigh's heart-o-gram, as well as valentines from nearly 3,000 other keiki, have been bundled off to the USS Russell, a guided-missile destroyer, and the USS Port Royal, a guided-missile cruiser.

Both ships are home-ported at Pearl Harbor, but in this season of romance, the ships' complement of 742 sailors and officers are about as far from loved ones as they can be, cruising the Indian Ocean in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The valentines project was assisted by The Advertiser, which advertised the collection drive and collected contributions, but it was the brainchild of the Navy League.

More specifically, it was the inspiration of Bill Bigelow, president of the league's newly chartered East Oahu Council. The Navy League, celebrating its centennial this year, provides support to America's sea services. Projects by Bigelow's council, one of four league chapters on O'ahu, also include collecting books to stock ship library shelves, Bigelow said.

Many of the valentines arrived at The Advertiser unsigned. Most came in bundles from schools; others were addressed by individual kids, as young as 4-year-old Christian Gutierrez of Makiki, who sacrificed one of his prized Hot Wheels cards to the valentine cause.

Artistic motifs included military themes as well as hearts and flowers. A valentine signed "Darryl" opened to a three-dimensional display of a ship on the waves.

Even the misspellings and oversights seem charming. One child drew a flag, tank, plane and helicopter (no ships) in each corner. Inside he or she scrawled "be CARFULL and do your BeST." The final B was backwards.

Sentiments ranged from the prayerful ("May God and his angels watch over you," wrote Cher) to the playful. From an 'Aina Haina Elementary School sixth-grader:

Hey! You matey out at sea
Fight for our rights so we'll be free
Hey! You matey in the bay
Just dropping by to say
Happy Valentines Day!

Others displayed a distinct warrior spirit.

"My name is Drew, and I just wanted to tell you to have a happy Valentine's Day, even though I don't know your name," a boy wrote. "I hope you have a good time enduring freedom in the USA and killing Osama bin Laden."

Some educators incorporated the valentines campaign in their curriculums. Pearl Harbor Kai assigns students to smaller-group "families" of mixed ages, and this became a family project, said counselor's aide Angie Riley.

Kamehameha Schools social studies teacher Nalani Naluai and her aide, Suzanne Hamil, thought the project would fold neatly into fifth-graders' continuing discussions about governments and wars.

For Kawika Kaimuloa, thoughts of the military sacrifice inspired a picture of a globe in a field of stars outside, a bit of verse inside. ("This is the first poem I ever wrote," he added. "Enjoy.")

For all the things you do
We know your love is true
Through tough and crazy times
Your love still shines true
We know you're brave because
You fight for the red, white and blue
No matter where you are
Our love shines through to you

Hamil said the students already had raised money for the Red Cross by crafting and selling "Hearts Across America" pins, and they put the same passion into this effort.

"They really put their heart and soul into writing them and making them original," she said.

And that effort really pulls on Bigelow's heartstrings, too.

"Sailors on the ship are going to be blown away when they get boxes of valentines meant for them," he said.