na leo o na koa - moaa-hawaii · 2015-04-14 · na leo o na koa newsletter of the aloha chapter,...

Volume No. 15, Issue No. 3 Web Site: http://www.aloha-moaa.org March 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

Kudos for Kubo Our fellow Aloha Chapter member, retired Judge COL Melvin Soong, USA, Ret, made arrangements with his friend, First Circuit Court Judge Edward Kubo, to be our guest speaker at our luncheon on 20 February 2014 at Hale Ikena, Ft. Shafter. Thirty-seven mem-bers and guests of Aloha and Hawaii Chapters, MOAA, were treated to a tremendous presen-tation about the Hawaii Veterans Court. The Hawaii Veterans Court is a treatment and reha-bilitation court designed to help Veterans who get into trouble with the law.

Judge Kubo rec-ognized the special circumstances that Veterans faced with PTSD, TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), and mili-tary downsizing which for some created a downward spiral in life-style leading to drug use, alcohol-ism, violence and violations of the law. Responding to this situation, Judge Kubo created the Hawaii Vet-erans Court in January 2013 to pro-vide special assistance to those Vet-erans who were convicted of crimi-nal offenses.

The Hawaii Veterans Court meets every Friday afternoon and is a collaborative effort of Judge Kubo, the Veterans Administration,

See February Luncheon Page 3

March Tour and Luncheon Arrangements have been made by the Aloha and Hawaii Chapters, MOAA, for a tour of USCG CUTTER RUSH (WHEC 723) at the USCG Base Honolulu on Sand Island followed by a $20 buffet luncheon at Club 14.

We will meet at the gangway to the cutter at 0945 for the 1000 tour on Thursday, 20 March. After the tour, we will walk to the nearby Club 14 located just mauka of the gate to the base for our 1130 buffet luncheon. Our guest speaker will be RADM Cari B. Thomas, USCG, Com-mander, Coast Guard District Fourteen.

Rear Admiral Thomas took command of District 14 in May 2013. Her area of re-sponsibility includes the Ha-waiian Islands, Guam, American Samoa and activi-ties in Saipan, Singapore and Japan.

A 1984 graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy, Admiral Thomas has served on cutters VIGOROUS, VALIANT, and commanded MANITOU. Other operational assignments include Group-Air Station Atlantic City and Commander, Sector Miami, Response Operations.

Rear Admiral Thomas also served in the Personnel Com-mand, as a Program Reviewer at Headquarters, the Executive As-

See March Tour & Lunch Page 4

Inside March Issue

Birthdays 7 Bridge Report 5 Calendar of Events 2 Chairman’s Corner 2 Chapter Leaders 8 Golf Report 6 Membership Application 7 Obituary 5 President’s Message 2 Reservation Form 7 Scholarship Fund Trustees 3 VA Health ID Card 4

Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 15, March 2014

Chairman’ s Corner

By Mark Webster

Our Aloha Chapter has a new Executive Committee this year that is already off to an excel-lent start. Led by President BG John Ma, USA, Ret.; and as-

sisted by Vice President MG Stephen Tom, USA, Ret., who is also serving as our new Pro-gram Chairman; Treasurer LTCOL John Kim, USAF, Ret.; and Secretary COL Ira Tagawa, USA, Ret., we’ve had a well-attended, informa-tive luncheon in February and many more en-ticing programs planned for the months ahead.

On Thursday, 20 March, we will visit a USCG cutter at the Sand Island Coast Guard Base Honolulu followed by lunch at Club 14. The Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, RADM Cari B. Thomas, USCG, will be our guest speaker. Send in your Reservation Form on page 7 of this newsletter to ensure that you don’t miss this exciting event.

President John Ma went on a recon mission to locate new aloha shirts embroidered with our chapter logo that are both handsome and inexpensive. He struck a deal with Hilo Hattie’s for the following selection of shirts:

(Full Placket shirts button all of the way down and Half Placket shirts are put on over the head.)

All shirts have a pocket and are available in

sizes S – XXL. The embroidered shirts will be

approximately $25 each depending on the pro-

Notice This newsletter, my 99th 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

16 March 14 1300, Bridge Party, Fahrni Realty Class-(Sunday) room, Aiea. Hosts: Bill and Trudi Ernst

17 March 14 0900, Aloha Chapter Board of Directors (Monday) Meeting, NEX Food Court Lanai

20 March 14 0945, Assemble on pier for tour of USCG (Thursday) Cutter RUSH followed by lunch at Club 14. Speaker: RADM Cari B. Thomas, USCG

