2009-02-19 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

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Veterans Advisory Committee Page 9 February 19, 2009 PRESENTATION BY EMILE WERY OF THE KOREAN WAR VETERANS ORGANIZATION PROPOSAL TO ERECT HAWAII WAR MEMORIAL AT LILI`UOKALANI GARDENS February 19, 2009 Chairwoman Fox shared that although the meeting has been adjourned, the presentation will still be held for informational purposes. She said all members should have received a copy of the letter from Managing Director William Takaba to Robert Montague of the Korean War Veterans dated February 3, 2009. She recommended members review the letter which is asking Hawaii County Veterans Advisory Committee to approve the requested location of Lili`uokalani Gardens. Presentation by Emile Wery: Emile Wery, Retired 1st Sergeant, United States Army did a presentation on the Hawaii War Memorial. He stated that there is a mistake in the title, its not a Korean War Memorial, its being sponsored and built by the Korean War Veterans, but it is a Hawaii War Memorial. The memorial will have the names of every veteran from the Island of Hawaii who has died fighting for the United States. The first two were from the civil war. A man named Timothy Pitman, his mother was named Kino`ole. Kino`ole Street is named after her, she was a high chief. The Hilo Hotel property was her home. His father was a merchant from Boston. They had three children, two sons and a daughter. Kino`ole's father was a high chief by the name of Ho`olulu. Ho`olulu and his brother were the ones that carried the bones of Kamehameha and hid them when they were buried. Their father was a man by the name of Kamiamoku. He was a twin on the coat of arms for the State of Hawaii, he and his brother are there. They were two of the consuls of Kamehameha when he conquered the islands and established the kingdom of Hawaii. That's the geneology of that man. His mother died when he was young, his father took the three children back to Boston where he was from. He was born in the 1940's. The civil war started, he volunteered to fight with the union against the confederacy. He was captured, got lung fever, pneumonia in a POW camp in the south and because of that he was repatriated, sent to Washington, there was a hospital outside Washington where he died of pneumonia. His cousins were Lili`uokalani and Kalakaua. Since those two from the Civil War, the following have died from Hawaii; (11) in World War I; (157) in World War II; (47) in the Korean War; (50) in Vietnam; (6) Iraq and Afghanistan. Monument Description Mr. Wery showed the model of the memorial. It will sit on a 50' diameter concrete platform. It will be 16'X 16' Square with a Korean style roof. In the center there will be a "Y" shaped platform and on each side there will be names of the veterans who have died relative to the wars they were in. There will be (4) bronze statues on it representing