Gabbard's gray hair more important than how she got it? Seriously!

Gabbard explains why she keeps spot of gray in hair

The Hill
BY JESSICA CAMPISI
09/02/19

The 2020 hopeful took two weeks off the campaign trail for the joint training exercise mission in Indonesia.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), a 2020 presidential candidate, on Monday explained why she hasn’t gotten rid of the gray area in her hair.

“I started going gray in that one spot during and after my first deployment to Iraq,” she said during an Instagram Live video while in Iowa. “And so I keep it as just a remembrance of those who we lost there and the cost of war and why we fight so hard for peace.”

“No, I’m not going to fix [it],” she added. “If you mean dye, no, I’m not going to dye it.”
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Gabbard spent two weeks in Indonesia training with the National Guard. You'd think that would be the biggest part of her recent activities but there is more focus on the fact she has some gray hair! 

Social media still not taking military women seriously.

First female combat veteran running for President reporting for duty...in National Guard

Gabbard takes presidential campaign break for Army National Guard training

By: The Associated Press
  August 13, 2019

Gabbard is the first female combat veteran to run for U.S. president. She was elected to Congress in 2012.

HONOLULU — Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is taking two weeks off from her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign to participate in Army National Guard training.

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaks at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

Gabbard announced the two-week break in a statement Monday. She will return to the campaign trail on Aug. 25.

Gabbard is a major in the Army National Guard who has served in the military for more than 16 years and deployed to Iraq in 2004 and Kuwait in 2008.
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Vietnam veteran with name on The Wall had to prove he was still alive

Missing and memorialized, a Vietnam veteran was found

The Augusta Chronicle
By Bill Kirby
Posted May 26, 2019

The former master sergeant went back to Hawaii and lived quietly until his death in 2007.

His name remains on the Vietnam memorial with 32 others that have been “mistakenly engraved,” a spokesman said last week in an e-mail. However, they no longer qualify for the honor, nor are they officially acknowledged.

A Vietnam soldier presumed dead and mourned by his family turned up in 1996.

As Memorial Day 1993 approached, engravers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington prepared to add the name of Master Sgt. Mateo Sabog to the wall.

A 24-year Army veteran with a spotless record, Sabog had disappeared in February 1970 while assigned to the 507th Transportation Group in Qui Nhon, South Vietnam, and was presumed dead.

For a quarter century his family in Hawaii pressed the Army for answers. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye got involved, as did U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink. Sabog’s mother wrote the president of North Vietnam asking help. President Jimmy Carter was also asked.

Nothing happened, however, and in 1993 Sabog’s name joined thousands who had died in the war. The government of Vietnam even returned remains it believed to be him.

But he wasn’t dead.

Three years after his name was placed on the memorial, the frail 73-year-old sat in Fort Gordon’s Eisenhower Army Medical Center struggling to tell both the Army and his family what he had been doing the past 26 years.
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Were you stationed at Kunia Hawaii? Are you sick?

Kunia veterans blame possible exposure to toxic pesticides for mystery illnesses

Hawaii News Now
By Mahealani Richardson
May 13, 2019

Veterans who worked at Kunia intel site claim pesticide exposure caused cancer, other illnesses

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A group of more than 100 Kunia veterans are suffering from neurological issues, cancer, birth defects and other illnesses after they say they were exposed to toxic pesticides.

Tara Lemieux, 50, of Maryland suffers from hand tremors, memory loss and other health problems.

She believes it stems from her days as an Army specialist from 1991 to 1995 at the Kunia “Tunnel” Field Station near Schofield Barracks.

Lemieux says nine out of the 12 members of her unit have died young.

"They didn't tell us that this beautiful absolutely picturesque once in a lifetime duty station that there was another side to it," said Lemieux.

Back then, the three story underground National Security Agency facility sat below Del Monte pineapple fields.

Lamieux believes she was directly exposed to toxic chemicals in 1991 when a broken water well flooded the underground facility. She and a handful of others were waist deep in water that was oily and smelled like chemicals.
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7 month old military baby died at unlicensed daycare

Death of 7-month-old military child fuels questions about unlicensed daycare on base

Military Times
By: Karen Jowers
February 28, 2019

The Honolulu Police Department is investigating the Feb. 24 death of a 7-month-old military child found dead in the home of a daycare provider at a military installation in Hawaii, officials said.

