A Kona couple is spearheading an effort to create a place for the public to recognize, remember and honor the thousands of military personnel still listed as prisoners of war or missing in action.
Paul R. Graffe and his wife, Susan Awapuhi Huihui-Graffe, are trying to raise approximately $20,000 to build a memorial at the West Hawaii Veterans’ Cemetery in North Kona. While plans for the memorial are being finalized, the couple currently envisions a memorial stone “shaded by a bountiful hala tree with Hawaiian ti leaves and a lush, low-maintenance lawn.” The stone will either be engraved or include a bronze plaque with the national POW/MIA symbol. The symbol features a disk bearing the silhouette of a man’s bust, a watch tower with a guard on patrol and a strand of barbed wire. The letters POW and MIA with a five-pointed star in between are above the disk. Below is a wreath and the motto, “You are not forgotten.”
The POW/MIA memorial is slated to be in the scattering garden, an unused area that the West Hawaii Veterans’ Cemetery Development and Expansion Association has wanted to enhance for at least three years. The proposed improvements to the scattering garden, estimated to cost roughly $10,000, includes a water feature and reflection area landscaped with native trees, said John Grogan, the association’s president. The scattering garden project is separate from the Graffes’ initiative.
The association is a nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to honoring veterans by maintaining and improving the cemetery facilities. It plans to help select and endorse a concept for the POW/MIA memorial. The concept will then be sent to the county Department of Parks and Recreation and the state Office of Veteran Services, Grogan said.
More than 83,000 Americans are unaccounted for while serving in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War and Gulf War.
Paul R. Graffe was just 3 years old in 1969, when men in uniform came to his house in Lacey, Wash., with news about his father.
Paul Leroy Graffe, 23, was an Army captain of 225th Aviation Co., 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Brigade. On Oct. 3, 1969, he and Pvt. Kenneth L. Cunningham departed from a South Vietnam airfield for an infrared surveillance mission. Their aircraft, an OV1C “Mohawk,” never returned. Two days later, the plane was spotted by a search aircraft atop of a mountain range, north of Kontum. Inclement weather and later signs that the downed aircraft was being used as a trap led to the abandonment of rescue attempts. Both men were declared missing in action.
Paul R. Graffe said his father was born and raised in Shelton, Wash.; came from a military family; was a man of great faith who often carried a Bible; and obtained the rank of Eagle Scout from the Boy Scouts of America. While stationed in Alabama, he was one of the youngest to be trained as a helicopter pilot.
After the short visit by the men in uniform, Graffe remembers being dressed in a suit, perhaps the first he ever owned, for his father’s service. His memories include watching the 21-gun salute and shaking hands with people. Throughout his life, he’s heard many stories about what a great man his father was, as well as heard the gratitude for what he and others have given through their service.
Last Memorial Day was the first time the Graffes has visited the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. Huihui-Graffe said Vietnam veteran Dan Yoshida invited her husband to the service after noticing his MIA bracelet. The service, as well as the family members sitting by the grave sites, moved them. When inquiring where they could place flowers for MIA/POW, the Graffes learned no official place of remembrance for these service members existed at the cemetery. Wanting to make a place for them, the Graffes took on this effort. Fundraising began about two weeks ago.
“The countless volunteer hours and aloha are evident throughout the cemetery ground, but indeed, the section for MIA/POW is missing,” she said. “We are so thankful for all the men and women who have protected and continue to protect our country. Whether they returned from the battlefields or made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives, we have the greatest respect and appreciation for all of them and their loved ones. Still, I pray for those that are still left in the fields and their families to know that we still care and they are not forgotten.”
The Graffes hope to have the POW/MIA memorial completed by next Memorial Day. Donations should be made payable to the West Hawaii Veterans’ Cemetery Development and Expansion Association, with “POW/MIA Project” indicated in the memo.
Mail checks to 76-992 So. Pueo Pl., Kailua-Kona, HI 96740.
For more information, call 960-7548 or email sgraffe@bmwhawaii.com.
