Volume No. 15, Issue No. 12 Web Site: http://www.aloha-moaa.org December 2014 (Voices of Warriors) Chartered January 27, 2000 Na Leo O Na Koa Newsletter of the Aloha Chapter, An Affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America 2007 Chapter Rating UNIFICATION APPROVED at General Membership Meeting At 0930, Tuesday, 25 November, about a dozen Aloha Chapter members and guests assembled at the Cen- ter for Aging (CFA), a hospice on the grounds of Tripler Army Medi- cal Center (TAMC), to serenade the sixty eld- erly veteran residents. Aloha Chapter’s an- nual Patriotic Songfest has been warmly re- ceived for quite a few years. Afterwards, at 1100, those that had spread good cheer at the CFA joined a larger group at the Hale Ikena, Ft. Shafter, for Aloha Chapter’s annual General Membership Meeting. Immedi- ately after the buffet taco luncheon, the business session of the meeting began. LCDR Mark Webster, USN, Ret., the Chairman of the Board, read the reasons for a proposed unification with the Hawaii State Chapter followed by the resolution adopted by the joint Unification Committee which has met twice. He men- tioned that the Hawaii State Chapter unanimously approved the resolution at their General Membership Meeting on 12 Novem- ber. He then asked if there was any discussion before our vote. COL Les Ihara, USA, Ret., a past President and former Chairman of the Board, provided a brief history lesson as to why the Aloha Chapter was created almost 15 years ago when it split off from the almost half-century old Hawaii State Chapter. Quite a lengthy discussion ensued. The main question was See Unification Page 7 Christmas Party There are presently 88 Aloha Chapter and Hawaii State Chapter members and guests signed up for our 2014 Christ- mas Party starting at 1700, Thursday, 4 December., at the spectacular Sunset Lanai, Camp H. M. Smith, Halawa Heights. Following a no-host cocktail hour, there will be our donation of toys to MAJ Shawn Patton, USMC, for the Marine’s annual Toys for Tots charity drive— don’t forget your donation of an unwrapped, inexpensive toy. After toasts we will have a prime rib and salmon buffet dinner, a short presentation on tours to S. Korea, entertain- ment, singing, prizes and fun. Inside December Issue Birthdays 7 Bridge Report 5 Calendar of Events 2 Chapter Leaders 8 COLA for 2015 2 Golf Report 6 Golf Schedule for 2015 6 Membership Application 7 Obituary 5 President’s Message 2 Retired Personnel Seminar 2 Veterans’ Burial Benefits 4 Veterans’ Day Ceremonies 3 A portion of the patriotic and Christmas carolers in one of the passageways of the Center for Aging, left to right, Vernon Von, Marion Von, Helene Webster, Aloha Chapter’s song leader Rosalina Baysa, and Jack Bohman
Transcript
Volume No. 15, Issue No. 12 Web Site: http://www.aloha-moaa.org December 2014
(Voices of Warriors)
Chartered January 27, 2000
Na Leo O Na Koa
Newsletter of the Aloha Chapter,
An Affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America
2007 Chapter Rating
UNIFICATION APPROVED at General Membership Meeting
At 0930, Tuesday, 25 November, about a dozen Aloha Chapter members and guests assembled at the Cen-ter for Aging (CFA), a hospice on the grounds of Tripler Army Medi-cal Center (TAMC), to serenade the sixty eld-erly veteran residents. Aloha Chapter’s an-nual Patriotic Songfest has been warmly re-ceived for quite a few years.
Afterwards, at 1100, those that had spread good cheer at the CFA joined a larger group at the Hale Ikena, Ft. Shafter, for Aloha Chapter’s annual General Membership Meeting. Immedi-ately after the buffet taco luncheon, the business session of the meeting began. LCDR Mark Webster, USN, Ret., the Chairman of the Board, read the reasons for a proposed unification with the Hawaii State Chapter followed by the resolution adopted by the joint Unification Committee which has met twice. He men-tioned that the Hawaii State Chapter unanimously approved the resolution at their General Membership Meeting on 12 Novem-ber. He then asked if there was any discussion before our vote.
COL Les Ihara, USA, Ret., a past President and former Chairman of the Board, provided a brief history lesson as to why the Aloha Chapter was created almost 15 years ago when it split off from the almost half-century old Hawaii State Chapter.
