20 fallen heroes honored with medals

By Gregg K. Kakesako

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 24, 2010

Jay Hoskins Jr. was born Jan. 26.

Although he shared a birthday with his father, 8-week-old Jay never got to see his dad, Sgt. Jay M. Hoskins.

The Kaneohe Marine was killed in Iraq on Aug. 6 when a roadside bomb hit his vehicle, striking down the rifleman and two other members of hisplatoon from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment: Lance Cpl. James D.Argentine, 23, of Farmingdale, N.Y.; and Lance Cpl. Travis T. Babine,20, of San Antonio.

The elder Hoskins would have been 25 this year.

Yesterday, baby Jay; his 18-month-old brother, Tristen; and their mother, Chandler, were among the families and friends of 20 servicemembers who received the Hawaii Medal of Honor during a solemn 90-minutejoint session of the state Legislature held in the House chambers. Alsohonored were eight other service members who died last year but whosefamilies or friends were unable to attend yesterday's ceremony.

It was the fifth joint session held by the Legislature since the law, authored by state Rep. K. Mark Takai, a Hawaii Army National Guardmajor, was enacted. To date, 268 medals have been presented to membersof the U.S. armed forces, the U.S. military reserves and the HawaiiNational Guard who were residents of Hawaii, attended an educationalinstitution in Hawaii or were stationed in Hawaii at the time of theirdeath.

Referring to Hoskins' two infant children, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said that yesterday's ceremony was "one of the most difficult."

Also on the dais to present the medals were House Speaker Calvin Say; Maj. Gen. Bob Lee, state adjutant general; and Gov. Linda Lingle.

Chandler Hoskins said it was still painful to speak of her husband, adding she was appreciative of the honor being bestowed on him.

Medal of Honor given to 28 families in Hawaii

Hawaii lawmakers held a joint session at the Capitol to honor fallen heroes with ties to the Aloha State.

[ Watch ]

"I appreciate everything everyone has done," said the Paris, Texas, native. Hoskins enlisted in August 2003 and reported to Kaneohe inJanuary 2009.

Receiving the medal for Argentine was his mother, Janet.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jordan Potts accepted the medal for fellow corpsman Babine.

Traveling from Palau to receive the medal for Sgt. Jasper Obakrairur were his parents, Daniel Obakrairur and Florence Kambalang.

Jasper Obakrairur, a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, inFort Drum, N.Y., died June 1 in Nerkh, Afghanistan,from injuries he suffered from a roadside bomb.

He was 26 and had attended the University ofHawaii at Hilo.

Obakrairur deployed to Afghanistan in January. He joined the Army in March 2004 and served at Fort Drum since August of that year. Hepreviously deployed to Afghanistan from January 2006 to May 2007.

"It means a lot to us," his father said after the ceremony. "It's a very special occasion for us. We are honored to be part of thisceremony. We want to thank the Hawaiistate Legislature for giving us the opportunity to attend thisceremony."

Jay Hoskins Jr. was born Jan. 26.

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM

Sandra Poche, middle, mother of Army Sgt. Devin C. Poche, acceptedthe Hawaii Medal of Honor for her deceased son yesterday during aceremony at the House of Representatives' chambers in the state Capitol.

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Although he shared a birthday with his father, 8-week-old Jay never got to see his dad, Sgt. Jay M. Hoskins.

The Kaneohe Marine was killed in Iraq on Aug. 6 when a roadside bomb hit his vehicle, striking down the rifleman and twoother members of his platoon from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment:Lance Cpl. James D. Argentine, 23, of Farmingdale, N.Y.; and Lance Cpl.Travis T. Babine, 20, of San Antonio.

The elder Hoskins would have been 25 this year.

Yesterday, baby Jay; his 18-month-old brother, Tristen; and their mother, Chandler, were among the families and friendsof 20 service members who received the Hawaii Medal of Honor during asolemn 90-minute joint session of the state Legislature held in theHouse chambers. Also honored were eight other service members who diedlast year but whose families or friends were unable to attendyesterday's ceremony.

