Volume No. 14, Issue No. 8 Web Site: http://www.aloha-moaa.org August 2013

(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

July Tour and Luncheon

Eighteen MOAA members and spouses toured the recently renovated and impressive USS Arizona Memorial and then watched the movie of the at-tack on Pearl Harbor that oc-curred on Sunday, 7 December 1941, before boarding a launch to the sunken battleship. The museum is an outstanding, chronological display of the events leading up the attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath.

Sixteen of those that toured the memorial then assembled at Schooners Restaurant at the nearby Rainbow Marina for a sumptuous buffet lunch of kalua pig, teri chicken and beer-battered sole.

Are You in the Tsunami Hazard Zone? Have you checked the yellow pages in the front section of your phone book lately? Better look! There you will find the 21 Tsunami Evacuation Zone maps for Oahu. Have you found your “spot” on one of those maps? Do you, your family or friends live in one of

those areas? Have you ever wondered who figured out where to put those shaded areas identifying inundation zones? How can we know when we might be hit by a tsunami? Remember, TSUNAMIS are Hawaii's number one natural disaster killer!

The worst tsu-nami to strike Hawaii in mod-ern history oc-curred on 1 April 1946 and was caused by an earthquake in the Aleutian Is-lands. Many peo-

ple ignored the warnings, thinking that they were a sick April Fool’s joke. The tsunami claimed the lives of 170 people, mainly near Laupahoehoe and Hilo. Wave heights near Hilo reached 30 feet while the maximum height was 55 feet at the northern tip of the island near the Pololu Valley.

In 1960 a massive 9.5 temblor off the coast of Chile generated a tsunami that struck Hawaii, but technology allowed a warning to go out beforehand. Waves as high as 35 feet struck Hilo and caused 61 deaths and $75 million in damage. Hilo Bay itself was

See Tsunami Luncheon on Page 3

Inside August Issue Birthdays 7 Bridge Report 5 Calendar of Events 2 Chapter Leaders 8 Community Affairs Projects 4 Golf Report 6 JROTC Awards 4 Membership Application 7 myPay Account Change 4 Obituaries 5&6 President’s Message 2 Reservation Form 7 Scholarship Fund Report 5

People in Hilo fleeing the tsunami on 1 April 1946

Page 2 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 14, August 2013

Notice This newsletter, my 92nd 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 August ‘13 Noon, Annual MOAA Picnic, Bellows AFS; (Sunday) Special Guest: Matt Clark, Ph.D., LTC, USA; Instructor, West Point, and MOAA Director

18 Aug 2013 1300, Bridge Party, Fahrni Realty Class-(Sunday) room, Aiea. Hostess: Joan White

28 Aug 2013 1100, Buffet Luncheon at Hale Ikena, Ft. (Wednesday) Shafter; Speaker: Dr. Gerard Fryer, NOAA; Topic: Tsunami, Waves of Destruction

29 Aug 2013 1130, Luncheon at the Honolulu Museum (Thursday) of Arts Café, 900 S. Beretania Street, fol- lowed by a Guided Tour of the Museum’s Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams Exhibits

30 Aug 2013 0900, Golf Outing, Navy/Marine Golf Course, (Friday) 943 Valkenburgh Street, Pearl Harbor

19 Sept. 2013 0900, Aloha Chapter Board of Directors (Thursday) Meeting, Kalihi Union Church, 2214 N. King

19 Sept. 2013 1000, Aloha Chapter EXCOM Meeting, (Thursday) Kalihi Union Church, 2214 N. King Street

25 Sept. 2013 1000, Group Tour of John A. Burns School (Wednesday) of Medicne, Kakaako, followed by buy-your- own Lunch at School’s Kulia Grill Cafeteria

23 Oct 2013 1100, Luncheon, Hale Ikena, Ft. Shafter; (Wednesday) Speaker: Daniel Martinez, Arizona Me- morial and NPS Historian, Pearl Harbor; Topic: Oahu’s Historic Battlefield Sites

