Air Force plays part in entertainer's memorial

Published May 11, 2007
By Army Sgt. Catherine Talento
Operating Location E, Air Force News Agency

HONOLULU (AFNEWS) -- More than 10,000 visitors flocked to the shores of Waikiki Beach May 5 to pay their respects to singer and Air Force veteran Don Ho.

Mr. Ho, who passed away in April at the age of 76, flew cargo planes in the 1950s.

After his Air Force career, Mr. Ho continued to support the military with concerts for servicemembers stationed overseas or deployed forward.

Air Force officials remembered the passing of one of its own by providing a bugler to play "Taps" at Queen's Beach. Later, as his ashes were scattered in the water off Waikiki an F-15 Eagle from the Hawaii Air National Guard streaked overhead, rocketing skyward in a salute to the former pilot and performer.

While the air salute is not normally given to Air Force veterans, Mr. Ho's service and dedication to the military prompted the exception from the Pentagon, said Maj. Chuck Anthony, a Hawaii Air National Guard spokesman.

"He had been a supporter of the military for decades," Major Anthony said. "He would perform for servicemembers coming back from Vietnam or on leave from that war. His spirit of what we would call Aloha to those people at a time when troops were not looked favorably upon was tremendous, and that is just what he did then. He has decades of examples like that."

In addition to his fans, Mr. Ho left behind a wife and 10 children.