It was the fifth joint session held by the Legislature since the law, authored by state Rep. K. Mark Takai, aHawaii Army National Guard major, was enacted. To date, 268 medals havebeen presented to members of the U.S. armed forces, the U.S. militaryreserves and the Hawaii National Guard who were residents of Hawaii,attended an educational institution in Hawaii or were stationed inHawaii at the time of their death.

Referring to Hoskins' two infant children, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said that yesterday's ceremony was "one ofthe most difficult."

Also on the dais to present the medals were House Speaker Calvin Say; Maj. Gen. Bob Lee, state adjutant general; and Gov. Linda Lingle.

Chandler Hoskins said it was still painful to speak of her husband, adding she was appreciative of the honor beingbestowed on him.

Medal of Honor given to 28 families in Hawaii

Hawaii lawmakers held a joint session at the Capitol to honor fallen heroes with ties to the Aloha State.

[ Watch ]

"I appreciate everything everyone has done," said the Paris, Texas, native. Hoskins enlisted in August 2003 and reportedto Kaneohe in January 2009.

Receiving the medal for Argentine was his mother, Janet.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jordan Potts accepted the medal for fellow corpsman Babine.

Traveling from Palau to receive the medal for Sgt. Jasper Obakrairur were his parents, Daniel Obakrairur and FlorenceKambalang.

Jasper Obakrairur, a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10thMountain Division, in Fort Drum, N.Y., died June 1 in Nerkh,Afghanistan, from injuries he suffered from a roadside bomb.

He was 26 and had attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Obakrairur deployed to Afghanistan in January. He joined the Army in March 2004 and served at Fort Drum since August ofthat year. He previously deployed to Afghanistan from January 2006 toMay 2007.

"It means a lot to us," his father said after the ceremony. "It's a very special occasion for us. We are honored to bepart of this ceremony. We want to thank the Hawaii state Legislaturefor giving us the opportunity to attend this ceremony."

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I'd like us to steer away from colonialist jargon. Some are still buying into colonialism which detracts from what actually happened in Hawai'i. One does a disservice to speak as a colonized people like many indigenous since Columbus' time. Hawai'i was unique since it developed before any Western country could conquer and colonialize Hawai'i.

Several countries came to Hawai'i and attempted to influence it and to control it as a colony; they failed since Hawai'i gained total sovereign independence recognition and joined them in the Family of Nations. As the European countries learned from the Middle East and China, we learned from all of them. The key is the King was supreme "boss" and what he allows or decides is his decision alone. He has the last say of matters concerning the Kingdom.

After the invasion and belligerent occupation, there was forced assimilation and not colonialization. Many make the mistake speaking within the context of colonialism as if our status was the same as native Americans When the Western World invaded the Americas looking for that route to India. Let's not play their game and use their colonial semantics.

As a member of the Family of Nations of which the U.S. was also a part of; it was a recognized country that was invaded by another recognized country. This is what Hitler did; not Columbus. However, the U.S. did use the Manifest Destiny Christian doctrines created by the Church of Rome's Papal Bulls to use against any non-white race or country.

There were unrecognized countries and recognized nations. Hawaii was a recognized nation. With the unlawful invasion, came forced assimilation in 1898 to the present day. The misnomer is that Hawai'i was colonized. Let's be clear about this and eliminate any colonialization semantics and thought process. We are a nation belligerently occupied by the U.S. with it's civilian arm at the helm governing over Hawai'i. The transgression is one nation-state against another nation-state and not a nation-state invading and conquering an indigenous indian tribe.

Also, we are not indigenous; we are Hawai'i nationals, citizens and subjects of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. Indigeneity is our internal kuleana and not that of the U.S. or any other nation.

