Latest news with #KKNODELL
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Army releases final EIS for Pohakuloa Training Area
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division run and shoot as they take on enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. 1 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division run and shoot as they take on enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division take on enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. 2 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division take on enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A U.S. Army soldier navigates a lava rock field at the Pohakuloa Training Area, one of the world's rarest ecosystems. 3 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A U.S. Army soldier navigates a lava rock field at the Pohakuloa Training Area, one of the world's rarest ecosystems. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division run and shoot as they take on enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division take on enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A U.S. Army soldier navigates a lava rock field at the Pohakuloa Training Area, one of the world's rarest ecosystems. The Army has released its finalized environmental impact statement on the prospect of retaining 22, 750 acres of state-owned land at the Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island after its lease expires in August 2029. Situated between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, PTA is the military's largest contiguous live-fire range and maneuver training area in the islands. The state parcel sits between two federally owned pieces of land, collectively making up 132, 000 acres. Army officials call the leased land 'the connective tissue ' of PTA. The Army will be negotiating with the state Board of Land and Natural Resources on its request for a new lease. In recent years, PTA has become central to the Army's new Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, a series of training ranges in Hawaii and Alaska aimed at preparing soldiers for operations in the Pacific amid tensions with China. But the Army, which obtained the parcel at PTA and other lands it uses for training for a mere $1 in 1964, has also faced increasing scrutiny of the effects of training on the environment and ancient Hawaiian cultural sites. The state now considers its parcel at Pohakuloa to be a conservation district. With its rugged fields of lava and volcanic soil, Poha kuloa is classified as a sub-alpine tropical dryland forest—one of the world's rarest kinds of ecosystems—and is habitat for Hawaii's state bird, the nene, as well as the hoary bat and several species that exist nowhere else on the planet. In a news release Friday, the Army said it 'will observe a 30-day waiting period before deciding how much land, if any, it will seek to retain. The waiting period for the final EIS will end 30 days after publication of the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register, after which time the Army will execute a Record of Decision.' Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The EIS, which follows several drafts that were put up for public review, argues the military needs the land for training. PTA is used not only by the Army but also by the Marines, Navy and Air Force ; it is increasingly used by foreign troops as well during international exercises. Military officials have told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that of the leased lands with leases expiring in 2029, PTA is by far the one most of them view as most important. The EIS states that 'the Army acknowledges the comments received on the Draft EIS and the Second Draft EIS regarding the challenges with obtaining a new lease. The Army understands that the execution of a new lease prior to the expiration of the current lease would be arduous … (and several ) could remain unresolved well past 2029, when the current lease for the State-owned land expires.' The Army has argued that the state's designation of the land as a conservation district did not apply to its operations, as the military already had the lease and had been training since before the designation, essentially grandfathering it in. But the final EIS seemingly concedes that under a new lease, that would not be the case. The document states that 'although a rule amendment to obtain a special subzone would be difficult and the execution of a new lease would be onerous … for analysis purposes, this EIS assumes that the BLNR would establish a new subzone through a rule amendment that would allow military uses in the conservation district.' The Army acknowledges potential harm to native species, water resources and soil through live fire and toxic exposures, though the service also agrees to pursue several new environmental and cultural programs on top of existing ones. WHEN TRAINING isn't taking place at PTA, only five uniformed soldiers are stationed there. The rest of the workforce of about 200 people is made up of Army civilians and contractors. Among them are scientists working to catalog and preserve native species living on the base, archaeologists looking for ancient cultural sites and firefighters tasked with putting out blazes—whether they be natural or caused by military training. The training range has had its share of controversies. In 1989, the Sierra Club sued the Army on behalf of University of Hawaii at Hilo botanist Lani Stemmermann. She had visited an area of dryland forest in PTA in search of research sites to study native plants and found Army bulldozers leveling native naio and mamane trees for a new training range. A 1993 investigation by the Army found that while planning that range, Army officials knowingly cut corners during the survey process, intentionally limited access to scientists and ignored recommendations by Army engineers that called for a comprehensive botanical study of the proposed site. In 2019, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled against the state in a lawsuit filed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. on behalf of Hawaiian cultural practitioners Clarence 'Ku ' Ching and Mary Maxine Kahaulelio. The court found state officials had failed to ensure the military upheld