28 March 14 0810, Golf Outing, Leilehua Golf Course,(Friday) 199 Leilehua Road, Wahiawa

27 April ‘14 Annual Chicken Sale Fundraiser and Volunteers(Sunday) Serving Lunch of Donated Chickens at IHS

7 May 2014 1000, Tour of Chinatown followed by lunch (Wednesday) at a Chinese restaurant. POC: Wes Fong

20 June 2014 1000, MG Herbert E. Wolff Golf Tournament (Friday) Leilehua Golf Course. Includes Meals and Complimentary Gifts for Volunteers

2 Aug 2014 Annual MOAA Picnic, Bellows AFS

11 Dec 2014 1100, Christmas Luncheon Party, Sunset (Thursday) Lanai, Camp H. M. Smith

rated set-up charges. If you desire one of

these shirts, e-mail your choice of color and

size ASAP to [email protected].

The most popular color will be the chapter’s

selection of our embroidered aloha shirt.

2014 Membership Directory Please review your data in the March 2013 Membership Directory and, if there are any changes to be made to the updated direc-tory to be distributed this autumn, inform Mark Webster, Publisher, Aloha Chapter, at [email protected]. Mahalo!

Welcome To Our New Members

Frank A. Bendrick, LTC, USMC. Ret. Gary S. Hamada, COL, USA, Ret.

February Luncheon continued from Front Page

the State of Hawaii Probation Department, Tripler Army Medical Center, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Hawaii Public Defender’s Office, and fellow veterans who volunteer as Court Mentors to assist the Veteran Defendant through the criminal court procedures and treatment and rehabilitation programs.

The Hawaii Veteran Court is one of some160 other Veterans Courts in the United States. It exists to help any person in Hawaii who has served for any period in the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard.

Why did Judge Kubo start the Hawaii Veterans Court Judge Kubo answers that in their service to their country, Veterans wrote a blank check to the United States in an amount to and including the sacrifice of their lives. In return for the defense of our country, Judge Kubo be-

lieved the Hawaii Criminal Justice System owed Veterans a special court for treatment and re-habilitation. He believes the discipline and es-prit de corps gained from their training and ex-perience gives Veterans an edge to be success-fully rehabilitated and returned to the commu-nity as a productive and law abiding person. But the Veteran must have the motivation and drive to participate in the treatment and reha-bilitation programs offered.

On a personal note, Judge Kubo states that his dedication to the Hawaii Veterans Court is a way of showing respect and thanks to the men and women who served in the defense of our nation, and to honor his father who served as a Command Sergeant Major in the US Army during the Korean War.

The most pressing need of the Hawaii Veter-ans Court is for more veterans to volunteer as mentors to counsel Veteran Defendants and

No 15, March 2014 Nā Leo O Nā Koa

help them thorough the treatment and rehabili-tation programs provided by the Hawaii Veter-ans Court. If anyone is interested in becoming a Hawaii Veteran Court Mentor, please call the court at (808) 539-4139. Stephen

Aloha Chapter Scholarship Fund

New Trustees The newly elected Trustees of our Aloha Chap-ter’s Scholarship Fund—John Kim, Curtis Lee, John Ma and Harold Okita—met with current Trustee Harold Kuwahara on 7 January 2014. The latter Harold provided the continuity of the organization with a brief orientation on the cur-rent operations and status of the fund.

After the updating by Harold Kuwahara, the following officers were elected: Chairman, Curtis Lee; Vice Chairman, John Ma; Chief Financial Officer, John Kim; and Secretary, Harold Kuwahara.

The Chair-man and Chief Financial Offi-cer will meet with the previ-ous Chief Fi-nancial Officer, yet another Harold, Har-old Takenaka,

to determine the operational procedures that dictate deadlines/dates for various required ac-tions. The Chairman will arrange for a review of the financial activity of the fund. Curt

John Kim, Financial Officer

Curtis Lee, Chairman

John Ma, Vice Chairman

Harold Okita, Trustee

Hal Kuwahara, Secretary

Judge Ed Kubo

March Tour & Lunch continued from Front Page

sistant to the Atlantic Area Commander and the Atlantic Area Resource Director. As a Captain, she was the Commanding Officer, Training Cen-ter Cape May, the only enlisted accession source.

Rear Admiral Thomas graduated with distinc-tion from the Naval War College with a Mas-ters of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, and has completed Harvard’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative. She also holds a Master of Science in Educational Lead-ership from Troy State University and a Bache-lor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the Coast Guard Academy.

She is currently the Chair, Board of Direc-tors, of the Sea Services Leadership Associa-tion and has served on other non-profit boards as a member.

Her awards include the Legion of Merit, five Meritorious Service Medals, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Department of State Superior Honor Award among many other personal, unit and campaign awards. She earned permanent cutterman status in 1994.

The Reservation Form for this interesting and informative tour and luncheon is on page 7 of this newsletter. Please complete it and mail it now before you forget.