Join me on Hawai'i TV Live everyday at 7:00am-9:00am, Hawai'i standard time, 2:00pm-3:00pm, Hawai'i standard time, and 7:00pm-9:00pm, Hawai'i standard time at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hawaii-tv. Join in our our live discussion entitled "The Restoration of the Hawaiian Kingdom."

The cool breeze blew calmly through the open doors of the old church. We sat on the porch, the four of us, and theair was filled with comfortable banter and friendly laughter. Theatmosphere belied the seriousness of our meeting, and very littletime was wasted getting to the point. The three kupu ka 'aina weredetermining what, if anything they could share with me, the stranger.Clarence Delude, one of the three and descendant of Hewahewa Nui, thekahuna who presided over the realm during the time of Kamehameha I,had explained to me who they were. Kupu ka'aina were those that werechosen, by their ancestors, to be keepers of the Hawaiian traditions.These men held the secrets of the Waianae coast. With this knowledgecame tremendous responsibility: how much and to whom they could sharethis information with so that it benefited their people, and theirland. I had been invited to meet with them, not with the promise thatthey would tell me anything, but so that they could see what theyfelt from me. Clarence had told me to just be myself. Their soothingvoices and the tremendous amount of warmth I felt from them made itvery easy. Then, twenty minutes into what would be a three hourmeeting, without changing the tone of the conversation, Alika, one ofthe Kupu ka 'aina, asked me "Why are you here?"

The answers to this simple questions was not easy. There were so many things that had brought me to that place, atthis time, to meet these three kahuna. However, I was specificallythere to find out about Makua. Makua, which means parent (Pukui 230),is one of the valleys that lies along the Waianae coast. A few monthsprior to this meeting I had gone hiking on one of the mountain ridgeswhich overlooks Makua. The landscape, so different from my home onthe windward side of the island, was dry, and the vegetation mostlylow to the ground. But there was something in that sweeping grasslandthat held such mana that I lost my breath. I stared from the ridge,past the long sandy beach, out toward the horizon. The untamed oceanstretched until it touched the sky and was colored in more varietiesof blue than I had names for. I was overcome with an incredibledesire to submerge myself in that calm, cool water, as if it couldcleanse my soul. I felt the wind on the mountain blow through me.Oblivious to all the modernization in the world around me, the worldof the 21st century, I was only aware of the land, the sea and thesky. My revelrie was cut short when I heard a far off rumbling. Soonthe earth beneath my feet shook ever so slightly. Not so differentfrom the kind of tremor caused by a bulldozer. I was to learn from mycompanions that it was no bulldozer that I felt, but the detonationof bombs.

The military took their first parcels of land in Makua for training practice in 1929 (Kelly, "Makua's StoriedHistory"). Over the next two decades "the military increased theintensity of their occupation and use of Makua and Kahanahaikivalleys as training areas (Kelly, "Cultural History"116). Duringthis time the local residents were forced to leave the valley.Although the landowners received token payment for their parcels ofland, I was to learn from the kupu ka'aina that the Hawaiians werenot asked to leave, they were evicted. They recalled stories ofpeople being loaded on to trucks and relocated. They were never giventhe choice of being able to stay. One of the people evicted was theminister of the Makua Protestant Church. After the people had beenremoved, the army painted a white cross on the roof of the church,and other buildings, and bombed them. Kelly writes "The destructionof Makua Protestant Church and its community hall, as well as thedefacement or destruction of many of the tombstones in its cemetery,has all but sealed off one of the last viable connections residentsand their descendants have with the past" ("Cultural History"116).

Military operations in Makua valley have had a serious adverse effect on the land. The bombing and ammunitiontraining has "littered it (the land) with dangerous unexplodeddebris, and has left the land, for all practical purposes, a desert,robbed of its productivity" (Kelly "Cultural History" 117). Althoughthe Waianae region of the island has probably always experienced oneof the hotter climates on the island (due to the ecological formationand age of the volcanic cones), it was not always desert-like. Theabsence of agricultural cultivation by the Hawaiians, as well as theintroduction of foreign species, have taken their toll on theregion.

