Military Appreciated in Honolulu

  • Published
  • By Tech Sgt Cohen A. Young
  • Defense Media Activity
HONOLULU, HAWAII --  Active duty, Guard and Reserve members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard marched in a parade in Honolulu, Hawaii as part of a military appreciation event on May 22.

A Welcome Home Parade for military members serving on the Hawaiian island of Oahu was conducted along the streets of Waikiki on May 22 as one of the many Military Appreciation Month events occurring the area that day. Waikiki, a major tourist area in Honolulu had it's main strip lined up with onlookers watching members from the U.S. Armed services march together from Ft. DeRussy to Kapiolani Park. More than 1,500 members participated in the celebratory march.
Many military members were honored and proud to have the opportunity to march in the parade.

"I'm very happy and proud to be in this parade," said eight-year veteran Air Force Staff Sgt. Jeannette Rosario, a member of Pacific Air Force Command Surgeon's office.
"It really felt good to be selected to participate in this parade," said Sergeant Rosario. "To see everyone come out here and support us like this is great."

Local Veterans of Foreign Wars, High School ROTC units, the Civil Air Patrol and the Royal Hawaiian Band were among the participants of the parade as well.

Retired Soldier, Ben Acohido, a native of Hawaii and a member of the VFW 1572 was proud to lead the current military members during the parade.

"It was a great parade and they followed good protocol by having the veterans up front," said Mr. Acohido. "This was an honor after serving a total of 37 years in the Army as enlisted and later commissioned," Mr. Acohido added.

The parade was just the start of the day for every military member that made the trip to Waikiki; they along with their families were admitted to the Honolulu Zoo as part of Family Day and then were treated to musical performances by four local bands to include the Royal Hawaiian Band. There were also free hot dogs, pizza and ice cream for every veteran.

The finale of the day was a performance by a military joint jazz ensemble comprised of some of the best band members from each military band on the island.
This was the first time that the band members joined together to perform as a jazz ensemble.

"This is the only time that I've had the chance to play with the other military band members," said Tech Sgt. Tamiko Boone, the vocalist for the ensemble and a member of the Band of the Pacific - Hana Hou at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

"Everyone in this band is really good and I hope that we get to do more combined efforts like this in the future,' Sergeant Boone added.
The USO, the Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council and BAE Systems organized the event. The community came together to put this event on to support the military and show how much they really appreciate them.

"A lot of people from our community came out here to honor our military and their services to our country and especially to Hawaii," said Mrs. Eva Laird-Smith, the director USO Hawaii.

Many people in Hawaii consider the military members stationed here to be family or as what Hawaiians say "Ohana" and are routines welcomed throughout the island.

"The military here are part of our Ohana because there isn't anyone on the island that isn't touched by someone in the military in some way through work, deployments or friendships," said Mrs. Laird-Smith.

The day ended with smiles and many people satisfied with the events of the day.