Quite a lengthy discussion ensued. The main question was
See Unification Page 7
Christmas Party There are presently 88 Aloha Chapter and Hawaii State Chapter members and guests signed up for our 2014 Christ-mas Party starting at 1700, Thursday, 4 December., at the spectacular Sunset Lanai, Camp H. M. Smith, Halawa Heights.
Following a no-host cocktail hour, there will be our donation of toys to MAJ Shawn Patton, USMC, for the Marine’s annual Toys for Tots charity drive—don’t forget your donation of an unwrapped, inexpensive toy. After toasts we will have a prime rib and salmon buffet dinner, a short presentation on tours to S. Korea, entertain-ment, singing, prizes and fun.
Inside December Issue
Birthdays 7 Bridge Report 5 Calendar of Events 2 Chapter Leaders 8 COLA for 2015 2 Golf Report 6 Golf Schedule for 2015 6 Membership Application 7 Obituary 5 President’s Message 2 Retired Personnel Seminar 2 Veterans’ Burial Benefits 4 Veterans’ Day Ceremonies 3
A portion of the patriotic and Christmas carolers in one of the passageways of the Center for Aging, left to right, Vernon
Von, Marion Von, Helene Webster, Aloha Chapter’s song leader Rosalina
Thanksgiving has come and gone, but as we move into the holiday season, we can con-tinue to be thankful for the many blessings we have living
in this great country, made possible by the sac-rifices of those who have gone before us. As another year winds down, it is always good to reflect upon what we have accomplished per-sonally and also as an organization; and what we can do better in the New Year.
At our General Membership meeting we de-cided, along with the Hawaii State chapter, to merge our two chapters together. Although there may have been good reasons for the split 15 years ago, I believe most of those differ-ences no longer exist. That along with an ag-ing membership of both chapters and a lack of members willing to take on more active roles, it makes sense to unite instead of duplicating ef-forts. The board of the Aloha Chapter has se-lected four representatives (John Kim, Harold Kuwahara, Curtis Lee and Mark Webster) for the “Unification” committee to ensure a smooth transition and that members’ concerns are properly addressed. A big Mahalo to Stephen Tom and his Pro-gram Committee for their hard work in plan-ning those great events this year and especially for the Christmas dinner and program at the Sunset Lanai. Mahalo also to Wes Fong for setting up the visit to the Fisher House and the songfest at the Center for Aging at Tripler. I’m sure these visits brought holiday cheers to the folks there. Finally, another big Mahalo to Norman Fujiwara for heading our golf pro-gram for the past ten years. He will be turning over the reins at the end of the year to get a well-deserved break. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
Notice This newsletter, my 108th issue of Nā Leo O Nā Koa, is promulgated electronically monthly as an official pub-lication of Aloha Chapter, Military Officers’ Association of America, P.O. Box 201441, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96820.
Views expressed herein are not necessarily chapter policy.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
4 Dec 2014 1700, Annual Christmas Dinner Party, Sunset (Thursday) Lanai, Camp H. M. Smith, Aiea Heights
19 Dec 2014 0900, Golf Outing, Navy Marine Golf Course, (Friday) 943 Valkenburgh Street, Honolulu 96818
2015 COLA Based on the 2014 Consumer Price Index, military retirees and annuitants will get a 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment in their January 2015 retiree checks. This is slightly higher than last year’s 1.5% increase.
Retired Personnel Seminar Saturday morning, 1 November, Darrell Large, Jack Miller and Mark Webster manned the MOAA information table at the annual Retired Personnel Seminar at the Hickam Officers’ Club, JBPHH. Just a little over 300 retirees, family members, widows and widowers were there to hear presentations on our benefits, some of which we may have been unaware; commissary and exchange info; TRI-CARE; veteran legal services and much more.
Aloha & Hawaii State Chapter Member LTC Dar-rell Large, USA, Ret., right, recruiting new members
No 15, December 2014 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 3
Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie hosted the afternoon Veterans’ Day ceremony that included a parade of flags, presentation of lei, rifle salute, music and other presentations. Ronald P. Han, Director of the Hawaii Office of Veterans’ Services, briefly addressed the approximately 400 assembled guests, followed by the Welcome Remarks by MG Darryll D. M. Wong, Hawaii Adjutant General and then the governor who gave the keynote address.
He reminisced about when he was a young state legislator and philanthropist John Henry Felix brought him to a kiawe and guava wild area of Kaneohe with his vision of turning it into a special place for Hawaii’s deceased vet-erans. That was the spark that led to the crea-tion of the Hawaii State Veterans’ Cemetery.
