Posted on: Monday, January 31, 2005
Fallen troops honored in Kane'ohe memorial
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
KANE'OHE — As low-lying dark clouds fought with patches of blue sky to claim the day, hundreds of people visited Marine Corps Base Hawai'i yesterday to pay respect and to honor 31 young men killed in a helicopter crash last week in Iraq.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser It didn't matter whether you were a Marine yourself, knew someone in the military or just lived on the same island as some of those killed. Everyone just wanted some way to show someone that they cared.
A Sunday visit to the base's Iwo Jima Memorial, dedicated to "all who have served and continue to serve our great nation," seemed like one way of doing that, many said.
"I can't explain it. I just felt like I needed to be here today," said Lisa Leong, a 46-year-old federal worker from Manoa who heard the base would be open to visitors and skipped her regular housekeeping chores to be there.
"It wasn't even an effort. It's something that I felt I had to," she said. "This is the place where those men are never coming back to."
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Most visitors yesterday stood quietly at the edges of the memorial — a statue re-creating the famous moment in World War II when Marines raised the flag on Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi — and prayed, often with tears in their eyes. A few offered condolences to men and women in uniform standing by the base of the memorial.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Keith Lazear, a member of the Worldwide Motorcycle Club of O'ahu, somberly told a young Marine.
There wasn't much more for anyone to say or do, but somehow just being there, sharing the moment, seemed to help everyone.
"It means a lot to have all these people we don't know show up and offer their respect," said Marine Lance Cpl. Buck Gates, who had just arrived back in Hawai'i on Friday after a tour of duty with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines in Iraq. Gates said he knew everyone killed in the crash.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Nearly everyone who came felt close to the Marines, even if they didn't know them.
• Amy Froeschle, 72, of Kailua, put flowers at the foot of the memorial, but was thinking about her own son, Steven, an Army Reserve helicopter pilot who survived his own crash landing in Iraq and is still there. "I feel so close to these boys but there's nothing I can do. This is what I can do," she said. • Terry Boyd, who retired from the Navy six months ago and now runs a motorcycle shop on Sand Island, brought his wife, Ann, also a Navy veteran, to show "our respect for the base. It feels like the whole island is embedded with them," he said. • Ruth Yamagata, 82, stopped at the memorial on her way to lay flowers at the grave of her husband, Mineo, who was a U.S. military intelligence translator on Iwo Jima during the war. "So sad," she said. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser • Karen and Eric Padilla, who fought in the first Gulf War as a Marine, brought their three young children to the memorial after attending Cub Scout camp with them. "I wanted to show them that there are a lot of local men defending our country," Padilla said, "but being here also brought back a lot of memories for me, too." Several people noted that the memorial was held on the same day that Iraqis went to the polls for their first democratic elections.
"I think this outpouring shows a lot of support for what's happening in Iraq right now," said retired Army Col. Ab Brum, who serves on the Kane'ohe military-civilian council. "In the short term it looks bad, no question, but people will look back at this moment in history and call it a great success."
Gates, the Marine who had five of his closest friends killed in the helicopter crash, said yesterday he didn't know if the changes in Iraq were worth the loss of those lives.
"That's our job, to fight for freedom," he said. "Right now, it's just hard. The families and friends are going to need a lot of help and prayers. I just want the community to remember us."
As the skies cleared and well-wishers continued to pour into the base yesterday, there seemed little doubt anyone would forget anytime soon.
Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5460.
They came in ones and twos, bringing flowers. Sometimes they brought their whole family. Some came in their Sunday-best suits. Others wore shorts and slippers. Motorcycle club members showed up in their riding colors.
The Iwo Jima Memorial at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i became a gathering place yesterday.
Officials at the Marine Corps base said they decided to allow well-wishers rare access to the base following an outpouring of community concern for the men and families of those killed in the crash of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter in western Iraq. Twenty-seven of the dead were from the base's 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
Thayn Saffery, 2, of Kane'ohe leaves a memento at the base of the memorial.
"It tells everyone here and back there that they've got the support of the community. I know that those who died would like to have seen this, and I know it will help the ones who are still there get through one more day and put this behind us," said Gates, who is leaving the Marines after four years of service.
Pio Sua-Godinet, left, and Victor Talamoa, with sons, Joshua, 8, and Zachary, 5, pray for the crash victims.
• Bernadette Ishikawa of Kane'ohe came representing her daughter, who is attending college on the Mainland. "She always would meet Marines and bring them to our house for a visit. I don't remember their names, but I know all their faces. They were so polite, and so young. That's why this is important," Ishikawa said.
Elisa Burton and Lance Cpl. Evan Reid, a Kane'ohe-based Marine, spend a quiet moment in tribute to the Marines and Navy corpsman lost in the Jan. 26 helicopter crash in Iraq.
