Every year at this time, I honor those who have made, preserved or shared Hawaii history. They have all done something special, in my estimation, to make Hawaii a better place for all of us.
Here’s Part 1 of my 2021 Rearview Mirror Annual Awards.
Friends to the end
Former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole died earlier this month. Scotty Anderson called to tell me that Dole and Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye rehabbed together at the end of World War II at Percy Jones Hospital in Battle Creek, Mich., and were friends for over 50 years.
Inouye, a Democrat, was asked to speak against Dole, a Republican, when he ran for office in the 1960s. Inouye said he would never do that because they shared something that transcended party politics.
When Inouye died in 2012 at age 88, the Progress-Index newspaper of Petersberg, Va., wrote that Dole was wheeled into the Capitol but insisted that he walk — with considerable help — to Inouye’s casket, which was lying in state.
“I don’t want Danny to see me in a wheelchair,” he explained, wiping away tears. Dole then saluted with his left arm, his only good arm. His right one was shattered by German machine gun fire in Italy in April 1945.
“In that same month, in that same country, Inouye lost his right arm after it was mutilated by a German grenade. They met in a military hospital as they recovered from their wounds and formed a lifelong friendship that crossed partisan lines and loyalties,” the Progress- Index wrote.
Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us. Dole and Inouye first served their country as soldiers, not politicians. Their first allegiance was to the nation, not to a political party.
“They bled and almost died for their fellow infantrymen, not their fellow officeholders,” the newspaper said, “and that indelible experience helped shape their approach to politics.
“That generation is almost gone now. Through the horror of war, those men learned to believe in the national interest, and in one another. They trusted one another and loved one another.
“As Bob Dole struggled to his feet and saluted his friend, Danny, he reminded us how precious good will is in our national life. And how much we miss it today.”
For that, I give Sens. Bob Dole and Daniel Inouye the Friends to the End Award.
Best marriage proposal
Marsue McGinnis was a teacher at Laupahoehoe High School and Leabert Fernandez was a doctor at Laupahoehoe Hospital on April 1, 1946, when an earthquake in Alaska sent a tsunami to the West Coast and Hawaii.
McGinnis was swept out to sea and bobbed in the water for nearly 10 hours.
Fernandez — son of entertainer E.K. Fernandez — got a boat in Kamuela, had a motor put on it and took it to sea with two others to look for survivors. They picked up two boys and McGinnis. Fernandez proposed to her a few days later, and they married in July 1946.
Later, he would jokingly tell people he proposed as they pulled her from the water: “Marry me or I’ll throw you back.”
Fernandez has died, but McGinnis is 97 and lives in Lanikai today.
For that I give them the Best Marriage Proposal Award.
WWII memorial champion
In 2021 I looked into the history of the USS Arizona Memorial. I was surprised to find that one man proposed a “Shrine of Pearl Harbor” as early as 1943, in the middle of the war.
His name was Tony Todaro. He was a civilian worker at Pearl Harbor. Todaro raised over $1 million (in today’s dollars) and had artists draw what the shrine might look like.
After the war a commission took over, and the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is the result. Millions have visited it to pay their respects to those who gave their lives so that we might enjoy the freedom for which they fought.
Todaro later went into music and wrote the book “Golden Years of Hawaiian Entertainment” and promoted the Hawaiian Entertainment Hall of Fame.
‘Better, not bitter’
Many of us face adversity, but few of us overcome it in a way that makes a contribution to the rest of society.
Delorese Gregoire is one such person. “I was a foster kid,” she says. “Other kids put me down for this. I grew up feeling stupid, ugly, and thought the world was against me.”
As an adult, Gregiore realized she could turn off those negative thoughts and replace them with positive affirmations. “It occurred to me that if I had this information as a teen, I would not have felt so alone.”
In 1985 she founded the Winners’ Camp Foundation at the Hawaii Leadership Academy. It provides weeklong programs for Hawaii teens at its facilities atop Kamehame Ridge in Hawaii Kai. Since then over 15,000 teens have participated.
An important lesson of Winners’ Camp is for teens to take total responsibility for their lives and the results they get. “If it’s to be, it’s up to me” is a Winners’ Camp maxim.
“Teens often blame the world, their parents or outside influences for what happens to them,” Gregoire believes. A Winners’ Camp slogan is to be “better, not bitter.”
“A second lesson we present is to stop being so self- centered. We want them to be less focused on me, me, me, and open their hearts to others. You didn’t create the universe, and you are not the center of it.”
For her 36 years leading Winners’ Camp, I give Delorese Gregoire the 2021 Better, Not Bitter Award.
Exceptional service
Earlier this year I wrote about Fort Ruger and the Cannon Club, the famous officers club on the slopes of Diamond Head. Readers told me of an extraordinary man, Marcelino Tacub, who worked as the head valet at the club.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Lois Taylor wrote about him in 1976. “Marcelino Tacub can’t really explain how he does it, but on any weekend evening, he will park 300 cars at Ft. Ruger’s Cannon Club and have each one at the entrance as its owner leaves.
“This is all done without claim checks or written identification pairing the car and the owner. As he talks about it, however, it emerges that Tacub has instinctively combined a talent for acute observation with what appears to be a photographic memory.”
Tacub was quoted by Taylor as saying,“When I can, I match the people and their cars by the women. Men all dress pretty much the same, but I’ll remember something about the way a woman is dressed.”
Marcelino Tacub is 86 today and still pretty active, but not parking hundreds of cars a day. For his dedication I give him the 2021 Exceptional Customer Service Award.
Next week I’ll honor more extraordinary men and women in Part 2 of my Rearview Mirror Annual Awards.
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