21 Nov 2013 1000, Patriotic Songfest at Center for Aging, (Thursday) TAMC, followed by Annual General Membership Meeting at Hale Ikena

11 Dec 2013 1100, Christmas Party Luncheon, Sunset(Wednesday) Lanai, Camp H. M. Smith, Halawa Heights.

14 Dec 2013 1730, MOAA’s Annual Christmas Party, (Saturday) Hickam Officers’ Club

President’s Message

By Curtis Lee

In the summer months retir-ees, who can travel anytime, seem to travel more to see family and friends. I hope that those of you who did

travel or who have trips scheduled have safe, wonderful trips. Aloha Chapter’s Program Committee has endeavored to provide an op-portunity for members to participate in a Chapter Activity every month. Recently, I re-ceived an email from the National MOAA Of-fice stating that over 80 Chapters do not have any activities scheduled during July and August. Also, they suggested that we make an effort, in the summer when our legislators are back home, to contact them on issues of concern. Based on the very limited membership partici-pation in our visit to the Arizona Memorial on July 24, perhaps we should do like many others and take a summer activity break. Please give the Program Committee Members and/or EX-COM members your thoughts on this.

Your “aging” EXCOM has several members, along with other Aloha Chapter members, who are currently facing health challenges. We are constantly reminded of the importance of good health to our enjoyment of life. In periods of difficulty the support of family and friends is vital to our recovery and continued wellbeing. We wish continued recovery to Larry Enomoto, Tom Seale, Mel Soong, and Art Yamamoto and any other members or spouses who recently faced health chal-lenges.

Thank you for your support! I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting in August.

Welcome To Our New Member

Gerald R. Bruce, CW-5, USAR, Retired

Reminder Hawaii State Chapter, MOAA

Aloha Chapter, MOAA

Society of Military Widows

ANNUAL PICNIC NOON, SUNDAY, 4 AUGUST

PAVILION 5A, BELLOWS AFS

No 14, August 2013 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 3

Tsunami Luncheon from Front Page

struck the worst where 600 acres of land inland were inundated and only the most rein-forced buildings survived. On Maui, the Kahului area was struck the worst.

A tsunami, a Japanese word for a harbor wave, is not a tidal wave, such as a tidal bore like those that oc-cur every day in the Turnagain Arm near Anchorage, Alaska, and the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. It has nothing to do with the tides. Tsunamis are caused by either undersea thrust earthquakes at the

juncture of tectonic plates or a huge undersea or shoreline landslide.

The speaker for our August meeting is Dr Gerard Fryer who has been the Senior Geo-

physicist at NOAA's Pa-cific Tsunami Warning Center since 2005; prior to that, for over 20 years, he was an Associate Geo-physicist at UH, Manoa. In addition to his on-going research, his responsibili-ties at the Center include: developing our tsunami

warning systems, evaluating the threat and pro-viding the alerts that are broadcast when a tsu-nami has occurred somewhere in the Pacific, public outreach about the threat tsunamis pose to us here in Hawaii, and advising our civil au-thorities.

Dr. Fryer's professional interests include: public perceptions of natural hazards, the subject of “geology and myth” and global change. He is the possessor of a BS degree from the University of London, and MS and PhD degrees in Geology and Geophysics from UH, Manoa. He also possesses a fine sense of humor that helps him to take the mystery out of the hard science of his profes-sion and make it understandable to his audi-ences!

We are meeting at the Hale Ikena at Fort Shafter at 1100 on Wednesday, 28 August, for our Buffet Luncheon and Dr. Fryer's presenta-

tion: Tsunami, Waves Of Destruction.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A CHANGE IN SPEAKER, VENUE AND TIME FOR OUR AUGUST MEETING!!! The CALENDAR OF EVENTS on the preceding page is up-dated and previous calendars in earlier newslet-ters have been superseded.