According to Sparky Rodrigues, Waianae Community Resource Assistant for the Olelo Channel, native species ofplants, animals and insects make up only 1% of the ecology of thearea--and there are no native birds left. The rooting activity offeral pigs, the behavior of digging the ground to either search forfood or create cool resting spots (Tippy) causes erosion. In Makuathe activities of the pigs has resulted in the depletion of groundcover and native flora (Kelly, "Cultural History" 54). Goats, too,have had their effect on the ecology of Makua. According to botanist,Obata, "Goats, being selective browsers, prefer native Hawaiianplants" (ibid.). The ecological evolution of the Makua valley mirrorsthat of the Hawaiian people. "It's ironic really," said SparkyRodrigues when discussing how the native species of plants, animalsand insects have been pushed to the point of extinction by theintroduction foreign species.

In October of 1998 The Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization, filed suit against themilitary, asking them to "publicly disclose the direct and indirectenvironmental, economic and social impacts of their actions"(Kubota). Earthjustice contended in the lawsuit that the militaryoperations "have had significant adverse effects on the people, theland and

the resources at Makua" (ibid.). The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a organization" class="yoono-link-hover yoono-link-active-link"">communityorganization, Malama Makua. Atthat time, Roger Furrer, a member of Malama Makua said, "We are notout to chase the military to some other community, either here inHawaiior on the mainland...This action is about taking care of the'aina. It is about respect for the environment and our place in it"(ibid.).

More recently, protecting Makua has moved to another level. There are voices, which often remain obscure, that areclaiming that the land is sacred; that the military should cease allactions and the land should be returned to the Hawaiians because itis wahi pana. Wahi pana is defined by Pukui as "a legendary place"(377). Wahi pana surpasses the meaning of sacred, which is translatedby Pukui as meaning "kapu, taboo, special privilege or exemption fromordinary taboo; sacredness" (132). Wahi pana, according to GlennKila, kupu ka 'aina, is a place that has certain phenomenon whichsupports Hawaiian traditions and lore. Thurston Twigg-Smith, Chairmanof the HonoluluAdvertiser and descendant of missionaries, questionedthe meaning of sacred in an editorial. He said that calling Hawaiianlands, such as Hale'akala, Kaho'olawe, and now Makua, sacred wasmerely a "convenient label(s)." Twigg-Smith continued by claimingthat Makua was "an empty valley: no big trees, no stream, nowaterfall, no taro, not much at all." Did the military reallydevastate the land, or was it always barren? Could the hot, dryclimate of the Waianae coast ever yield a productive population? And,if cultivating the land was so difficult, how could it have possiblyever been sacred? Twigg-Smith's dry barren desert is described byKamakau as:

Wai'anae of the gentle Kaiaulu wind, the sweet waters of 'Eku, the thick poi of Pahoa, the stringy poi of Lehano andKuaiwa, the rich poi of Kamaile, and the aku fish tidbits ofWai'anae...in Wai'anae, land beloved of the sun (106).

The ancient mountains along the Waianae coast supported what may have been the one of the earliest settlements onthe island of O'ahu. Makua was one of the ten ahapua'a of the Waianaeregion (Sterling 80). According to Malo, a chief named Hua nui i kalailai ruled over the Waianae region in ancient times (247). Hua nuii ka lailai is believed to have lived 35 generations beforeKamehameha I,or about the mid-11th century (Kelly, "CulturalHistory" 21). A recent archaeological find of an imu has been datedat about 1200 ad (Rodrigues). Historians usually estimate the firstPolynesians arrived in Hawaii about 1500 - 2000 years ago. This wouldmean that Makua is one of the oldest villages in theislands.

