Posted on: Friday, October 1, 2004
MILITARY BRIEFS
Aloha Stadium sendoff tomorrow
Advertiser Staff
More than 2,000 soldiers with the Hawai'i Army National Guard's 29th Separate Infantry Brigade will march onto the Aloha Stadium field tomorrow in a farewell ceremony as the unit prepares to head to Texas for additional training, then a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq beginning in February or March.
It's the first time since the Vietnam War that the citizen soldiers have been called to combat duty.
The unit, activated on Aug. 16, will "case" its colors. Gov. Linda Lingle and the brigade's commander, Brig. Gen. Joseph J. Chaves, are expected to speak, but Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, will not be able to attend.
Inouye, a Medal of Honor recipient, served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II. The Army Reserve's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, out of Fort Shafter Flats, is attached to the 29th Brigade and also is heading to Iraq.
Seven thousand tickets were made available for deploying soldiers and family members to attend the 4 p.m. ceremony as well as the University of Hawai'i football game later that day. The National Guard also is inviting 29th veterans to attend the farewell.
Parking opens at 2:30 p.m. and the gates open at 3 p.m. for the half-hour ceremony. UH football ticket holders also may attend the sendoff. For more information, call 733-4258.
The Tropic Lightning Museum at Schofield Barracks is holding its annual "Living History Day" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow.
On display will be an extensive weapons collection from the Hawai'i Historic Arms Collection, as well as a 1940s restored military motorcycle and other vintage military vehicles, weapons and uniforms.
The museum will show the 1953 film "From Here to Eternity" at 10 a.m. and noon.
The event is open to the public via Lyman Gate on Kunia Road. Gate guards will provide road maps to the museum.
'Living History Day' at Schofield