Come, and invite your friends, to hear this timely, informative and interesting presentation about this most deadly of Hawaii's natural dis-asters

Please print page 7 of this newsletter with the Reservation Form and mail it, along with your check for $18 per person, to our chapter’s P.O. Box. See you at our August get-together!

Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo after 1960 Tsunami

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave, a woodblock print by the Japa-nese artist Katsushika Hokusai in 1831, is often incorrectly de-

picted as a tsunami

Gerard Fryer, Ph.D.

Add these Websites to your “Favorites”

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

Page 4 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 14, August 2013

Aloha Chapter Presents JROTC Award to Punahou Cadet

On Monday, 8 July, Harold Kuwahara, left, COL, USA, Ret., Aloha Chapter’s JROTC/

Veterans’ Affairs Chairman, presented the Aloha Chapter, MOAA, JROTC Award to outstanding Ca-

det Michael Dearden at Punahou School.

Michael’s proud parents are James and Carol Dearden; he will be a senior at Punahou.

Robert Takao

Volunteers Needed For 2 Holiday Season Projects Your Community Affairs Committee is plan-ning a “Get well veterans and family” project at Tripler Army Medical Center during the Christ-mas season. It would entail making uplifting cards for the residents, bringing them some hope and cheer by distributing these inspira-tional cards from the Aloha Chapter, MOAA, to every patient in the hospital. Tripler has ap-proximately 250 beds. Someone who was in the hospital last holiday season said that an organi-zation gave an inspirational card of hope which was easily placed on the dinner tray of each pa-tient and it did a lot for the recovery of that pa-tient. He even kept the card as a memento.

The second project is a project Aloha Chapter did in 2006. Nari Hamlin and Wesley Fong went to the commissary and purchased baby food and baby stuff to be donated to the mili-tary families who needed them (diapers, baby

food, etc). They delivered the food items and diapers they had purchased to the Tripler Army Medical Center Chapel for distribution to those military families in need. (Now that the newslet-ter is no longer being printed and mailed, we have funds available for these charitable projects.)

We need volunteers for both projects. Please email Wes Fong, Community Affairs Chairman, at wesleyf.fong @hawaiiantel.net by 31 August if you can dedicate yourself to helping us help our veterans and their families. Mahalo, Wes

Aloha Chapter members Nari Hamlin, left, and Wes Fong, right, making charitable donations in

2006 to a member of the Tripler AMC Chapel staff

New Passwords for myPay The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has announced new password require-ments for online access to myPay. Passwords are being rolled out based on the last two digits of a Social Security number. An old password

See myPay on Page 7

No 14, August 2013 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 5

Eleven bridge-program players and one po-

tential player-substitute gathered in the

Fahrni Realty Classroom for the monthly

session on Sunday, 21 July. Play began at 1

PM, and after 5 rounds of play, Harriet

Weissman emerged as the top scorer with

5,570 points. Her scores included the only

Small Slam bid and made with her partner,

Bobbi Carlson.

Other top scorers were Dan Matthews, Joan

White, Shirley Ihara, and Jean Wilkinson.

The remaining players were Dayle Carlson,

Sam Heard, Les Ihara, and Coralie Vellis,

Lenny Vine, and substitute player, Jane

Amaki.

The next bridge session will be held on Sun-day, 18 August in the Fahrni Realty Classroom, hosted by Joan White. Those who have not signed up but would like to play on that date must contact Joan by telephone at 681-6266 or e-mail to shoan@hawaiiantel.net, or Shirley Ihara at 239-7947 not later than Wednesday, 14 August. Shirley

Scholarship Fund Report Aloha Chapter Scholarship Fund News: Ma-halo Nui Loa to the 45 members of Aloha Chap-ter for their generous donations to the Scholar-ship Fund during the month of July. This im-pressive beginning indicates progress toward an-other successful fundraising drive. Your dona-tions to our scholarship program are helping to build a better Hawaii by supporting our talented youth and our excellent nursing and education colleges. Thank you again. Allen Ono

Aloha Chapter Party Bridge

Bridge Champions Seated, left to right: Coralie Vellis, Shirley

Ihara, Harriet Weissman, & Joan White

Standing are: Bobbi Carlson, Dan Matthews,

& Jean Wilkinson.

