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Beneath sunny skies and palm trees outside the Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial, veterans and others gathered Friday to remember those from Hawaii who stepped up to fight abroad in World War I.
“The territory of Hawaii had no requirement to provide draftees or conscripts,” VFW Post 8616 Commander Wayne Yoshioka said during the Veterans Day ceremony. “But eventually, 10,000 sons and daughters of Hawaii served in the military and were among the 4 million men and women, 70% of them drafted, called up in the U.S. for the so-called Great War.”
Veterans left flowers and lei by a stone embedded with a plaque honoring the war dead, including the 101 from Hawaii.
The war memorial and saltwater pool have fallen largely into disrepair and are closed to the public. Many veterans would like to see them restored and reopened.
JROTC cadets from Saint Louis School served as the color guard carrying the flag.
“It’s a great opportunity not only to show our support, but also to honor the veterans who have served, especially at this war memorial here,” said Cadet Sgt. Maj. Tin Nguyen, a senior looking to attend the University of Hawaii after graduating. “As cadets we always try to strive towards becoming better citizens, better leaders, and we look up to them. They’re the role models that we look up to. Just to have the opportunity to give back in any way we can, something as simple as being the color guard, really means a lot to us.”
The conflict in Europe fundamentally changed the entire world. It also changed America, as a generation of veterans who endured a war unlike any the world had seen before came home demanding that the government that sent them honor its commitments to those who fought.
World War I proved to be a particularly savage war. It was the first major industrialized conflict with widespread use of machine- guns, tanks and chemical weapons. More than 53,000 U.S. service members were killed in combat action, and another 63,000 died from diseases. The U.S. entered the conflict as the 1918 global influenza pandemic was raging.
Day to remember
Veterans Day is set on the anniversary of the 1919 armistice that brought an end to the slaughter.
About 204,000 American troops were wounded in the conflict, leaving many with lifelong disabilities. Veterans of the war became active in demanding the government programs to assist them.
In the early days of the Great Depression, veterans formed the “Bonus Army” that marched on Washington in July 1932 and clashed with active-duty troops led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur as they demanded the government honor its obligations to veterans.
The World War I generation’s experience has largely faded from living memory. The last veteran of that conflict, Frank Buckles, died Feb. 27, 2011, at the age of 110.
“Today’s veterans owe a great deal of debt to the World War I trailblazers. Now it’s our turn to carry the standard,” Yoshioka said.
Younger veterans
Today there are about 117,000 veterans in Hawaii, more than half of them having served in Operation Desert Storm or post-9/11 conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries. However, legacy veterans organizations like the VFW and American Legion have struggled to attract new members from the most recent generations of veterans.
Yoshioka told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that in Hawaii the VFW is making cultural shifts to make the organization more appealing to younger veterans seeking a sense of community as they leave the military.
“They’re all busy with their lives and everything,” he said. “At our meetings we invite families to come to the meetings, come and have breakfast with us. … The old days, you know, drinking beer and such, those days are long gone. Now if you don’t involve the families, veterans are going to say, ‘I’m too busy,’ and look somewhere else.”
Many veterans have struggled to reintegrate into civilian life after military service. In the years since the Vietnam War, when President Richard Nixon ended the draft, the military has become an all-volunteer force. The post-9/11 generation is among the smallest of veterans in U.S. history.
Fewer than 1% of Americans served in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history. That’s left many recent vets feeling isolated.
“Statistically, veterans that come out of active duty, sometimes after five years, and then being back into civilian life are going to have some kind of crisis,” said Keith Billingsley, veterans resources coordinator at the Institute for Human Services, which works to address homelessness in Hawaii.
Billingsley attended the ceremony with several vets IHS has worked to get off the streets.
“Whether it’s a breakdown, marital breakdown, a natural breakdown, employment breakdown, it’s going to be some sort of crisis, they’re going to need a hand up, somebody to talk to … and that’s really why we want to make sure that we’re there when that happens,” he said.
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