Veterans’ Day Ceremonies Veterans’ Day ceremonies began the day be-fore the holiday on Monday, 10 November, with an observance at Punahou School from 0740 to 0820.
Various patriotic, stirring musical renditions were performed by the Punahou Wind En-semble under the direction of Bandmaster Michael Nakasone.
The keynote speaker was BG Brian Alvin, Deputy Commanding General for Reserve Component, U.S. Army Pacific.
Just like the ceremonies on Memorial Day, there were ceremonies commemorating Vet-erans’ Day the next morning at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl, and in the afternoon at the Ha-waii State Veterans’ Cemetery, Kaneohe.
At the morning ceremony at Punchbowl, BG Irwin K. Cockett, Jr., USA, Ret., reflected on his life-changing experiences during the Ko-rean War when he was only 19 years old. The keynote speaker was Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr., CINCPACFLT (who has been nominated to become PACOM), who reminded the audi-ence of the high price that Hawaii’s veterans and their families have paid in the many con-flicts honored by this memorial, not only be-cause of our proximity to the wars, but be-cause of the willingness of Hawaii’s sons and daughters to serve in the armed forces.
Aloha Chapter Life Member LTC Bob Takao, USA, Ret., Senior Army JROTC Instructor, Punahou School, who organized the
Veterans’ Day Ceremony and was the Master of Ceremonies.
Assembling for the Parade of Flags and Presentation of Lei are, left, LCDR Mark Webster, USN, Ret., CAPT Bob Walden, USAF, Ret., two Youth ChalleNGe
Academy cadets, and COL Jim Gebhard, USAF, Ret.
The Hawaii National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academy cadets assembled behind the dignitaries
Burial and Memorial Benefits Available to Veterans
The Veterans Administration offers a number of burial and memorial benefits to veterans if their discharge from the military was under conditions other than dishonorable – which will need to be verified. To do this, you’ll need a copy of the veteran’s DD Form 214 “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Ac-tive Duty,” which you can request online at archives.gov/veterans.
Here’s a rundown of some of the different benefits that are available to veterans that die a non-service related death.
National and State Cemetery Benefits
If eligible, and if there is a desire for the vet-eran to be buried in one of the 131 national or 93 state VA cemeteries (see www.cem.va.gov/cem/cems/listcem.asp for a list) the VA benefits pro-vided at no cost to the family include a grave-site; opening and closing of the grave; perpet-ual gravesite care; a government headstone or marker; a United States burial flag that can be used to drape the casket or accompany the urn (after the funeral service, the flag is given to the next-of-kin as a keepsake); and a Presiden-tial memorial certificate, which is an engraved paper certificate signed by the current Presi-dent expressing the country’s grateful recogni-tion of the veteran’s service.
National cemetery burial benefits are also avail-able to spouses and dependents of veterans.
If the veteran is cremated, his remains will be buried or inurned in the same manner as cas-keted remains.
Funeral or cremation arrangements and costs are not, however, taken care of by the VA. They are the responsibility of the veteran’s family.
Private Cemetery Benefits
If the veteran is going to be buried in a pri-vate cemetery, the benefits available include a free government headstone or marker, or a me-
Page 4 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 15, December 2014
dallion that can be affixed to an existing pri-vately purchased headstone or marker; a burial flag; and a Presidential memorial certificate.
Funeral or cremation arrangements and costs are again the responsibility of the family, and there are no benefits offered to spouses and de-pendents that are buried in private cemeteries.
Military Funeral Honors
Another popular benefit available to all eligi-ble veterans buried in either a national or pri-vate cemetery is a military funeral honors cere-mony. This includes folding and presenting the U.S. burial flag to the veteran’s survivors and the playing of Taps, performed by two or more uniformed military members.
The funeral provider you choose will be able to assist you with all VA burial requests. De-pending on what you want, certain forms may need to be completed which are always better to be done in advance. For a complete run-down of burial and memorial benefits, eligibil-ity details and required forms, visit www.cem.va.gov or call 800-827-1000.
Burial Allowances
In addition to the many burial benefits, some veterans may also qualify for a $734 burial and funeral expense allowance (if hospitalized by VA at time of death), or $300 (if not hospital-ized by VA at time of death), and a $734 plot-interment allowance to those who choose to be buried in a private cemetery. To find out if the veteran is eligible, see benefits.va.gov/benefits/factsheets/burials/burial.pdf.