its duties to clean up Pohakuloa and had harmed Hawaiian cultural interests, and that 'as trustee, the State must take an active role in preserving trust property and may not passively allow it to fall into ruin.' The terms of the Army's lease with Hawaii state the military must 'make every reasonable effort to … remove or deactivate all live or blank ammunition upon completion of a training exercise.' Disagreement over what constitutes a 'reasonable effort ' has been an ongoing sticking point. The military fires live rounds into the 'impact area, ' which is on federally controlled land. Because it's considered an active range, the impact area is regarded as too dangerous for regular removal of ordnance. THE EIS reported that approximately 17 % of the 1, 261 recorded wildfires at PTA 'occurred or were likely to have occurred ' on the state-owned land. Between 1975 and 2011, the Army documented 112 fires within the state-owned parcel at PTA that burned at least 15, 047 acres, though the EIS said 'the data prior to 2012 is considered incomplete.' Between 2012 and August 2024, 96 fires were recorded on the parcel, burning approximately 19, 328 acres. Of the fires that were greater than 100 acres and 'ignited by military activities, or suspected military activities, ' five fires burned portions of the state-owned land. The EIS asserted that 71 % of those wildfires were less than 0.1 acres in size. The EIS noted that it predicts the wildfire risk will only increase, saying 'increased potential for drought from changes to regional temperatures and precipitation patterns due to climate change may result in increased wildland fires. Rising temperatures and prolonged droughts can dry out vegetation, which serves as fuel for wildland fires.' The military and the state have spent years preparing for the renegotiation of the leases. With the leases expiring in 2029, the majority of the negotiations will be undertaken by President Donald Trump's Pentagon team, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has vowed to drastically scale back environmental and cultural programs, charging that such programs are 'woke ' and have distracted the military from 'warfighting.' However, Hegseth's Army secretary, Dan Driscoll, promised U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, during his Senate confirmation hearing that he would work with her office and community groups on the land leases and would listen to local concerns about the future of the land. FOR INFORMATION
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
80th anniversary of kamikaze attack on USS Missouri emphasizes reconciliation
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Carey Callaghan, grandson of the USS Missouri's Capt. William Callaghan, delivers a keynote address to attendees at a ceremony on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. 1 /6 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Carey Callaghan, grandson of the USS Missouri's Capt. William Callaghan, delivers a keynote address to attendees at a ceremony on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES Sailors prepare a burial at sea for the remains of a Japanese pilot whose plane hit the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945. 2 /6 U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES Sailors prepare a burial at sea for the remains of a Japanese pilot whose plane hit the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945. Courtesy U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command The USS Missouri at the moment it was about to be hit by a Japanese A6M Zero Kamikaze while operating off Okinawa on April 11, 1945. The plane hit the ship's side below the main deck, causing minor damage and no casualties aboard the battleship. A 40mm quad gun mount's crew is in action in the lower foreground. 3 /6 Courtesy U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command The USS Missouri at the moment it was about to be hit by a Japanese A6M Zero Kamikaze while operating off Okinawa on April 11, 1945. The plane hit the ship's side below the main deck, causing minor damage and no casualties aboard the battleship. A 40mm quad gun mount's crew is in action in the lower foreground. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Japan's Hawaii Consul General Yoshinori Kodama pays his respects at a ceremony aboard the USS Missoui on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. 4 /6 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Japan's Hawaii Consul General Yoshinori Kodama pays his respects at a ceremony aboard the USS Missoui on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Marines give a seven gun salute at a ceremony on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the USS Missouri and the pilot's burial at sea. 5 /6 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Marines give a seven gun salute at a ceremony on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the USS Missouri and the pilot's burial at sea. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Japan Coast Guard Cmdr. Yuichi Kajiya and his son drop flower pedals off the side of the USS Missoui during a ceremony Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. 6 /6 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Japan Coast Guard Cmdr. Yuichi Kajiya and his son drop flower pedals off the side of the USS Missoui during a ceremony Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Carey Callaghan, grandson of the USS Missouri's Capt. William Callaghan, delivers a keynote address to attendees at a ceremony on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES Sailors prepare a burial at sea for the remains of a Japanese pilot whose plane hit the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945. Courtesy U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command The USS Missouri at the moment it was about to be hit by a Japanese A6M Zero Kamikaze while operating off Okinawa on April 11, 1945. The plane hit the ship's side below the main deck, causing minor damage and no casualties aboard the battleship. A 40mm quad gun mount's crew is in action in the lower foreground. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Japan's Hawaii Consul General Yoshinori Kodama pays his respects at a ceremony aboard the USS Missoui on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Marines give a seven gun salute at a ceremony on Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the USS Missouri and the pilot's burial at sea. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Japan Coast Guard Cmdr. Yuichi Kajiya and his son drop flower pedals off the side of the USS Missoui during a ceremony Friday honoring the 80th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on the ship and the pilot's burial at sea. On April 11, 1945, Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Setsuo Ishino, age 19, took off from Kanoya Air Base in Japan's Kago shima prefecture. He was piloting a Zero fighter carrying a 500-kilogram bomb with the mission of carrying out a kamikaze attack on American forces. Ultimately, his plane struck the USS Missouri, plowing into its starboard side a little below the level of the main deck. Part of the plane was thrown onto the main deck in the crash while the rest of the wreckage fell into the water. Part of the plane, and Ishino's body, were thrown onto the Missouri's main deck. The attack took place in the last stretch of a bitter war between America and Japan, and hatred between the two sides ran deep. But the Missouri's commander, then Capt. William Callaghan, ordered that the young Japanese pilot be given a proper burial at sea in accordance with naval tradition. American sailors sewed a Japanese flag and draped Ishino's remains with it as they committed him to the deep. On Friday the USS Missouri Memorial Association marked the 80th anniversary of the event with a ceremony on the ship that brought Callaghan's grandchildren and great-grandchildren to Hawaii along with dignitaries from Japan. Mike Carr, president and CEO of the Missouri Memorial Association, said that after the burial 'the crew of the USS Missouri returned to their stations, the battle still raging around them, but all carried with them in the memory of that day, a reminder that even in war there can be moments of grace, and that honor is not bound by the lines drawn between nations.' Months after the attack, Japanese Emperor Hirohito would sign Japan's surrender on the deck of that very ship. Over time, word of Callaghan's show of respect to a fallen kamikaze pilot would spread, helping the two countries overcome hatred as they sought peace and worked to rebuild. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said, 'Today, as we gather here, once enemies, now allies, we are reminded of how far we have come. This Moment of Remembrance stands as a testament to the power of reconciliation and the strength of peace. With the devastation of that day, Captain William Callaghan made an extraordinary decision, one that would echo through history.' 'Captain Callahan chose to respond not with hatred, but with honor and respect, ' Blangiardi added. 'This decision stands as a powerful reminder that even in the darkest moments of conflict, our shared humanity remains. That act of compassion continues to teach us that dignity and respect are not weakened by war ; they are strengthened through understanding and forgiveness.' In a keynote delivered by Callaghan's grandson Carey Callaghan, he said of his grandfather that 'his decision—controversial at the time, and maybe even today—was a humble one rooted in empathy, a sense of dignity and a vision of the future that was a part of who he was every day. … If this act of kindness and humanity is his enduring legacy, it is a good one.' In September, dignitaries will again gather on the deck of the 'Mighty Mo ' to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which is—to date—still the most destructive conflict in human history. That anniversary approaches at a time where the world is again steeped in conflict, with wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East and tensions once again boiling in the Pacific—this time between America and its allies on one side and China on the other. Hiroyuji Nuruki, mayor of the Japanese city of Minami kyushu in Kagoshima prefecture, said that 'to build a peaceful world, we must examine, reflect on and share the history of past wars from multiple perspectives. We must also ensure that inhumane tragedies, like the kamikaze attack, never occur again by spreading this message worldwide.'
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Marines bring fallen comrades home from Guadalcanal 80 years later
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith carries what are believed to be the remains of a fallen Marine killed in 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during a repatriation ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. 1 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith carries what are believed to be the remains of a fallen Marine killed in 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during a repatriation ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Marines hold folded American flags during a Friday night repatriation ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii for what are believed to be the remains of World War II service members killed during the 1942 Battle of Guadalcanal. 2 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Marines hold folded American flags during a Friday night repatriation ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii for what are believed to be the remains of World War II service members killed during the 1942 Battle of Guadalcanal. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith receives a Joint Service Achievement Medal on Friday night at Marine Corps Base Hawaii for his work clearing explosives to reach what are believed to be the remains of Marines killed in 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. 3 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith receives a Joint Service Achievement Medal on Friday night at Marine Corps Base Hawaii for his work clearing explosives to reach what are believed to be the remains of Marines killed in 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith carries what are believed to be the remains of a fallen Marine killed in 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands during a repatriation ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Marines hold folded American flags during a Friday night repatriation ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii for what are believed to be the remains of World War II service members killed during the 1942 Battle of Guadalcanal. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @STARADVERTISER Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith receives a Joint Service Achievement Medal on Friday night at Marine Corps Base Hawaii for his work clearing explosives to reach what are believed to be the remains of Marines killed in 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Late in the dark hours of Friday night, a Marine Corps C-20G 'gray ghost ' jet landed on the tarmac at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay. It was returning from the Solomon Islands with a special assignment—bringing back what are believed to be the remains of Marines killed fighting on Guadalcanal more than eight decades ago. The plane was greeted by more than 100 Marines and sailors at the base as it pulled near the air terminal. They saluted as service members wearing white gloves carried boxes of the remains, each topped with a folded American flag, from the tarmac to a van that would take them to the Defense POW /MIA Accounting Agency at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The DPAA sends teams around the world to find the remains of missing serv ice members and bring them to Hawaii where experts at the world's largest forensic skeleton lab work to identify them using a mixture of science and historical detective work. On the island of Guadalcanal alone, the U.S. military lists about 374 service members still unaccounted for since the end of World War II. Marine Staff Sgt. Stephon Smith, an explosives expert, was part of the team and carried one of the boxes of remains as he exited the plane. An Okinawa-based Marine, he is trained in identifying and disposing of World War II-era U.S. and Japanese explosives—skills that proved critical in retrieving the remains he held from the former battlefield. Even 80 years after the war ended, as many as 20 people are killed or seriously injured in the Solomon Islands per year by unexploded ordnance left behind by Japanese and Allied forces that fought each other across Pacific archipelagos. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The DPAA team was searching for Marines believed to have died during the Battle of Edson's Ridge, where Marines repelled an attack by Imperial Japanese forces trying to retake the strategically important Henderson Airfield from the Americans. An estimated 111 Americans and as many as 800 Japanese troops are believed to have died in the fighting—sometimes also called the Battle of Bloody Ridge. The service members who came to greet the remains Friday night stood still and silent as the boxes containing them were brought one by one to a van. The chaotic nature of historic battles and the amount of time that has passed make it hard to know for sure who the bones recovered actually belong to—or if they're even human bones—but they are treated with reverence regardless until DPAA knows for sure. 'One thing that's really impressive about all the Marines (is that ) all the Marines know their history, ' said John M. Figuerres, the DPAA's acting deputy director for operations. 'They are schooled in their history, they're schooled in their battles … whether it's Guadalcanal, whether it's the Chosin River, whether it's Khe Sanh in Vietnam. … So for us to tell these Marines, there are Marines potentially—we have to ID them—that are coming back from Guadalcanal, they know the struggle that their brother Marines did.' As the ceremony concluded, Lt. Gen. James Glynn, commander of Marine Corps Forces Pacific, told the service members in attendance that while many regard the Marine Corps motto 'Semper Fidelis '—Latin for 'always faithful '—as a slogan, 'what you demonstrate tonight is that it's a way of life, it's a family, that there actually, truly is faith between Marines.' As the van drove away, Smith and Staff Sgt. Zachary Bailey, an Army medic and mountaineer, were awarded Joint Service Achievement Medals for their roles in retrieving the remains. Smith worked with the DPAA team but is not officially assigned to the agency ; he had been brought on to help as a member of an investigative team that was on Guadalcanal searching for potential remains. The team began its mission in February. 'The scientific research experts, the anthropologists, the amount of brains and research and work that goes into really finding out where these guys are, and then going in to actually get them, it's a lot of work, ' Smith told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 'But it just tells me, and it sure made me feel great, because the country and this agency is committed to bring us home, even if it's many, many years after, you know, we have passed away.' Smith said that helping to retrieve the remains was an honor, noting that 'investigation teams aren't typically digging.' But when they found the site, they realized a nearby river was washing it away and potentially moving the remains. They decided to work fast, and Smith got to work identifying and clearing World War II-era munitions, identifying both American and Japanese explosives in the vicinity. Ultimately, Smith said, 'We were able to do digging and bring our guys back home.' The DPAA has been both a mission to bring fallen American troops home and also a diplomatic mission. It was through the program's operations that the United States reestablished relations with Vietnam, ultimately leading to normalization and paving the way for friendly relations and trade. The agency also has worked in North Korea and China retrieving and identifying war dead. A mission in China is planned for this summer to look for the remains of World War II American service members. As the assembled troops who came to welcome the remains to Kaneohe prepared to leave, Lt. Col. Jeremy Smith, the DPAA's deputy director for Indo-Pacific operations and senior Marine officer at the agency, told them that 'every one of you also participated in this mission because you are here tonight, on a Friday night when you could be anywhere else, telling the American people and telling the families that we will never stop searching for their missing service members.'