This 7-month-old girl died Sunday, Feb. 24, at a reportedly unlicensed daycare home at Aliamanu Military Reservation, Hawaii. (Photo courtesy of the family)

A neighbor who lives near the home where the child died said the death came four days after she filed a complaint alleging the provider, a Navy wife, was operating an unlicensed daycare after being shut down at least three times by base officials who allegedly found violations. The daycare is in privatized housing at Aliamanu Military Reservation, part of U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii.

The neighbor, Katie Camario, told Military Times that she had reported her concerns for more than a year about numerous young children crying and left unattended outside the home, citing various incidents such as the children playing with a lighter, and one child’s head being stuck in playground equipment. Other neighbors also said they reported similar concerns.
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Deaths of two soldiers under investigation

Two S. Korea-based soldiers found dead — one in barracks and another while on leave in Nebraska

STARS AND STRIPES
By KIM GAMEL
Published: February 12, 2019

SEOUL, South Korea — The Army was investigating the deaths of two South Korea-based soldiers, including one found unresponsive in his barracks and the other while on leave in Nebraska. Both joined the service less than a year ago.

Claytun Cepeda, 19, was one of two South Korea-based Army privates found dead in separate incidents since last week. COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY

Pvt. Claytun N. Cepeda, a 19-year-old Guam native, was pronounced dead Sunday after he was found in his room at Camp Humphreys, the Army said. It added that the circumstances surrounding his death were under investigation.

Cepeda, a water purification specialist, joined the Army in June 2018 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and was assigned to A Company, 602nd Aviation Support Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, according to a press release.

Separately, the Army said a soldier stationed at Camp Henry, South Korea, was found dead Feb. 5 while on leave in Valley, Neb. The cause was under investigation. Pvt. Aaron Mitchell, 21, was a mortuary affairs specialist assigned to the 498th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, U.S. Army Materiel Support Command Korea, 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.
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Also, From Stars and Stripes

Army helicopter repairman dies of injuries sustained at on-base home in Alaska

An Army helicopter repairman died Monday of injuries he sustained a week earlier at his home at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the Army said.

Sgt. Brian Peter Sawyer, 33, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment at Wainwright, died at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., where he had been transferred because of the severity of his injuries, the Army said in a statement Tuesday.

He was injured at his on-base residence on Feb. 3 and initially treated at Bassett Army Community Hospital on Fort Wainwright, the statement said. 
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Hawaii National Guard Veteran running for President

Iraq War veteran joins crowded democratic field for president

FOX 8 News

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard officially launched her 2020 presidential campaign in Hawaii on Saturday, drawing on her service in the National Guard as guiding her longshot bid for the White House.

“It is this principle of service above self that is at the heart of every soldier, at the heart of every service member, and it is in this spirit that today I announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America,” Gabbard said at an event in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“I will bring this soldier’s principles to the White House, restoring the values of dignity, honor and respect to the presidency and above all else, love for our people and love for our country,” Gabbard said. “I ask you to join me, join me in putting this spirit, this spirit of service above self at the forefront and to stand up against the forces of greed and corruption.”

She added, “The road ahead will not be easy. The battles will be tough. The obstacles great, but I know when we stand united by our love for our people and for our country, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome. There is no battle we cannot win.”

Gabbard served in Iraq and Kuwait in a Hawaii National Guard field medical unit.
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Unclaimed Veteran James “Jim” Sands family found

Dozens of friends, family bid farewell to once unclaimed Army veteran
Hawaii News Now
Chelsea Davis
Saturday, July 14th 2018

Sands served in the Army from 1962 to 1965 as an Airborne Infantryman, and his friends say he belongs in Hawaii alongside his fellow veterans.

KANEOHE, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow)
An Army veteran whose body went unclaimed for months has been granted a final resting place at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.

James “Jim” Sands moved to Hawaii from Texas decades ago and made several friends at the beach and at the bars. But when he died last spring — no family members came forward.

After a story about Sands aired on Memorial Day, someone tracked down his sister in Riverside, California.

His sister, Nicki, released his body to the military so he could have a military burial. And on Friday morning, dozens gathered to bid their final farewells.