The New Veteran Health Iden-tification Card is coming soon! The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is implementing a newly redesigned, more secure Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC) to replace the Veteran Identification Card (VIC).

In 2010, VA initiated a redesign effort to re-move the SSN from the barcode and magnetic stripe on the VIC to improve the protection of Veteran’s private information in conformance with the Social Security number reduction and security mandates throughout the Federal Gov-ernment. VA is preparing to implement a new Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC).

The new cards are distinguished by additional security features, which better protect the Vet-eran’s personal information and have a different look and feel. In addition to being more secure, the card offers enhanced features — transform-ing it into a Health Identification Card. Similar to a typical health insurance card, the VHIC dis-plays the Veteran’s Member ID, a new unique identifier, as well as a Plan ID, reflecting the Veteran’s enrollment in VA health care.

As part of a phased rollout, in February 2014, the card was offered to newly enrolled and other Veterans who have not been issued a VIC. Then, in early April, VA will begin a three-month effort to automatically issue the more secure VHIC to each VIC cardholder. VA recommends Veterans safeguard their VIC as they would a credit card, and cut up or shred the card once it is replaced.

While a VHIC is not required to receive VA

See VHIC on Page 5 USCGC RUSH (WHEC 723)

No 15, March 2014 Nā Leo O Nā Koa

Aloha Chapter Party Bridge The third party bridge session of Bridge-year 2014 was played in the Fahrni Realty Classroom on Sunday, 16 February, hosted by Leney Vine. Play began at 1 PM with 10 regular and 2 substitutes for 3 tables.

Despite not having any slams bid and made, scoring was relatively high. Topping all players was Jean Wilkinson with 5,760 points, fol-lowed by Dayle Carlson, Dan Matthews, and Mitzi Austin, all with descending scores 5,000 and over. The remaining players in descending scores were: Leney Vine, Sam Heard, Shirley Ihara, Harriet Weismann, Les Ihara, Bobbi Carlson, and guests Judy Lutsy, and Hazel Theodore.

The next bridge session will be held on Sun-day, 16 March 16, hosted by Bill & Trudi Ernst and will again be held in the Fahrni Re-alty Classroom. Those who have not signed up but would like to play on that date must con-tact Bill or Trudi by telephone at 625-2545 or by e-mail to [email protected] not later than Wednesday, 12 March. Shirley

VHIC from Page 4

health care, VA wants all enrolled Veterans to have a card that protects their personal infor-mation.

Veterans can continue to use their VIC until their VHIC is received. VA health care applica-tions have been enhanced to read both the new VHIC as well as the old card. Production of the replacement VHICs will begin in early April 2014 and will be automatically mailed to Veter-ans who have been issued a VIC. All cards are expected to be replaced within three months.

Enrolled Veterans can get more information by calling 1-877-222-VETS (8387), by visiting their VA medical facility Enrollment Coordinator or online at www.va.gov/healthbenefits/vhic.

Department of Veterans Affairs-Feb 2014

Seated, left to right: Jean Wilkinson, Mitzi Austin and Leney Vine

Standing, left to right: Dayle Carlson and Dan Matthews

In Memoriam Sandi R. Apuna, 66, LTC, U.S. Army Reserve, Retired, of Mesa, Arizona, widow of Aloha Chapter Life Member Samuel K. Apuna, LTC, USA, Ret., passed away peacefully on 31 January 2014.

Sandi received a B.A. degree in Elementary Education from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.Ed degree in Reading and Language Arts from the University of Hawaii. She taught at Solomon Elementary School, Schofield, and, after moving to Mesa, she spe-cialized in reading development and dyslexia, implemented curricula, and trained many reading specialists. After 9/11 she served for two years as an anti-terrorism officer with the Pacific Command (PACOM) and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Sandi is survived by her step-mother and-brother, 3 step-daughters, 2 step-sons, 11 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.


February Golf Report Once again, I was prepared to crucify Guy Hagi for his weekly weather report. On Tuesday he forecasted that there will be rain on Thurs-day and Saturday, but Friday will be clear; however, on Wednesday he said that there

would be light showers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Well, early Friday morning, 28 February, there were spurts of heavy showers, and when I woke up and saw my front drive-way, it was not only wet but there was a heavy drizzle. As I drove down H-2, I knew that there must be creeks rising somewhere, hope-fully not at the Navy/Marine Golf Course where we were having our monthly golf out-ing. Thankfully, as I approached Pearl Harbor, the skies were overcast, but it was dry and not a sign of rain in the sky.