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's Pentagon seeks spending on Pacific forces, cuts to environmental and cultural programs
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A crew member aboard an American V-22 Osprey transporting a group of international military personnel to the USS Carl Vinson during RIMPAC 2024. 1 /8 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A crew member aboard an American V-22 Osprey transporting a group of international military personnel to the USS Carl Vinson during RIMPAC 2024. U.S. AIR FORCE SENIOR AIRMAN MADELYN KEECH / U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, has pledged to 'rebuild ' the military but has requested that the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command be exempt from budget cuts. The INDOPACOM plays a significant role in RIMPAC and training exercises at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. Hegseth welcomed Elon Musk on Friday at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. 2 /8 U.S. AIR FORCE SENIOR AIRMAN MADELYN KEECH / U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, has pledged to 'rebuild ' the military but has requested that the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command be exempt from budget cuts. The INDOPACOM plays a significant role in RIMPAC and training exercises at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. Hegseth welcomed Elon Musk on Friday at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A U.S. Army soldier prepares for battle in an exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area. 3 /8 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A U.S. Army soldier prepares for battle in an exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division use a lava rock formation as a fighting position as they fire from enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. 4 /8 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division use a lava rock formation as a fighting position as they fire from enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ / 2022 Environmental issues and the future of ancient Hawaiian cultural sites are among the discussions going forward as the Army negotiates lease renewals with the state Board of Land and Natural Resources. Lena Schnell, senior program manager with Colorado State University's Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands shows off several native plants at Pohakuloa Training Area's greenhouse. 5 /8 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ / 2022 Environmental issues and the future of ancient Hawaiian cultural sites are among the discussions going forward as the Army negotiates lease renewals with the state Board of Land and Natural Resources. Lena Schnell, senior program manager with Colorado State University's Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands shows off several native plants at Pohakuloa Training Area's greenhouse. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ The Pohakuloa Training area is classified as a sub-alpine tropical dry land forest, one of the rarest kinds of ecosystem in the world. 6 /8 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ The Pohakuloa Training area is classified as a sub-alpine tropical dry land forest, one of the rarest kinds of ecosystem in the world. STAR-ADVERTISER Army Col. Steven McGunegle with offering of ho 'okupu during a visit to the military's Makua Valley training ground on April 25. 7 /8 STAR-ADVERTISER Army Col. Steven McGunegle with offering of ho 'okupu during a visit to the military's Makua Valley training ground on April 25. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2019 The Marines have a rifle range next to Puuloa Beach Park. Signs warn people not to enter the area. 8 /8 STAR-ADVERTISER / 2019 The Marines have a rifle range next to Puuloa Beach Park. Signs warn people not to enter the area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A crew member aboard an American V-22 Osprey transporting a group of international military personnel to the USS Carl Vinson during RIMPAC 2024. U.S. AIR FORCE SENIOR AIRMAN MADELYN KEECH / U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, has pledged to 'rebuild ' the military but has requested that the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command be exempt from budget cuts. The INDOPACOM plays a significant role in RIMPAC and training exercises at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. Hegseth welcomed Elon Musk on Friday at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ A U.S. Army soldier prepares for battle in an exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Members of the Oahu-based 25th Infantry Division use a lava rock formation as a fighting position as they fire from enemy forces during a simulated battle on Nov. 2, 2022, at the Pohakuloa Training Area. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ / 2022 Environmental issues and the future of ancient Hawaiian cultural sites are among the discussions going forward as the Army negotiates lease renewals with the state Board of Land and Natural Resources. Lena Schnell, senior program manager with Colorado State University's Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands shows off several native plants at Pohakuloa Training Area's greenhouse. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ The Pohakuloa Training area is classified as a sub-alpine tropical dry land forest, one of the rarest kinds of ecosystem in the world. STAR-ADVERTISER Army Col. Steven McGunegle with offering of ho 'okupu during a visit to the military's Makua Valley training ground on April 25. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2019 The Marines have a rifle range next to Puuloa Beach Park. Signs warn people not to enter the area. President Donald Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have promised sweeping changes to the U.S. military. Hegseth has pledged to 'rebuild ' the military by investing in high-tech weapon and industrial programs while simultaneously cutting costs. The administration has promised to reduce the Department of Defense's massive spending budget by 8 % each year as part of sweeping cuts being undertaken across the federal government. Those cuts are being overseen by billionaire Elon Musk and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, made up mostly of junior programmers and engineers from Musk's various companies. On Friday, Musk met with Hegseth and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. While Hegseth supports budget cuts, he specifically requested that the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command—which oversees all operations across the Pacific—be exempt from any reductions, a strong sign that Hawaii is being put squarely at the center of the new administration's military strategy. 