"He was a great guy. He was a wonderful person. He had a great sense of humor so I've been told," said Chaplain Maj. Raymond Hawkins.

The McPhees, a couple that hadn't seen Sands in about 40 years, were among those who wanted to say goodbye.
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#MissingSalior U.S. Navy Seaman Shaun Palmer

UPDATE

"Seaman Shaun Palmer is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.“Please help me find my son,” his mom, Diane, tweeted, adding that her son’s phone is dead and there has been no activity on his credit cards."

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Search for missing Navy sailor last seen in Waikiki
KHON 2 News
By: Brigette Namata
Posted: Jul 02, 2018

HONOLULU (KHON2) - U.S. Navy Seaman Shaun Palmer failed to report for duty at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on July 1, and was classified as unauthorized absence on July 2, after 24 hours.

Palmer is a hospital corpsman assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

A missing persons report has been filed with the Honolulu Police Department and his command is working closely with local and military officials to find the missing sailor.

Palmer was not scheduled to participate in the ongoing Exercise Rim of the Pacific, a large maritime exercise taking place on and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.

Palmer's mother Elizabeth Diane Unterein, who lives in California, said she received a call from the military of her son's disappearance on Monday morning. She ran multiple scenarios in her head. "Maybe he just went out and had too much to drink and he'll show up... and he hasn't shown up."

On Saturday night, Palmer was last seen outside the Kelly O'Neil's bar on Lewers Street in Waikiki.
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Daniel Akaka, first Native Hawaiian in Congress passed away

Daniel Akaka, first Native Hawaiian in Congress, dies at 93 
Associated Press 
April 6, 2018

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2011 file photo then-Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, the humble and gracious statesman who served in Washington with aloha for more than three and a half decades, died Thursday, April 5, 2018, at the age of 93, sources tell the Star-Advertiser. He had been hospitalized with an illness. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)

HONOLULU (AP) — Former Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka, the first Native Hawaiian elected to Congress who served for more than three decades, died Friday. He was 93.

Akaka died in Honolulu after being hospitalized for several months, said Jon Yoshimura, the senator’s former communications director.

The Democrat served 14 years in the U.S. House before he was appointed to replace Sen. Spark Matsunaga, who died of cancer in spring 1990. Akaka won election that fall for the rest of Matsunaga’s term, and voters sent him back for consecutive terms until 2012, when he chose not to seek re-election.

His legislative style was described as low-key, a characterization he embraced.

“I have a Hawaiian style of dealing with my colleagues,” he said.

Akaka developed a reputation as a congenial legislator who made many friends while making few waves in pressing the interests of the 50th state.
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Days before wedding, Navy Corpsman saved life

Navy Corpsman likely saved life of Calif. football player hit by car
USA TODAY
By: Tim Whelan Jr.
High School Sports
April 4, 2018

“I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the world than there in that moment. I’m glad I was there,” Bustos told KNSD.

Family members are identifying the freshman football player hit by a car Monday night.

They say 16-year-old Maddox Sanders, a Granite Hills (El Cajon, Calif.) freshman, was crossing a street in El Cajon, Calif., at around 8 p.m. when it happened.

The victim’s brother, Brandon Sanders, told San Diego’s KNSD-TV that Maddox is in critical care but stable condition at a nearby hospital.

As KNSD tells it, the fast action of U.S. Navy Corpsman Emily Bustos may have been key to Sanders’ survival. One of the first people to reach him as he laid in the street, she performed CPR until the ambulance arrived.

Bustos was on leave from the Navy and was less than 24 hours away from departing for her own wedding in Hawaii.
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MOH recipient from Iwo Jima Honors guardian angel

Last living MOH recipient from Iwo Jima offers graveside salute to ‘guardian angel’
STARS AND STRIPES
By WYATT OLSON
Published: March 18, 2018

HONOLULU — Seventy-three years ago on the island of Iwo Jima, Hershel “Woody” Williams randomly chose several fellow Marines to give him rifle cover as he made a one-man charge with his flamethrower against a network of Japanese pillboxes.

Hershel “Woody” Williams salutes before the grave of Charles G. Fischer on March 17, 2018. Fischer was a Marine Corps rifleman who died in Iwo Jima while providing covering fire for Williams. Williams learned of Fischer’s identity and gravesite location only several months ago.

