Maui buries son lost to deadliest day in Iraq
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
LAHAINA, Maui — Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Bolor was remembered yesterday as a top-notch soldier, an excellent father and a kind-hearted person who could melt you with a smile.
BOLOR
Bolor, who was killed Nov. 15 with 16 others when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Iraq, was buried at Maui Memorial Park with military honors.
"I believe he's smiling down on us today," said a teary Rocky Keohuhu-Bolor at his brother's funeral. "We won't forget your smile, Kelly Boy."
About 200 people attended a wake and Mass at Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina, where the American flag was removed from Bolor's casket temporarily to be replaced with colorful lei.
Bolor, 37, was born in Wailuku and raised in Lahaina, the third child in a struggling family of five boys and a girl raised by their mother, Annie, after her husband died in 1968.
Seeking educational opportunities and a better life, he joined the Army soon after graduating from Lahainaluna High School in 1984. He met his wife, also named Kelly, and the two moved with 3-year-old son Kyle to Whittier, Calif., where Bolor became a member of the Army Reserve's 137th Quartermaster Company in El Monte, Calif.
A public works employee with Los Angeles County, Bolor had served in Operation Desert Storm. He was called to active duty again in January and deployed to Iraq a month later. His job was to ferry supplies to soldiers on the front lines.
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The Maui native was a victim on the bloodiest day in Iraq so far, and investigators are still trying to determine if the helicopters went down because of enemy fire.
A casket bearing the body of Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Bolor is carried from Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina.
Yesterday, Bolor was described as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Proclamations and letters from Gov. Linda Lingle, the Honolulu City Council and U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, were read in his honor.
His former pastor, the Rev. Lane Akiona, said Bolor went to Iraq so others could obtain freedom. "We might not comprehend why, but we do understand he did it because he loved the world and he wanted to make a difference," Akiona said.
Maj. Gen. Robert B. Ostenberg, commander of the 63rd Region Support Command, said he couldn't meet all 12,000 of his soldiers, but he did know Bolor. He said a colonel had asked him to check out Bolor and the platoon he had whipped into shape.
"They weren't very good before he took over," the general recalled. "But four and a half months later, they were totally different."
Ostenberg said he had no doubt Bolor would have attained the highest rank among enlisted men if he had continued his career in the Army.
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"He was a leader. His peers loved him, they respected him and they cared for him," he said.
Carried by members of his outfit, Kelly Bolor was buried at Maui Memorial Park with military honors.
Keohuhu-Bolor remembered his small-kid days and his brother's shining, kind and generous nature.
"Kelly had a way of overwhelming you with kindness and friendliness," he said. "He was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back."
In high school, Kelly was small but excelled in sports, especially wrestling. He was part of a team that won the Maui Interscholastic League championship in his senior year. Later, in the Army, he did well in powerlifting competitions.
Keohuhu-Bolor said his brother had an unwavering loyalty to his unit and his family. He said he had recently written to his wife, telling her that her caring for their little boy was much tougher than what he was doing in Iraq.
And then there was that sweet smile, he said.
"He had the smile that could melt even the coldest heart."
Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