By Thursday, 27 February, there were twenty- five players signed up to play on Friday, includ-ing three wounded warriors, Ken Yamada’s four guests, and Walt Kinoshita’s one guest. Unfortunately, when it was time to tee off, we were short three players. One had an appoint-ment at Tripler Hospital, and he eventually showed up a late. Since two players were ab-sent, we ended up with a total of 23 players.

Norm Fujiwara

Once again our group were led by Kelly Lau with Ken Munechika, Mel Soong and Eddie Lee; the second group consisted of Mert Agena, Walt Kinoshita, Janice Kinoshita and their guest Dan Kunimoto; they were fol-lowed by Gordon Cho, Marv Baum, and Sgt Jeremiah Kohler; the fourth group consisted of Jerry Bruce, Larry Enomoto, S/Sgt James Martin, and Cpl Gabriel Beltres; they were followed by Ken Yamada, and his four guests, Dennis Kawano, Norris Atsumi, Evelyn Atsumi, and Charlie Takahama; and bringing up the rear were Joe Kuroda, Curtis Lee and yours truly.

When all the blind partners were determined, in third place, missing by one stroke, were the partners Gordon Cho and Jerry Bruce; tied for first and second place resulted in applying the tie breaker and in second place were the part-ners of Mert Agena and yours truly; and our jackpot champions were Janice Kinoshita and Ken Yamada. Amazingly, the difference be-tween the top three winning teams was only a single stroke. Congratulations to all the win-ners, especially our grand champions Ken Ya-mada and Janice Kinoshita. A big Mahalo to all the non-winners for their participation and contribution. Among non-winners with a fan-tastic net score was Curtis Lee with a net 61.

Now for our thought of the day: "Happiness is like jam. You can't spread even a little with-out getting some on yourself."

Our next golf outing will be at Leilehua GC on Friday, 28 March; the first tee time will be at 0812.

Best Wishes for Good Golfing, Norm

Add these Websites to your “Favorites”

http://www.aloha-moaa.org http://www.moaa.org

No. 15, March 2014 Nā Leo O Nā Koa

Hau'oli lHau'oli lHau'oli lHau'oli lā hhhhānau!nau!nau!nau! Partial List of

March Babies

Mimi Deibler 3/01 Jimmy Chang 3/06 Laverne Osora 3/07 Milton Goo 3/11 Richard Towne 3/18 John Mihlbauer 3/19 Marilyn Tagawa 3/20 Joe Magaldi, Jr. 3/23 Joe Kuroda 3/24 Henry Furuya 3/26 Darrell Large 3/26 Harold Takenaka 3/28 Harold Okita, Jr. 3/29 Warren Ho 3/30

Best Wishes for many, many more Birthdays!

Aloha Chapter

Military Officers Association

Of America

P.O. Box 201441

Honolulu HI 96820-1356

* 2002 5-Star Chapter


* 2004 Winner Best Website

* 2004 2nd Runner-Up Electronic Newsletter


* 2005 Winner-Cat VII "Give Me 10" Recruitment Campaign



* 2007 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter


* 2008 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter

Aloha Chapter Awards

2014 Aloha Chapter Leadership

Directors

Effective 1 January 2014

(Term in years indicated in parenthesis)

(1) Mark Webster, USN Chairman

734-5994 [email protected]

(1) Lawrence Enomoto, USAF Parliamentarian


(2) Wesley Fong, USA


(2) Mel Soong, USA


(1) Robert Kozuki, USA


(2) Ira Tagawa, USA


(2) Harold Takenaka, USA


Executive Committee & Committee Chairs

President: John Ma, USA 486-4805 [email protected]

Vice President: Stephen Tom, USA 295-2570 [email protected]

Secretary: Ira Tagawa, USA 487-5448 [email protected] Treasurer: John Kim, USAF 988-3349 [email protected]

Community Affairs: Wesley F. Fong, USA 595-6127 [email protected]

Legislative Liaison: Robert G. F. Lee, HARNG 486-1488 [email protected]

Membership: Lawrence Enomoto, USAF 685-1521 [email protected]

Personal Affairs: Harold Okita (Windward), 262-0882; & John Jefferis (Leeward) 372-6601

Programs: Stephen Tom, Ira Tagawa. Melvin Soong & Helene Webster

Publications/PR: Mark Webster, USN 734-5994 [email protected]

ROTC/Veteran Affairs: Harold Kuwahara, USA 944-4010 [email protected] Bridge: Shirley Ihara 239-7947 [email protected]

Fundraising: Herb Nakagawa, USAF 271-1172 [email protected] Golf: Norman Fujiwara, USA 626-4630 [email protected]

Scholarships: Curtis Lee, USA 836-6733 [email protected]

na leo o na koa - moaa-hawaii · 2015-04-14 · na leo o na koa newsletter of the aloha chapter,...

Documents