COAST GUARD DEDICATES VETERANS MEMORIAL IN HONOLULU

Story by Petty Officer 3^rd Class Angela Henderson, U.S. Coast Guard District 14

It was a typical December Sunday morning at the Office of Navy Intelligence in Hawaii when U.S. Coast Guard Radioman 3rd Class George C. Larsen awoke to the sounds of windows rattling. Larsen thought it was an earthquake. Larsen, upset that he had to get up after only a few hours of sleep, went to see the communications watchstander to find out what the noise was all about.

Larsen had no idea this day was unlike any other.

It was Dec. 7, 1941, and the world would never be the same ...

"After I realized there was no earthquake, I thought it was ‘War Games.' After a few hours, I realized World War II had started," said Larsen.

For almost six decades, the other branches of the Armed Services have had a memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu that recognizes their sacrifices. Unfortunately, the Coast Guard had no such memorial. 

That changed Jan. 18, 2008, when the United States Coast Guard Pacific Veterans Memorial at Punchbowl in Hawaii was unveiled. The ceremony represented every man and woman in the Coast Guard Pacific region who has fought and died for their country since World War II.

The Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Thad Allen, celebrated the unveiling of the memorial with veterans, local dignitaries and more than 1,000 Coast Guardsmen stationed in Hawaii.

Medal of Honor recipient Allan J. Kellogg Jr., a retired Marine Corps Sgt. Maj., as well as Pat Munro Sheehan, who is the niece of Douglas Munro, the Coast Guard's only Medal of Honor recipient, were in attendance.

The ceremony began with the presentation of colors and the National Anthem. Remarks were made by members of the ceremony's official party and traditional Hawaiian songs were sung by local, native Hawaiians.

Members of the official party then unveiled the memorial with the help of a few distinguished Coast Guard veterans. The memorial itself is unlike any other memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. It is a large rock, brought from the beaches of Guadalcanal to Honolulu by the crew members of the Coast Guard cutter Walnut, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Honolulu. Local Coast Guardsmen then made the arrangements to have the rock cut and shaved so the plaque could be placed on top.

On top of the rock is a plaque, which reads, "In tribute to the men and women of the United States Coast Guard who have served their country in war and peace in the Pacific with Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty. Their sacrifices and deeds are in the highest traditions of the United States Armed Forces."

The memorial was blessed with a special lei, which is a floral arrangement worn around the neck, and a prayer by Kahu Kordell Kekoa, a local reverend. There was also a wreath presentation, a three-volley rifle salute and a fly over by two Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point helicopters.

A YEAR-LONG JOURNEY TO PUNCHBOWL

It took a year's worth of dedication and passion to bring the memorial to the cemetery. In February 2007, Capt. Barry Compagnoni, now commander of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, was walking along the memorial walk at the Punchbowl cemetery with his father-in-law when they noticed other armed services had a stone dedicated to that service, unit or association, but there was nothing to formally recognize the Coast Guard's achievements in the Pacific Theater.

Compagnoni then began a dialogue with key individuals within the Coast Guard, including Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara, commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, as well as representatives from the Punchbowl cemetery.

Once the ball started rolling, the memorial project started to become a reality. A Web site was created to raise awareness, private donations were collected, veterans were notified and a Coast Guard committee, led by Compagnoni, was formed to bring it all together.

The committee raised more than $13,500 in private donations; the donations came from as far as Maine, Florida, North Carolina and all throughout the Midwest and West Coast.

"It was really a grass roots effort to dedicate and design our memorial. This could not have been done without the time, patience and help of everyone involved," Compagnoni said.

But one ingredient was still missing: the memorial.

As luck would have it, the crew of the cutter Walnut had a scheduled patrol to the Solomon Islands in August 2007, to participate in a joint-service World War II memorial event. On Sept. 27, 1942, Signalman 1^st Class Douglas Munro died at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, while saving U.S. Marines trapped by Japanese forces. It was only fitting, then, to take a piece of Coast Guard history as the centerpiece of the memorial. Island locals hand-carried the rock to the ship and the Walnut's crew sailed back to Honolulu where the rock would eventually be crafted into the memorial.