'His request that INDO PACOM be exempted from budget cuts indicates a priority shift from Europe to the Indo Pacific, ' said Elizabeth Freund Larus, adjunct senior fellow at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum. 'It recognizes that China poses the biggest threat to the post-World War II global order. Hegseth's list of 17 offsets includes funding for military construction funding in the Indo-Pacific to support the military's Pacific Deterrence Initiative strategic plan.' Hawaii currently has the highest share of the military's construction budget of any state, accounting for roughly 8 % of the total. The biggest share of those funds—$1.2 billion—is meant for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's Dry Dock 5, which is the single most expensive construction project in Navy history. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The shipyard is the state's largest industrial employer with a workforce of more than 6, 000 employees. That spending is expected to stay stable amid DOGE's aggressive federal cuts. But while military spending has helped prop up Hawaii's economy, countless dollars also have been spent over the decades on cleaning up pollution associated with the military presence in the islands. In particular, the Red Hill water crisis, which began in 2021 when jet fuel from the Navy's underground Red Hill storage facility tainted the area's water system serving 93, 000 people, and efforts to shut down the facility has put military operations in Hawaii under the microscope. Though the Trump administration wants to keep spending to build the nation's Pacific forces, the future of the military's environmental cleanup and cultural programs in Hawaii is less clear. 'A give-and-take thing' The military has several interests it hopes to maintain in Hawaii. Notably, the Army has several land leases on state lands it uses for training that will expire in 2029. The training areas, acquired for a mere $1 in 1964, have been increasingly used for international exercises, bringing foreign troops from across the globe. Environmental issues and the future of ancient Hawaiian cultural sites are among the discussions going forward as the Army negotiates lease renewals with the state Board of Land and Natural Resources. 'While we've been making gains in building up relationships and trust, trying to have conversations about what this balance looks like between military presence and the community, we are nowhere near even close to getting down to the brass tacks of it all, ' said U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. 'You've got a definite change in leadership that's coming in. It's really hard to say what they will decide to do, what their posture in Hawaii will be in regards to the lease renegotiations.' Hegseth has pledged to slash many environmental programs and prohibit military officials from discussing climate change. Even under Trump's previous administration, the Pentagon studied climate change, including a 2018 study that concluded the majority of U.S. bases faced threats from intensifying weather patterns. 'Some segments of our society can consider climate change to be either nonexistent or just a matter to be kind of thrown away from a political perspective, ' said U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii. 'But the military has studied the consequences of changes in our weather, on their preparation, on their installations, on their ability to fight wars, on their basic ability to function, and they've reached a very definite, objective conclusion—absent of politics—that the kind of climate changes we're seeing in the world are detrimental, if left unaddressed, to their mission.' Larus said Hegseth has been critical 'of ideological training in the U.S. military, including workshops and education modules outside the war-fighting domain, such as on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and those on climate change.' Last month he fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., who was formerly the top Air Force commander in the Pacific, and several other top officers the administration deemed as 'woke.' The military has spent millions on environmental remediation and on preserving ancient Hawaiian cultural sites on lands it controls and uses for its operations in Hawaii. When asked if the Pentagon under Hegseth would actively pursue promised environmental cleanup and cultural preservation programs specific to Hawaii under the new administration, Larus said Hegseth 'is single-minded when it comes to the U.S. military. He has said over and over that the mission of the U.S. military is warfighting.' Larus said Hawaii residents should expect to see environmental and cultural programs drastically scaled back and argued most were the result of congressional mandates that 'warped military priorities and distracted the military from warfighting with an emphasis on lethality. Recognizing that U.S. adversaries, such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, have no such desire to make the military a kinder and gentler organization, Hegseth and President Trump want to return the U.S. military to a fighting force that is more lethal than that of its adversaries.' But state Sen. Kurt Fevella, who has represented portions of the Ewa area since 2018 as one of Hawaii's few Republican lawmakers, said that talk of cutting back on environmental efforts troubles him. 'I know they got to be ready, not taking away anything from there, but there's parameters … , ' he said. 'The disrespect for the host people is something that is troubling for me.' Fevella has already tangled with military officials under both the Trump and Biden administrations when it comes to environmental and community concerns around the Marine Corps' Puuloa Range Training Facility in his district, pollution coming out of Pearl Harbor and Army land leases, including the large Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island. He said he remains committed to those fights in the long term. 'We want to be able to protect our environment when it comes to any kind of military presence. To be a good partner is a give-and-take thing, ' Fevella said. 