In Memoriam Harold H. Willenborg, 80, LT, USN, Re-tired, Aloha Chapter Life Member, died on 24 July at Aloha Nursing and Rehab Centre, Kaneohe, after staying there for 6 days. On 5 February 2013 Harold badly broke his pel-vis and had numerous surgeries at Castle Memorial Hospital. His condition deterio-rated and he was eventually transferred to a care home and then, finally, to the Aloha Nursing and Rehab Centre.

Harold was born on 3 July 1933 in Pawnee, IL, and graduated from Notre Dame Univer-sity, where he was commissioned into the U.S. Navy. When he became a lieutenant, he was granted a medical retirement.

As a civilian, Harold was a federal em-ployee, living in Stockton, CA, and working as a management analyst in Tracy, CA. It was during this period of his life that he earned a law degree in night school. How-ever, he never worked in that profession.

Harold has 4 children in their 50s from his first marriage. He is also survived by his wife, Ruth, now an Aloha Chapter Life Aux-iliary Member, who lives at their home in Kailua.

Harold’s Memorial Service will be held at 1100, 12 August, at St. John’s Vianney Catholic Church, Enchanted Lake, Kailua.

Page 6 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 14, August 2013

July Golf Report The early announcement for sign up for the July monthly golf outing re-sponse was not very encour-aging, actually it was lousy. It seemed that with every “sign me up” there were three “sorry can't make it

this month.” Even our monthly guests, the Wounded Warriors, were unable to make it because of some kind of training. To put a fly in the ointment, the per-son who signed up before I sent the early no-tice out, cancelled his reservation. To make matters worse a member of our female staff scored a "hole-in-one!" at the Hickam short course.

The cancellations continued. First two play-ers, then a single, and I was about to throw in the towel for this month when I got a “I want to sign-up” from a new member, Gerald Bruce. Then, Ken Yamada signed up with two guests and Walt Kinoshita signed up with one. I picked up a guest, my neighbor, Tony Marks. That left us with 17 players, but on golf day, I learned that Ken lost one of his guests and Joe Kuroda called the starter and cancelled out.

So the fifteen of us started our golf outing on Friday, 26 July, at Leilehua Golf Course. Guess what? No problem with rain!

The group was lead off by Kelly Lau, with Marv Baum (surprise player for a Friday) and Gerald Bruce—welcome to a first-time player. They were followed by Mert Agena, Walt and Janice Kinoshita, and their guest Kerry Kiy-abu. The third group ended up as a twosome since Joe had to bow out. The fourth group had Ken Yamada, Charlie Takayama, and Joel Maimon, and finally bringing up the rear was the threesome of Curtis Lee, yours truly and my guest Tony Marks.

As for the winners of our petite mega jack-pot, in third place were the partners of Mert

Norm Fujiwara

Agena and Ira Tagawa; followed by Kelly Lau and Curtis Lee, who lose by only three strokes; and our grand champion winners were Janice Kinoshita and Joel Maimon. Con-gratulations to all of our winners and a big Ma-halo for the rest of the players/contributors.

Now for our thought of the day: “People who brag about their Ancestors are like car-rots—the best part of them are underground.” Our next golf outing will be on Friday, 30 August, at Navy Marine Golf Course; I hope we have a lot more sign ups than the “can't make it” messages. Norm

In Memoriam Alice Fujiwara, 81, died at home in Mililani late in the eve-ning of Friday, 26 July. She was born on 15 November 1931 in Waialae on Oahu and graduated from Kaimuki High School in

1949. She was a member of their alumni as-sociation for the rest of her life.

In 1951 Alice married a young Army cor-poral, Norman Fujiwara, whose career took them all over the United States and an as-signment in France for a few years before returning to the U.S. for a while and then off on a tour of duty in Japan.

