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The Red Hill fuel crisis report prepared by the Pentagon’s inspector general pointed to numerous examples of dereliction of duty, honor, courage and commitment to defend us. Ninety-three thousand people were sickened or potentially sickened after drinking jet fuel-tainted water, which suggests that someone would be severely reprimanded. I think that the quote by whistleblower Lt. Cmdr Shannon Bencs, who was removed from her duties after raising concerns, had a spot-on message when she said, “What it comes down to is that they didn’t just violate DOD orders, they violated Navy orders, they violated the state and federal laws. Someone needs to go to jail, in my opinion.”
Yet, we know that Capt. Erik Spitzer, formerly commander of the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, was awarded the Legion of Merit upon retirement. To date, I do not believe that anyone in the U.S. Navy high command was ever reprimanded.
Cullen Hayashida
Moanalua
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