Hawai'i III

The Honolulu Memorial within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

I have written previously about the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu. You can find that elsewhere on this site. today, I want to highlight a few of the smaller memorial found on the "Memorial Walk" within the cemetery.

There a quite a few of these along the paved path through the beautiful park like setting. trees, flowers and birds of many kinds add to the serenity and beauty of the walk to the large plaza like area at the end. the view from this area encompasses much of Honolulu and out towards Diamond Head.

View of Honolulu and Diamond Head from the overlook plaza at the end of the Memorial Walk

The path is lined, on either side, with markers from many organizations and military units. these pictures are of the ones relating to Vietnam.

I have often taken fuzzy pictures but this last one is not one of them! The memorial shows signs of extensive weathering and really is this hard to read! Some research was able to uncover what it says;

Flying low over the trails and battlefields, forward Air controllers

marked targets with smoke rockets or grenades, performed and

directed air strikes upon the enemy and lead rescue missions, while

enduring intense ground fire, hazardous weather and terrain.

We salute the courage, sacrifice, and inspiration of the more than 

220 FACs who perished while fighting for the cause of Freedom

during the long war in Southeast Asia 1962 1975

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall

not weary them, nor the years condemn, At the going down 

of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. L. Binyon.

This monument is dedicated to these special aviators of the 

United States, Australia, and New Zealand who served together.

April 2002

Next time, on the 13th, we will fly to Hilo, on the Big Island, to honor a memorial to the 50 lost from that area. It is a beautiful site, so, join me at 9:00am on the 13th.