Vietnam War Memorial Service Honors Big Island Fallen at Keaukaha

At 83, Shirley Kauhaihao still makes the drive from Kona when her husband's name needs to be spoken aloud. She made it again Friday at the Keaukaha Military Reservation, standing lei-draped before a stone memorial that bears the name of U.S. Army 1st Lt. John Kauhaihao alongside nine other Hawaii Island National Guard members killed in Vietnam. The gathering, she said, assures "these men will never be forgotten, that they will live forever."

Her husband was 27 when he was killed in action on Sept. 5, 1969, leaving behind Shirley and four children. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart. His name also graces the U.S. Post Office in Captain Cook.

The Vietnam War Veterans Day memorial service, hosted by the Big Island National Guard Retirees' Association and the 1st Squadron 299th Cavalry Regiment, honored 52 Hawaii Island service members who died in the war. Ten names are engraved on the Keaukaha memorial; 42 more were commemorated during Friday's ceremony, held ahead of National Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29, the date in 1973 when the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, was disbanded and the last American combat soldiers departed Southeast Asia.

Among the 52 was Sgt. 1st Class Rodney Yano of Kealakekua, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for sacrificing his life on Jan. 1, 1969, near Bien Hao, when he cleared a helicopter of prematurely detonating explosives that could have downed the aircraft and killed his crewmates.

Keoki Leong delivered the keynote address, substituting for Brig. Gen. Tyson Tahara. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Ray Gandy, a Vietnam veteran himself, played "Taps." Members of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 3, including Inez Viruet, Alicia Motomora and Janice Lattig, stood with Shirley Kauhaihao at the memorial.

Shirley is part of an aging cohort of spouses and family members for whom the gap between Vietnam-era sacrifice and present-day support remains real. For Big Island families navigating VA benefits, disability claims, PTSD or grief, two Vet Centers operate island-wide with no enrollment requirement and no service-connected disability rating needed to walk in.

The Hilo Vet Center at 70 Lanihuli St., Suite 102, is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and reachable at (808) 969-3833. On the west side, the Kona Vet Center at Hale Kui Plaza, Suite 207 in Kailua-Kona, serves veterans and their families at (808) 329-0547. Both offer individual counseling, couples and family support, and bereavement services.

Primary care and medical appointments are available through the VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System's Big Island clinics: the Hilo clinic at 45 Mohouli St. and the Kailua-Kona clinic at 73-5618 Maiau St., Kamanu Center, Suite C200. Scheduling is available at 1-800-214-1306. The Hawaii State Office of Veterans' Services also maintains a Hilo office at 1304 Kekuanaoa St., open weekdays from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at (808) 369-3478.

For the families of the 52, Keaukaha is where names carved in stone are read aloud once a year, and the drive from Captain Cook or Kealakekua is never too far to make.