WYATT OLSON/STARS AND STRIPES

He spent four hours unleashing flames into the pillboxes that had stymied advance for days, racing back to the Marine Corps lines to refuel the flamethrower, and then running again into battle — all while covered by only four riflemen.

Williams was ultimately awarded the Medal of Honor on Feb. 23, 1945, for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty,” as the official citation describes it. He “daringly went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machinegun fire” coming out of reinforced concrete pillboxes, on which bazooka and mortar rounds had no effect.

Two of the Marines covering Williams died that day, but he never knew their names, and never knew where their remains rested until just a few months ago.

On Saturday, Williams, with the Medal of Honor hanging around his neck, stood over the Hawaii grave of Charles Fischer, one of those “guardian angels” who helped him survive that day and is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, nicknamed the Punchbowl.
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Pearl Harbor Survivor Laid to Rest 76 Years After That Day

Pearl Harbor veteran laid to rest on day he survived attack 76 years ago
WPFT 5 News
Alanna Quillen
Dec 7, 2017

Eddie was one of the over 2,000 survivors of Pearl Harbor that are still left in the country.

LAKE WORTH, Fla. - Seventy-six years ago on Thursday, Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor, killing more than 2,400 Americans.

But thousands more survived, including one South Florida man who was actually laid to rest on the very day he almost died all those years ago.

WPTV was there at the South Florida National Cemetery as family and friends said goodbye to "Pearl Harbor Eddie" as he was known, a fitting service for Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Edward Hammond died in September at 93-years-old. He was the last known Pearl Harbor survivor in the South Florida area.

He was just 17 when he served in the U.S. Navy as a chief machinist mate, stationed at the United States Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
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Three of Five Soldiers Missing After Black Hawk Crash Identified

3 soldiers confirmed dead in Hawaii crash; Alabama soldier still missing

By The Associated Press

August 28, 2017

Military officials have declared three soldiers dead after their Black Hawk helicopter crashed off Hawaii during a nighttime training mission earlier this month.

The Armed Forces Medical Examiner says 1st Lt. Kathryn Bailey of North Carolina, Staff Sgt. Abigail Milam of Kentucky and Sgt. Michael Nelson of Tennessee are dead after confirming their DNA among debris recovered from the Aug. 15 crash. The three were riding in the helicopter with two others when it crashed off of Oahu.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Stephen Cantrell of Texas and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brian Woeber of Alabama have not been found.

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And Then There Were 15 MIssing

Search Expanded for Missing Black Hawk Crew

Big Island Now

August 20, 2017

Responders searched throughout the night Saturday and are continuing the search Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017, for the five Army aviators who went missing Tuesday night approximately two miles west of Ka‘ena Point.

Search and rescue planners have also reached out to the residents of Ni’ihau Island to conduct searches along their shoreline.

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Ten sailors missing after U.S. warship, tanker collide near Singapore
REUTERS

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ten U.S. sailors were missing after a collision between a destroyer and a tanker near Singapore on Monday, the second involving a U.S. warship and a merchant ship in Asia in about two months, triggering a fleet-wide probe of operations and training.

The guided-missile destroyer John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided while the warship was heading to Singapore for a routine port call. The collision tore a hole in the warship's waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area, the U.S. Navy said.

"Initial reports indicate John S. McCain sustained damage to her port side aft," it said in a statement. "There are currently 10 sailors missing and five injured."

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson would conduct a broad investigation into U.S. naval operations after the collision.
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Active Duty Soldier Arrested For Loyalty to Enemy?

US soldier arrested after pledging loyalty to Islamic State
ASSOCIATED PRESS HONOLULU
By AUDREY MCAVOY AND LOLITA C. BALDOR
Jul 11, 2017

Kang and the agents together made combat training videos he believed would be taken to the Middle East to help prepare the group's soldiers to fight American forces, according to the affidavit. Kang had received the highest level of combat training available in the Army and was a mixed martial arts enthusiast.

Red evidence tape covers part of the door leading to the condo where Ikaika Kang, a sergeant first class in the U.S. Army, lives in Waipahu, Hawaii, Monday, July 10, 2017. Kang is being held on terrorism charges after the FBI claims he tried to get secret military documents to the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

An active duty U.S. soldier was arrested on terrorism charges after authorities say he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and said he wanted to "kill a bunch of people."