To apply for burial allowances, you’ll need to fill out VA Form 21-530 “Application for Bur-ial Benefits.” You need to attach a copy of your dad’s discharge document (DD 214 or equivalent), death certificate, funeral and burial bills. They should show that you have paid them in full. You may download the form at va.gov/vaforms.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Saturday, 11/15/2014 With Permission of Jim Miller, Savvy Senior
No 15, December 2014 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 5
The November party bridge session was played for the last time this bridge year at the Fahrni Realty Classroom on Sunday the 16th, hosted by Harriet Weissman. Play began on time at 1 PM with 12 regular players for 3 tables of bridge.
At the end of 5 rounds of play, score sheets were collected by Les Ihara who announced the top 4 players, the Low Scorer, and the pair who bid and made a small slam, all who received ap-propriate cash awards. However, Program Co-ordinator Shirley Ihara, who always double-checks score sheets after each session, found an error which changed the announced top 2 scor-ers. Bobbi Carlson ended with the top score of 6,210 and Harriet Weissman ended up 2nd with 5,240. Other players in descending order were: Shirley Ihara, Bev Jensen, Jean Wilkin-son, Judy Lutsy, Sam Heard, Dayle Carlson, Gary Jensen, Les Ihara, Bill Ernst, and Trudi Ernst. Making the only slam were Harriet Weissman and her partner Judy Lutsy.
The next session, the 1st for bridge year 2015, will again be hosted by Les & Shirley Ihara at their Kaneohe residence on Sunday, 14 December. It will be a luncheon affair, with all participants asked to be at their home by 11 AM for refreshments and pupu. Before the luncheon, there will be a short meeting and the presentation of the Player of the Year Trophy to the top point scorer for bridge year 2014. Play will begin about 1 PM. Those who have not signed up but would like to play on
Aloha Chapter Party Bridge that date must contact Les or Shirley by telephone at 239-7947 or by email to [email protected] not later than Wednesday, 10 December. Shirley
A quartet of the Bridge Bunch, left to right, Judy Lutsy, Shirley Ihara, Harriet Weissman and Bev Jensen
In Memoriam LTC Robert J. Kozuki, USA, Ret., 82, a Life Member of Aloha Chap-ter, MOAA, and past President from 2009 to 2012, was born 16 June 1932 in Hilo, Hawaii, graduated from Hilo High School in 1950, died of leukemia on or about 0400, Tuesday, 4 No-vember, at Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu.
Bob joined the U.S. Army for 2 years after attending Graceland Junior College in Iowa for 2 years. After leaving the Army, he went back to college and eventually earned a Masters in Psychiatric Social Work from the University of Missouri in Columbia.
While attending college in Missouri, he met his life-long love Mazie from metropolitan Kekaha, Kauai, who was also attending college there; they were married in Missouri in 1958 and re-mained happily married for the next 56 years.
After graduating with a Masters, Bob ob-tained a commission and served the next 23 years in the U.S. Army as a Mental Health Offi-cer. He retired in 1983 as a lieutenant colonel from his last assignment at the Madigan Hospi-tal at Ft. Lewis, Washington. Then, as a civil-ian, he worked at the Western State Mental Hospital in Tacoma, WA, for the next 20 years.
After Bob’s second retirement, he and Mazie moved to Kapolei where they lived for 8 years before moving into the Arcadia Retirement Residence in Honolulu in 2008.
Bob is survived by Mazie, now a Life Auxil-iary Member of the Aloha Chapter, and his brother, Eugene Kozuki, who lives in Iowa.
Bob’s memorial service will be at 1000, Friday, 5 December, at the Arcadia Chapel. Flowers and monetary offerings are NOT welcome.
Page 6 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 15, December 2014
November
Golf Report
Once again, I was in that hope- i t -doesn’t - ra in-on-Friday mood. Happily, it was wonderful to receive Guy Hagi’s assurance that Friday will be a dry Aloha Friday. I woke up early the morning of
Friday, 28 November, and was greeted by blue skies and nary a sign of rain. There were twenty-one players signed up for our Black Fri-day golf outing. Actually, there were twenty-two players signed up but one cancelled on Thursday, while two players were absent on Friday, so we had nineteen players left and they were all were ready to play long before our scheduled tee time. Checking with the Barbers Point Golf Course starter, she explained that all players except one had signed in so we were able to begin our golf outing a few minutes early.
