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Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes August 24, 2021 Page 13 Chair Doolittle: I agree with you 100%. I put eight years in the infantry, three years in combat. I can appreciate you and thank you. Any other comments? Let's move on. Report on Cemeteries Chair Doolittle: Do we have anything for the cemeteries? We don't have Roddy anymore. Michelle, do you have anything to report on the cemeteries? Deputy Hiraishi: I don't at this time. Chair Doolittle: I assume they are all running very well. The last time I was up there, the other day, it's always well cared for, and I always appreciate parks and rec for all they do. Deputy Hiraishi: Thank you, I will pass that on to our park's maintenance staff. Chair Doolittle: They always do an excellent job. Lewis: I did want to ask a question because I was approached by someone, I didn't give any answer, but it had to do with the report that came out and the article that came out. The guy that wrote the article came out and I don't know if you've put together or Moe has put together a reply, we'd like to have access to that because I know that they're doing everything they can. Some things that ran through my head was unfunded mandate, unreasonable support, or lack thereof of any support from the State. Just the way the rules are written, there's a whole... What keeps people from doing the right thing and I can guarantee you it's not the only one because there's one managed by the State on Oahu, I think it's Kaneohe and I guarantee you they got as many or more problems as we've got. But what are the key measures and what can the State and others do to make it better. I think it was a pretty attacking article and I didn't read it until I spoke to the person. I assume good intention until I find out. That would be helpful for us as part of the Veterans Advisory Committee to know point by point the things that were brought up, not only what was in the report but also what was in the paper and how we could say a reply to that. Chair Doolittle: when that report first came out, I called and reached out to Moe, and we had a long conversation about that. It's easy to make complaints and point out little nitpicky things. But overall, I think our cemeteries are taken cared in the best fashion with the resources that are available. Moe said he would reach back to us as a committee when he had a plan to address that and that was a little over a month ago. Deputy Hiraishi: I will follow up with this committee with something more formal because some of those projects have started already. So, to answer the first question, I do not believe there has been an actual formal reply to report. I will follow up with Moe on that, if he has any plans for that, I don't think so. What I can tell the group is that, we got together with our park maintenance staff, met, and tried to determine some of those issues within ourselves. We are now trying to do some of the basic things like making sure the markers are lined up correctly. We're working with UH Hilo, I forget the exact group to