'Do they have a cleaning plan for Pearl Harbor ? Do they have any plan to clean up all the oil that is leaking into the ocean that's coming to my community at Puuloa Beach Park ? No, they don't address these things. So to be a good neighbor to the host community—or host people—just do your job. They have the the best engineers … (so ) why you cannot just be pono to the land ?' Warfighters China has been proactively building up its military capabilities and clashing with neighboring countries. In particular, the Chinese military has sought to impose control over the South China Sea—a critical waterway that more than a third of all international trade travels through—over the objections of its neighbors, often clashing with vessels from those countries. It has also stepped up military maneuvers around Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy with close U.S. trade ties that Beijing regards as a rogue province. 'Threats across the region from North Korea, China and Russia are real and stretch from illicit to strategic dangers, ' according to Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. 'The Chinese in particular have engaged in nefarious influence campaigns from pressuring local island governments to enabling criminal organizations to operate in the region, weakening local governance.' The U.S. military has conducted constant patrols and training exercises throughout the region. Larus argued 'the Biden administration was strong on diplomacy with Pacific allies as well as with projection of soft power but was weak on military power and military power projection ; (it ) was weak on backing up diplomacy with military strength.' China now has the world's largest navy in terms of number of ships and is growing its capacity, while the U.S. is struggling to maintain ships at its aging shipyards. 'The biggest mistake that previous administrations made in the Pacific is failing to maintain a navy adequate to sustain U.S. maritime power in the region and to uphold the peace and security of the Indo-Pacific, ' Larus said. 'U.S. Navy assets are inadequate to deter China's muscular and growing navy. In particular, the U.S. has lost its ability to keep up with China's shipbuilding capacity.' Military leaders have expressed optimism about Hegseth's pledge to streamline the acquisition of new military hardware and trim the bureaucracy. On Feb. 13 at the Honolulu Defense Forum, INDOPACOM chief Adm. Samuel Paparo said the U.S. military needs 'procurement at the speed of combat, not at the speed of committees … Technology alone is not going to win this fight. We've also got to reform defense bureaucracy with unprecedented urgency.' But several military officials who spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser also expressed unease about the administration's apparent dismissal of climate change, which many Pacific countries see as their No. 1 threat, its contentious dealings with traditional allies and an aggressive push to gut any programs deemed to promote DEI. When it comes to diversity, some military officials said they are concerned about an over-correction of the Biden administration's embrace of identity politics toward outright rejection of efforts to capitalize on America's cultural diversity. An Army official noted that Hawaii serves as both a key military and diplomatic meeting site for the U.S. government in part because its diverse Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora populations vividly demonstrate America's deep Pacific ties—something U.S. officials have proudly highlighted to their Pacific allies in the past. Under Trump's first presidency and the Biden years, there was a push to recruit young Hawaii residents to serve as military officers and diplomats and in intelligence roles to support America's 'pivot to the Pacific.' 'Anything that says the word 'cultural'—even 'historical'—is looking to be removed from the Department of Defense, ' Tokuda said. She noted that she and other lawmakers have fought for cultural training for military personnel coming to Hawaii and the Pacific, arguing 'it's so critically important they understand the history of where we have been as a people, as a community, in regards to our relationship with the military, so they better understand how we must do better going forward.' Recently, the Pentagon drew immense backlash in Hawaii when it removed digital content about Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the service. Among the culled content was an Army webpage dedicated to the legendary 442nd Regimental Combat team, which was drawn largely from Hawaii-born Nisei and became one of the most decorated combat units in American history. Fierce public response led to the swift republishing of the Army's 442nd history as a news item on its website, but much of the rest of the content remains unavailable. Pentagon officials have insisted they intend to honor veterans but say they now want to remove race and culture from the discussion as much as possible. 'Anybody that claims to know exactly how this is all going to unfold is on a fool's errand, ' Case said. 'I'm eyes wide open that, if nothing else, we're dealing with a very fluid and uncertain situation where a new administration could make changes with dramatic ripple effects around our region and, in fact, the world. 'And so I don't think any of us can predict with any degree of certainty what President Trump will do, either generally or specific to the DOD, or what the consequences of what he does will be either.' 5 Comments By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. 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Yahoo
02-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mission returns remains from ‘Secret War' in Laos to Hawaii
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Staff Sgt. Steven Saunders carries the possible remains of American Vietnam War dead recovered from Laos at Hickam Airfield on Friday. 1 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Staff Sgt. Steven Saunders carries the possible remains of American Vietnam War dead recovered from Laos at Hickam Airfield on Friday. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Staff Sgt. Ross Neely carries recently recovered remains from Laos that arrived Friday at Hickam Airfield. 