Alice and Norman settled in Marin County, California, for 30 plus years before retiring in Mililani. She was active in the Merrie Ladies.

Alice is survived by her husband, Norman, daughters Joanne Look of Malaysia and San-dora Nishio of Chico, CA (both daughters were with Norman in Mililani when Alice passed); sons Russell of Hong Kong and Nelson of Houston, TX; and three grand-daughters: Sandora’s daughter Adriana and Russell’s daughters Sophie and Zoe.

Alice’s Memorial Service will be held at the Mililani Presbyterian Church, 95-410 Kuahe-lani Avenue, Mililani, at 1700, Sunday, 18 Au-gust. Casual dress and no flowers, please.

No. 14, August 2013 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 7

myPay from Page 4 will expire on the date associated with the last two digits on a person's Social Security number. About 10 days before a password expires, myPay users will receive an email advising them to update their password to avoid delays logging into myPay. People must ensure the email address recorded in their profile is current to ensure they receive these important notices. For more information on creating a new password, including tips on security, visit the DFAS website. Military.com

Hau'oli lā hānau! Partial List of

August Babies Mark Torreano 8/02 George Brenestahl 8/03 William Higgins 8/06 Lisa Crompton 8/14 Eugene Imai 8/19 Kenzo Kanemoto 8/21 Helene Webster 8/22 Irwin Cockett 8/24 Louis Crompton 8/24 Harry King 8/24 Mel Soong 8/24 Eddie Lee 8/26 Nobuo Matsuda 8/26 Harold Kuwahara 8/28 Harold Tonda 8/30

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

* 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

* 2005 5-Star Chapter

* 2006 4-Star Chapter

* 2007 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter

* 2007 5-Star Chapter

* 2008 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter

Aloha Chapter Awards

2013 Aloha Chapter Leadership

Directors

Effective 1 January 2013

(Term in years indicated in parenthesis)

(2) Mark Webster, USN Chairman

734-5994 markster96816@gmail.com

(2) Lawrence Enomoto, USAF Parliamentarian

685-1521 lawrence.enomoto@gmail.com

(1) Gordon Cho, USA 484-2400 gcho440443@aol.com

(1) Norman Fujiwara, USA 626-4630 nfujiwara@hawaiiantel.net

(2) Robert Kozuki, USA 942-4047 kozukir@hawaii.rr.com

(1) Curtis Lee, USA 836-6733 leecd001@hawaii.rr.com

(1) Vernon Von, USAF 732-3908 vvon777@gmail.com

Executive Committee & Committee Chairs President: Curtis D. Lee, USA 836-6733 leecd001@hawaii.rr.com

Vice President: Vernon Von, USAF 732-3908 vvon777@gmail.com

Secretary: Ira Tagawa, USA 487-5448 itagawa@yahoo.com

Treasurer: Arthur Yamamoto, USA 833-3111 aty@hawaiiantel.net

Community Affairs: Wesley F. Fong, USA 595-6127 wesleyf.fong@hawaiiantel.com

Membership: Lawrence Enomoto, USAF 685-1521 lawrence.enomoto@gmail.com

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

Programs: Jack Bohman, Ira Tagawa, Melvin Soong, Helene Webster & Doris Wolfe

Publications/PR: Mark Webster, USN 734-5994 markster96816@gmail.com

ROTC/Veteran Affairs: Harold Kuwahara, USA 944-4010 harold.kuwahara@gmail.com

Bridge: Shirley Ihara 239-7947 lsi@hawaii.rr.com

Fundraising: Herb Nakagawa, USAF 271-1172 shibikoherb@yahoo.com

Golf: Norman Fujiwara, USA 626-4630 nfujiwara@hawaiiantel.net

Scholarships: Allen Ono, USA 536-6043 onoa002@hawaii.rr.com