Organizers move Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Filipino vets to Waikiki
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Celestino Almeda, a Filipino World War II veteran, smiled during a ceremony at the Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington, in Oct. 2017, awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Filipino veterans of World War II. A Hawaii ceremony to honor Filipino World War II veterans with the Congressional Gold Medal will now be held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort to accommodate the anticipated large attendance of veterans’ families and supporters.
A Hawaii ceremony to honor Filipino World War II veterans with the Congressional Gold Medal will now be held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort to accommodate the anticipated large attendance of veterans’ families and supporters.
The May 6 ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the resort’s Coral Ballroom. Over 40 veterans and about 100 next of kin are expected to be presented with bronze replicas of the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Gov. David Ige and Hawaii’s congressional leaders are also expected to attend.
Event coordinators had originally planned to hold the ceremony at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu but were forced to change the venue due to the limited seating capacity, as more than 700 people are expected to attend.
Potential traffic delays because of the ongoing weekend roadwork on the westbound lanes of the H-1 freeway also factored into the coordinators’ decision to move the event to Waikiki.
Regional ceremonies are being held nationwide for Filipino WWII veterans and their families who were unable to attend the ceremony that was held in October at the U.S. Capitol’s Emancipation Hall in Washington, D.C.