The FBI arrested Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang, 34, in a suburb of Honolulu over the weekend after a yearlong investigation involving multiple undercover officers and confidential informants. He made an initial appearance in federal court on Monday.

Kang's court-appointed defense attorney, Birney Bervar, said it appears his client may suffer from service-related mental health issues of which the government was aware but neglected to treat. Bervar declined to elaborate.

He said Kang was "a decorated veteran of two deployments" to Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Col. Kirk R. Slaughter Killed in Boating Accident in Honolulu

Army Reserve colonel identified as victim in Hawaii fishing boat accident
STARS AND STRIPES
By WYATT OLSON
Published: June 16, 2017

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The Army has identified Col. Kirk R. Slaughter, 49, as the soldier who died in a fishing boat accident in Hawaii Thursday morning.

Kirk Slaughter was a man loved and adored by all who knew him, according to a gofundme page. Slaughter passed unexpectedly in a tragic boating accident on June 15, 2017, off the coast of Hawaii. GOFUNDME

The Honolulu Police Department, which is investigating the incident, has released few details about the death, which happened in Waianae Small Boat Harbor in northwest Oahu. Slaughter was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner, the Army said.

“This appears to be a boating accident with no indications of foul play,” the police said in a statement.

Slaughter was the deputy commanding officer of operations at the 9th Mission Support Command and was based at Fort Shafter, Hawaii. He was originally from Lyons, Neb.
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"It was a Mcnamara that got me into war and a McNamara helped me get out"

Doctor helped save veterans’ lives once they came home
The Maui News
COLLEEN UECHI
Staff Writer
May 7, 2107

VA psychologist McNamara assisted servicemembers to face post-combat challenges.

Longtime Veterans Affairs psychologist Dr. Kathleen McNamara retired at the end of March after 27 years of helping local veterans and their families cope with post-combat challenges. -- The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photo

Vietnam veteran Bo Mahoe likes to say that “it was a McNamara that got me into war, and a McNamara helped me get out.”

Fifty years ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara pushed for America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In its aftermath, Veterans Affairs psychologist Dr. Kathleen McNamara has helped Mahoe and countless other Maui County veterans face the post-combat challenges of coming home.

McNamara, 67, retired at the end of March after 27 years of service to Hawaii’s veterans.

“She’s one who’s given more than anybody I know to help our veterans, and yet she feels she’s the one who’s benefited,” said Dr. Richard MacDonald, rehab counselor with Veterans Affairs on Maui. “I think that’s part of why she’s so effective because she keeps that humility and just focuses in on what the veterans need in every way, shape or form.”

McNamara knew early on in her life the meaning of honoring veterans. Her father was an airplane mechanic in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and when he saw how Vietnam veterans were treated upon their return home, he got upset.

In Hawaii, she worked with many Vietnam veterans who were just starting to come to terms with post-traumatic stress disorder. Back when she was pursuing her doctorate at Ohio University in 1975, “PTSD didn’t exist as a specialty.” It left a lot of Vietnam veterans in limbo, as no one recognized the pain they brought home.
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Search Continues for Missing Marine Tyler Wechsler

UPDATE

Body of missing Marine recovered from Kaau Crater Trail

Missing Person: Tyler Wechsler
KHON News
By Web Staff
Published: April 14, 2017

CrimeStoppers and the Honolulu Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Tyler Wechsler who was last seen on Friday, April 7, 2017.

Wechsler is a U.S. Marine who was last seen in the Waikiki area at around 3:00 p.m.

Authorities say Wechsler may be emotionally distraught and driving a white colored 2003 Jeep Liberty bearing Hawaii State license number JYY-547.

His family and friends are concerned for his safety and well-being.

Wechsler’s father is now on island joining the search, and said the search is following several leads.
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Mississippi Soldier Died During Training in Hawaii

Hawaii soldier killed in training exercise
Associated Press
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Nov. 4, 2016

HONOLULU (AP) — The soldier who died during a training exercise in Hawaii was a 26-year-old combat engineer from Mississippi, the U.S. Army said Friday.

Sgt. Renardo Deshun Dukes, of Pachuta, Mississippi, was killed Thursday in a training incident on the island of Oahu. 

The Army didn't release additional details about his death, saying Army authorities are investigating.
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