On Memorial Day 24 years ago, Katherine "Kay" Napoleon joined with her family at the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium for a gathering that reflected the structure’s purpose: to honor the 10,000 service members from Hawaii, including 101 killed, who served in World War I.
Napoleon’s late husband, Walter, had been superintendent of the facility for 17 years during the 1930s and ’40s.
Kay Napoleon has died, but the intimate family tradition has grown into a community event now led, in part, by Napoleon’s grandson Frank Weight, a director of the Friends of the Natatorium.
This year’s Natatorium Memorial Day service is Sunday at 10 a.m., with a 9 a.m. pre-ceremony show by musician Cyril Pahinui.
"We hold our event (on the eve of Memorial Day) to give those, especially families, interested in honoring our servicemen and women another option to places like Punchbowl," said Donna L. Ching, vice president of Friends of the Natatorium, a nonprofit group that advocates for the restoration of the memorial, opened in 1927.
She added that the Sunday observance is also "to remind folks that although Memorial Day is the next day, we should honor those who have served every day."
There will be performances by Hula Halau Olana and fourth-graders from Waikiki Elementary School, as well as an Air Force rifle detail and color guard. Keynote speakers include Gen. Gary L. North, who has served in Hawaii since August 2009 as commander of Pacific Air Forces. North is set to retire Oct. 1 after 36 years of service.
Also set to speak is Young Fun Choy, a 100-year-old Honolulu resident.
Ching said Choy remembers the days when the Natatorium was open for public swimming in its 100-yard saltwater pool.
"It’ll be a real treat to hear from Mr. Choy because he is a walking archive for people who have no idea what life was like back in the day," Ching said. "Soon our living connections to the World War II days will be gone, so it is important to hear stories from people like Mr. Choy, so we can keep their memories alive."
Parking will be available around Kapiolani Park with limited reserved parking at the Natatorium for seniors and veterans. People with questions should email moradke@gmail.com.
Here is information on Memorial Day events Monday on Oahu:
PUNCHBOWL
The Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
Mayor Peter Carlisle, retired Army Gen. David Bramlett and chaplain Lt. Col. Ken Bellinger of the Army’s 8th Theater Sustainment Command will lead the observance. Joining them will be law enforcement Explorer Capt. Risa Moniz, Boy Scout Andrew Musgrave and Senior Girl Scout Kayla Seto.
The Hickam Base Honor Guard will fire a 21-gun rifle salute followed by a missing-man fighter jet flyover by the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron and the Air Force’s 19th Fighter Squadron, signaling the end of the ceremony.
Parking at the cemetery is limited. The city will provide free parking at the Fasi Civic Center garage, with bus service from the Alapai Transit Center to the cemetery on the No. 15 Punchbowl route. Normal fares apply, and all stops along the route will be serviced. For more information go to thebus.org or call 848-5555.
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS
U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii will hold a remembrance ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Post Cemetery.
Col. Douglas S. Mulbury, commander of U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii, will give a Memorial Day speech. Representatives of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion will place wreaths.
Nonmilitary attendees should enter through Lyman Gate and allow time to obtain a visitor pass. Visitors must show a driver’s license, vehicle registration, proof of insurance and safety check to obtain a pass.
All visitors 16 and older must present a valid government ID.
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM
Adm. Cecil D. Haney, commander of the Pacific Fleet, will be the guest speaker at an observance at 11 a.m. at the base’s Submarine Memorial Park.
The ceremony is in honor of about 3,500 submarine crew members on 52 Pacific Fleet submarines lost at sea during World War II.
This event is only for people with military base access.
HAWAII STATE VETERANS CEMETERY
Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz will lead the annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe at 1 p.m.
Maj. Gen. Darryll Wong, state adjutant general, will give opening remarks, and Schatz will give the Memorial Day address and participate in the placing of the state wreath at the Memorial Plaza Monument.
The Hawaii Air National Guard honor guard will give a rifle salute, and a Coast Guard helicopter flyover will conclude the observance.
The event is open to the public. Civilian attendees are asked to wear aloha attire; military personnel, Class B uniform or equivalent.
LANTERN FLOATING
Shinnyo-en Hawaii will conduct its 14th annual Lantern Floating Hawaii ceremony at Magic Island. Participants write remembrances to deceased loved ones or prayers for peace that will be placed on candle-lit lanterns and set adrift in the ocean.
The lantern request tent will open at 10 a.m. Monday for writing a message on a collective remembrance lantern. Individual lanterns will be available for free at the tent starting at 1 p.m. Messages may also be submitted by Monday at www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com.
The 90-minute program will begin at 6 p.m. with entertainment. At 7 p.m. Shinso Ito, head of the Shinnyo-en sect, will speak.
The Magic Island parking lot will be closed from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday. Street parking will be prohibited on Ala Moana Boulevard eastbound, from Piikoi Street to Atkinson Drive, from 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For details go to www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com or www.facebook.com/lanternfloatinghawaii.
