Vietnam veterans come together to honor fellow soldiers

For the past 18 years, a group of Vietnam veterans has gathered two days before Christmas at the Korean and Vietnam War Memorial on the state Capitol grounds.

They will be doing it again at 11 p.m. today, which is already Christmas Eve in Vietnam, said veteran Allen Hoe.

"This will be the 19th year for this low-key, unsponsored event, which is simply about fellowship, remembrance and honoring those we lost," organizers said in an email. "Usually about 50 to 75 folks attend."

All Vietnam vets "and anyone who ever cared for one are welcome," the group said.

There may be a chaplain, although the get-together is nondenominational. The gathering will open with a Hawaiian chant, and there is the expectation that a lone bagpiper will join in.

Some share a story about a buddy or just say a name.

"Around midnight, when it’s already Christmas Eve in Vietnam across the international dateline, and after all who wish have had their say, we’ll close by lighting candles and singing ‘Silent Night,’" the group said.

The organizers said their thoughts and prayers will be with those they served with who did not come home, "and with our younger brothers and sisters in uniform spending their Christmas Eve in harm’s way in Af­ghani­stan and other dangerous places around the world."

Vietnam War vets Fred Koba­shi­kawa and Tom Stir­ling gather with Hoe, who was a combat medic in Vietnam in 1968 with a long-range reconnaissance patrol team.

Hoe carries another war burden: the loss of his son, Nai­noa, an Army first lieutenant who was killed in Mosul, Iraq, in 2005.

While nothing is required of those who come, some bring coffee or snacks.

The group hopes to be joined by members of the military’s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, which searches for missing service members from Vietnam as well as World War II and the Korean War.