Posted on: Saturday, November 27, 2004
Patriotic songs gain meaning for many
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Grissom High School Marching Band plays a selection of patriotic songs when it performs. But for many band members, including senior Karen Kirk, the music didn't have much meaning until the band from Huntsville, Ala., visited the Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser Grissom was one of five Mainland bands and 45 marching units that took part in the Waikiki Holiday Parade yesterday, sponsored by the Doubletree Alana Hotel. The parade drew hundreds of people who lined Kalakaua Avenue, which was closed to traffic from near Fort DeRussy to the Honolulu Zoo.
The parade featured Christmas music, a decorated fire engine, clowns and Santa. But it also paid tribute to the military, particularly Pearl Harbor survivors.
Bill Commell, Grissom's band director, said he viewed this trip more as a learning experience than a vacation for the 101 students.
"It didn't really set in until we visited the Arizona Memorial and it finally dawned on them what we're talking about as far as honoring the military here in Hawai'i," Commell said. "They're excited about it and they're proud to be here."
The parade watchers cheered the marching units, but the loudest applause was for the military bands, Pearl Harbor survivors and Purple Heart recipients from the Iraq conflict.
Herb Weatherwax was one of the seven Pearl Harbor survivors who participated in the parade. He said he was pleased that he was asked and glad that parade organizers made the effort to honor the dwindling number of Dec. 7, 1941, survivors.
"We should carry on the memory of that day," said Weatherwax, 87. "We don't want people to forget about that."
Kirk said: "The patriotic tunes are honoring those people because that's what it's all about — to be thankful that they have done what they've done for us, so I could come here and be in Hawai'i," she said.
Violet Mattucci of Calgary, Alberta, said she was pleased the parade wasn't just a Christmas event. She watched it with her husband, Angelo, son Dennis and his wife, Karin.
"We're very proud of them even though we're different countries. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here," Violet Mattucci said.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
"Before, 'Veterans Salute' was just the parade song. We played it for every little parade that we marched. But once we got here and I saw what happened at the Arizona and the Oklahoma, it's a whole new meaning. It's honoring all those people, the thousands and thousands who died for us," Kirk said.
Eleanor Udan, 16, of Waipahu, was among the Damien Memorial High School cheerleaders who performed last night in the sixth annual Waikiki Holiday Parade sponsored by the Doubletree Alana Hotel. Udan is a cheerleader for Damien but attends St. Francis.