2 /3 KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Staff Sgt. Ross Neely carries recently recovered remains from Laos that arrived Friday at Hickam Airfield. SENIOR AIRMAN KATHY DURAN / U.S. AIR FORCE / 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Mitchell Hartman, an explosive ordnance disposal technician for the Defense POW /MIA Accounting Agency, surveys an area during a recovery mission in Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic. 3 /3 SENIOR AIRMAN KATHY DURAN / U.S. AIR FORCE / 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Mitchell Hartman, an explosive ordnance disposal technician for the Defense POW /MIA Accounting Agency, surveys an area during a recovery mission in Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Staff Sgt. Steven Saunders carries the possible remains of American Vietnam War dead recovered from Laos at Hickam Airfield on Friday. KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL @ Staff Sgt. Ross Neely carries recently recovered remains from Laos that arrived Friday at Hickam Airfield. SENIOR AIRMAN KATHY DURAN / U.S. AIR FORCE / 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Mitchell Hartman, an explosive ordnance disposal technician for the Defense POW /MIA Accounting Agency, surveys an area during a recovery mission in Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Service members and military officials gathered Friday morning at Hickam Airfield to welcome a Hawaii National Guard C-17 airplane arriving with precious cargo. The plane was flying in from Laos with what the military believes could be the remains of Americans killed in a secret battle during the Vietnam War. Service members wearing white gloves carefully carried small boxes from the plane that were topped with folded American flags. The boxes containing bones retrieved from the area where the battle took place were then transported to the Defense POW /MIA Accounting Agency's forensic lab at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, where researchers will try to identify them. 'This is the largest forensic skeleton lab in the world, and I don't think a lot of people in Hawaii know that, ' said John M. Figuerres, the agency's acting deputy director for operations. To retrieve the remains, a team from the DPAA searched the highlands of Laos, working in difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions. 'This was an extremely difficult site because the battle took place on top of a mountain in Laos, ' Figuerres said. 'After the battle, the remains were scattered. The Vietnamese forces actually threw the American bodies off the side of the cliff.' Members of the recovery team trained at the U.S Marine Mountain Warfare Training Center to prepare for the mission. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. 'The conditions (in Laos ) were extremely difficult, ' Figuerres said. 'In January, the route that they were taking, even though we had previously cleared it, we discovered had mines on it from the war … . I am so proud of these youngsters and these individuals who actually execute the mission to bring back these fallen warriors.' Currently, 1, 573 personnel remain missing from the Vietnam War, and some 280 are believed to be in Laos. During the war Laos was, at least on paper, a neutral country, according to the International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos signed July 23, 1962. That meant both U.S. and North Vietnamese forces were prohibited from openly conducting military operations in the kingdom. But in practice, the North Vietnamese Army and South Vietnamese Viet Cong guerillas supported by the North used areas of Laos as part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to move fighters and equipment in and out of South Vietnam. They also provided weapons and other assistance to the communist Pathet Lao insurgency that was fighting to overthrow the Laotian government. Likewise, the U.S. military conducted bombing operations and occasional raids against communist Vietnamese forces, and the CIA fought both them and the Pathet Lao using an army of Indigenous Hmong tribal fighters. Since neither the U.S. military nor the North Vietnamese forces were supposed to be in Laos, neither side publicly discussed the fighting, which came to be known as the 'Secret War.' The DPAA is hoping the remains recovered in Laos belong to Americans killed during the fierce Battle of Lima Site 85, until relatively recently a forgotten battle. Lima Site 85 was a clandestine base used by the U.S. military and the CIA to covertly support air operations against communist forces in Laos. A small team of American airmen and civilian technicians worked there operating radar and weather equipment. In 1968, North Vietnamese troops backed by Pathet Lao fighters launched several attacks against the base, which was defended by CIA-backed Hmong tribal fighters, and Thai troops and border police. In March of that year they encircled the small base and pounded it with artillery before eventually overrunning the facility with their combined forces. Of the 19 Americans there, 13 were killed along with 42 Thai and Hmong fighters. Among those killed were Air Force Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger, who aided the wounded survivors and was fatally wounded himself when an enemy soldier on the ground fired a bullet into the underside of an evacuation helicopter as it was leaving. The operation remained classified and Etchberger's actions were not publicly acknowledged until 1998. After the declassification of the base and the operations around them, the military reevaluated Etchberger's actions and posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2010. The DPAA has spent more than two decades searching for the men who died in the battle for Lima Site 85, so far successfully recovering and identifying the remains of three. Senior Airman Layne Fitzpatrick of Kapolei, who was a member of the flight crew that brought the most recent remains to Hawaii, said, 'It's really cool to see how many people are involved … with operations around Asia, just to all the hard work they're doing, just to recover all the human remains for dignified transfer.' Over the past 17 years, Hawaii Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. Joleen Morse has flown several repatriation missions of American war dead. She's flown remains from the Philippines, the South Pacific and now Laos. 'Every mission is special, ' Morse said, but the most emotional experience for her was bringing back 22 fallen Marines from the island of Tarawa in the South Pacific nation of Kiribati. 'That was the first time we had to see the pictures of everyone that we moved, and they'd been there for 75 years, so they had no family when we came back, ' Morse said. 'Everybody we moved was 21 and under.' 'We're bringing them home. It may take a while for us to ID them, but if you really think about it, the Vietnam War ended over 50 years ago, ' Figuerres said. 'Our warriors need to know that if something happens to them, there is an organization that will look out for them and bring them home.'
