There may not have been a decorated ceremony to honor the fallen this Memorial Day at West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery, but that didn’t stop loved ones and others from paying their respects.
There may not have been a decorated ceremony to honor the fallen this Memorial Day at West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery, but that didn’t stop loved ones and others from paying their respects.
Dozens of people made their way to the final resting place of veterans overlooking the grand Pacific Ocean to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.
Some watched over the area with tears in their eyes as others worked to clean their loved one’s burial plaques and add fresh flower, lei and sometimes their favorite libation.
“I miss you, dad,” said Marshall Tohara, as he placed a yellow-and-white plumeria lei carefully around the plaque for his father, James Jinho Tohara, TEC 5 U.S. Army, World War II.
Memorial Day is also the unofficial start to the summer season, and Big Islanders took advantage of beach parks being open for day-use, not just exercise. Dozens of people made it to Kua Bay Monday, and though the beach was pretty packed, people appeared to be social distancing and keeping, for the most part, to their own family units.
