Kokua Line: Punchbowl’s scenic setting is not for outdoor recreation

Question: Punchbowl is a veterans’ cemetery, not a park. Could you please remind visitors (whether they live here or are coming from outside Hawaii) to show some respect?

Answer: Yes. Staff have noticed an increase in illegal or disrespectful behavior at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and are working hard to quell it, said spokesman Gene Maestas. “This is not a public park. It is a federal facility and not only that it is a national shrine. It must be treated with respect,” Maestas said.

The cemetery is known as Punchbowl because it is located in Punchbowl Crater.

Rules governing conduct must be followed by anyone who visits Punchbowl, whether they are a tourist or attending a funeral or visiting a grave, he said. No one should be using it as an exercise track or recreational area, he emphasized. Its scenic setting at 2177 Puowaina Drive, above a densely populated Honolulu neighborhood, seems to be attracting a growing number of people who “just want to hang out.”

New signs have been posted over the past few weeks detailing infractions, to supplement long-standing signs listing basic rules. Any staff member may enforce violations, he said. Typically the offender is asked to cease the behavior or leave the cemetery.

“Most notable are the people who treat Punchbowl as a park: They bring their pets into the cemetery, they bring picnic lunches, they exercise and ride bicycles,” none of which should be occurring, he said. “Some illegal actives include smoking pot and other illegal drugs.”

While walkers and joggers may perceive their behavior as benign, “we have funeral services going on. It’s not dignified to have people in sports gear running by. This needs be a serene, peaceful environment,” he said.

Among rules Maestas cited:

>> No recreational activities, including exercising, bicycling and picnicking

>> No smoking

>> No pets (and no claiming that your pet is a service dog)

>> No feeding feral cats

>> Must be properly attired (a shirt is required)

As he said, illegal conduct, including illicit drug use, is enforced and reported. As an example, Maestas said that a company’s van was recently seen parked on cemetery grounds, its driver smoking something out of a Coke can. Staff called the business listed on the van and provided the license plate and a description of the behavior.

In addition, there have been instances where homeless individuals claimed to be visiting graves but actually were on the premises to wash up or to sleep. Camping is not allowed.

Maestas said standards of conduct allowed at national cemeteries are published in “M40-2, National Cemeteries: Administration, Operation and Maintenance, Chapter 3.03, Visitors Standards of Conduct and Related Law Enforcement.”

He said that 38 CFR 1.218 also applies; CFR stands for Code of Federal Regulations.

“We are taking all this very seriously,” he said.

Enforcement does not deter people from visiting their loved ones’ graves, including to make cultural offerings such as food or incense within the rules, Maestas said. Punchbowl is the final resting place for tens of thousands military veterans and their dependents.

The cemetery also is one of Hawaii’s biggest tourist attractions. Its “roll-through” policy allows dozens of tour buses a day, but the people on these large vehicles don’t disembark, so they’re not the problem, he said. These buses drive around the flag pole and slowly traverse Mall Drive, pausing in front of the Honolulu Memorial before exiting the cemetery, he said.

To learn more about the cemetery, see 808ne.ws/punchbowl, its official website, administered by a division of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.