MINUTES for 2019-02-26 FINAL - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes February 26,2019 Page 4 National Vietnam Veterans Day& Replica of Bronze Statue of Vietnam Army Nurse Tour Brinkley announced that March 29th is Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day for the Country. Not sure if anything is taking place in Kona but the Hilo ceremony will be on April 17th at the Hilo Veterans Center at 11:00 am. There will be an open house and potluck. The Vet Center is sponsoring it. The woman who owns the statue of the Vietnam Army Nurse was the Executive Director for the Vietnam Women's Memorial project. They were going to build a large statue of a Vietnam Army Nurse and they made a lot of little ones to raise money and they sent the little statuettes around the country. The large statue never got built. But the woman who owns the statue lives in Oahu and she's giving her 33" statue to Tripler in May and she contacted DAR in Maui and asked if they wanted to use it for ceremonies. They asked if we wanted to bring it to Hawaii Island. She wanted to let folks know about it and if any of the groups want to do a little tour. If anyone can think of any place for the statue to visit let Marcia know. She is requesting for it to be at the Memorial Day Ceremony at Veterans Cemetery I in May but she's not sure when it will be available. Lewis introduced the memorial plaque is being done and will be at Veterans Cemetery II honoring the ship that went down in the 40's, not only those that went down in the ship but the nine that survived and went on to serve in World War II. She also would like to bring attention to the Women's Memorial. Ideally they ought to have at least one of the smaller statues there. Cleaning of Veterans Cemetery I & II Wery announced that May 16 & 17 Purple Heart and VFW will be cleaning Veterans I& II before Memorial Day Ceremony. They coordinate with the maintenance staff at the cemetery. Hilo Town Hall Meeting Brulee-Wilson announced March 21, 2019 at 5:00 pm at the Hilo KMR Gym. It will be a Town Hall meeting as well as a Resource Fair. Sueoka added that it might be moved to the classrooms. VA folks are coming over to sponsor it. Chair Doolittle asked if there's any more announcements. Volunteer Drivers for Clinic in Kona Hanato brought up that they are still looking for drivers for the clinic in Kona. There are only two drivers in West Hawaii. The thing about being qualified is there's such a big problem with VA, there's a big amount of qualifications. Brulee-Wilson said she used to drive and the application process is very involved and very lengthy. This is another system that needs to be reviewed, they are sacrificing a lot