The dry barren land we see now was once a productive ahapua'a. It has been estimated that Makua supported about400 people. This estimate is extremely conservative, as it is derivedusing 300,000 as the total population of Hawai'i during pre-Europeantimes. Fishing was an important source of food for the Hawaiians ofMakua, and the ocean provided an abundance of ulua, kahala, mahimahiand opelu (Kelly, "Cultural History" 31-33). A large fishing shrine,or ko'a, having "more the appearance of a small heiau or house site"(Sterling 83), was located almost in the exact center of the sandybeach (Kelly, "Cultural History" 31). McAllister wrote in 1930 thatthere were indications that offerings were still being made at thisko'a (Sterling 83).

Fishing was not the only resource of Makua Valley Under the loving care of the land (malama 'aina) by theancient Hawaiians, the valley also supported vegetation. Kelly quotesa resident of Makua in her 1977 report as saying "As far as Makua (isconcerned), it's the only (valley) where Hawaiians can plant taro,because there is plenty of water" (Kelly, "Cultural History" 54).Pukui and Thrum tell of another important product of the area:"'Maile laulii o Koiahi'--the small leaf maile of Koiahi was famous,having the finest leaf of any maile on O'ahu" (Sterling 84). Therewas water in the Makua valley, and it supported an abundance oflife.

In this valley of Makua, there have been documented three heiau (Kelly, "Cultural History" 25). One, Ukanipo,is said to have been the principal heiau for the area. McAllister, anarchaeologist of the 1930's, wrote of the site that, although thisheiau was not very large, the four step terraces climbing ten feet inheight surrounded by smaller terraces, must have been quiteimpressive (ibid.). McAllister found, on the ocean side of this heiaua swimming pool that was "only for the use of the ali'i" (Kelly,"Cultural History" 85). Another heiau, Kaahihi, is believed to havetowered 25 (or more) feet, and was approximately 100 feet square(ibid.). Little is left of the other heiau in the area, but recentexcavation indicates there were many more than just three(Rodrigues).

Probably the most significant recorded sacred site in Makua is Kaneana cave. Its name means Cave of God. Theancient lore about this cave is abundant and it is kapu ((Sterling81). It is said to be the arrival and departure point for Pele on hervisits to and from Kauai. It is also said to be the dwelling place ofthe son of Kamohoali'i, Nanaue. Kamohoali'i is the shark god, andbrother to Pele. A resident of Makua is quoted as saying that thecave was a "'a chamber where Kahuna conducted...pagan rituals in thelight of flaming torches'" (Kelly, "Cultural History" 22).

Makua, with its breathtaking landscape is where the power of the sea meets the majesty of the Waianae mountain range.Yes, it has been almost totally destroyed. Yes, the keys to the pastare becoming harder and harder to find amidst the bombing by themilitary and foraging by wild animals. Yet, there is proof that thisahapua'a was once a productive village that supported a fairly largecommunity. There are a number of sacred sites in the valley, severalwith tremendous cultural significance. There is little question thatthe fruits of this land are best harvested by the Hawaiians, who takecare of the land so that it may take care of them. I felt confidentthat the land was once important and productive. But except forKaneana cave, there was no indication to me that Makua Valley was awahi pana.

"Why are you here?" The Kupu ka'aina's voice echoed.

Knowing that the best answer was the most direct, I replied "I know all land is sacred to Hawaiians, but whatmakes this valley a wahi pana?" We were twenty minutes into ourmeeting , and I was asked to give my word that I would write nothingof what I was told from that point on. What I learned that day--whatI was given, far outweighed what I was told. While I cannot tell youwhat I was given in the next couple of hours, I can tell you that assure as I will take my next breath, I know that Makua is a wahi pana.It was not merely in the stories I was told, and the facts that I wasgiven, but in the aloha I felt from these three men. Their voices,their knowledge, their aloha of the 'aina convinced me that they werethe keepers of great secrets, of which I had only gleamed thesurface. To Thurston Twigg-Smith, who played on the beaches of Makua,and whose uncle is buried there (Twigg-Smith), I have pity for you.For I spent but three hours in the folds of that rich valley, and Ifelt the power. Yet, you, who spent endless days playing as a child,still do not see.