Once again we had Kelly Lau leading our group, playing with him were John Ma, Ken Munechika and John Kim, they were fol-lowed by a threesome of Gary Hamada, Marv Baum, and Larry Enomoto, in the third group were Ken Yamada and his usual guests Charlie Takahama, Dennis Kawano, and Danny Yoshioka, they were followed by Myron Brumaghin, Bob Nagao and their two guests Carl Watanabe and Stan Gono, in the fifth group were Curtis Lee, yours truly and two of my guests Tony Marks and Rick. This month we had nary a single lady golfer, not a married one nor an unmarried one but nada, zilch female golfer.
After checking all the score cards to insure that the net scores were posted, we, John Ma and I, began to set up our blind partners. There was a tie for third place between the blind partners of Ken Yamada and Marv Baum; and Myron Brumaghin and yours truly;
Norm Fujiwara
but using our tie breaker procedure, Ken Ya-mada and Marv Baum were the third place winners, in second place were the partners of John Ma and John Kim, and for our grand champions winner of the mega jackpot were the partners of Kelly Lau and Ken Munechika. Congratulations to all the winners and a Big Mahalo for us contributors.
Now for our thought of the day: “Smart is when you believe only half of what you hear. Brilliant is when you know which half to be-lieve.”
Our next golf outing and the last outing that I will be coor-dinating, is on Friday, 19 De-cember, at the Navy Marine Golf Course. Aloha, Norm
2015 Golf Schedule JANUARY Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Friday, 23 January
FEBRUARY Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 27 February
MARCH Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Friday, 27 March
APRIL Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 24 April
MAY Leilehua Golf Course 0900, Wednesday, 27 May
JUNE Klipper Golf Course 0900, Wednesday, 17 June
JULY Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Friday, 24 July
AUGUST Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 28 August
SEPTEMBER Leilehua Golf Course 0900, Wednesday, 30 Sept.
OCTOBER Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 23 October
NOVEMBER Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Wednesday, 25 Nov.
DECEMBER Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 18 December
No. 15, December 2014 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 7
Hau'oli lā hānau! Partial List of
December Babies
Raymond DeHay 12/05
Stephanie Marshall 12/10
James Iwamura 12/16
Howard Okada 12/17
Tadahiko Ono 12/19
Carl Kinoshita 12/21
John Seely 12/23
Marvin Baum 12/26
Tylene Dunbar 12/27
Stephen Tom 12/27
Allen Ono 12/31
Richard Rankin 12/31
Best Wishes for many, many more Birthdays!
Unification concluded from Front Page
whether we were actually approving the merger or merely voting to proceed with the proposal to merge. In other words, is this the vote on an actual unification? Mark Webster explained that this is a vote to proceed with a proposal to merge, that the Unification Committee will need to continue to meet to work out the many involved details and that, if the vote is against the merger, then the issue is dead.
Thankfully, President BG John Ma, USA, Ret., ended the discussion, which, he said, could go on for another hour, by calling for the vote.
The vote was taken by a secret ballot. Out of the 37 attendees, 28 mem-bers were present and eligible to vote. When the results were tabulated by two non-member spouses, the motion carried with 15 for the resolution to proceed with the merger, 12 against it, and 1 abstention blank ballot.
Accordingly, the Unification Committee needs to continue their mission. There are many details yet to be worked out such as allocation of funds, name changes to Hawaii Aloha Chapter, rewriting the Bylaws for the merged chapter, officers for the new organization, etc., etc. It is not expected that the merger will be consummated until sometime in the first quarter of 2015.
After the vote, COL Curtis Lee, USA, Ret., the Nominating Com-mittee Chairman, announced the nominees for chapter officers for next year. BG John Ma, MAJ Larry Enomoto, USAF, Ret., and LTCOL John Kim, USAF, Ret., were elected to 2-year terms on the Board of Directors and LCDR Mark Webster and LTCOL Herbert Nakagawa, Jr., USAF, Ret., were appointed Trustees of the Aloha Chapter Scholarship Fund for terms of 3-years each.
Aloha Chapter
Military Officers Association
Of America
P.O. Box 201441
Honolulu HI 96820-1356
* 2002 5-Star Chapter
* 2003 4-Star Chapter
* 2004 Winner Best Website
* 2004 2nd Runner-Up Electronic Newsletter
* 2004 4-Star Chapter
* 2005 Winner-Cat VII "Give Me 10" Recruitment Campaign
