Remarks by Councilman and Congressional Candidate
Mike Gabbard

Aloha!

I feel privileged to join you on this Memorial Day, this most solemn of national holidays. And, I am humbled as I join you in reflecting on and honoring the memory of your comrades who have served our country in the uniforms of our armed forces.

As with each of you, these were people who came from all walks of life, from every corner of this great land of ours. They were our fathers, our sons, our mothers and our daughters - our friends, and our neighbors. They were ordinary people-living ordinary lives-who were asked to make extraordinary sacrifices for their country in extraordinary times.

Like each of you, they answered our country's call to arms; not because they loved war; for nothing is more repulsive to the character of a free people than war for war's sake . but because they answered her call for a higher purpose-to preserve liberty, justice, equality, and the right to live in a world free from tyranny.

Freedom-loving Americans everywhere well understand this, and perhaps no where better than in Waianae-where three Medal of Honor recipients call home.

Any community in our nation would be proud to count a single Medal of Honor recipient among its favorite sons. Although the claim is bitter/sweet, Waianae is particularly proud to have three.

Please join me in taking a moment to remember our Medal of Honor recipients and their extraordinary courage and bravery-which well reflects the courage and bravery of all whom we honor today.

I'd like to begin with Herbert K. Pililaau, Private First Class of the U.S. Army-for whom the American Legion Post 12 is named. It was June 18, 1952 during the Korean War when Pfc. Pililaau made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. His unit had been holding "Heartbreak Ridge" in fierce battle, but had to withdraw amidst an overwhelming enemy advance. Pfc. Pililaau voluntarily remained behind to cover the withdrawal. When it was over, 41 bodies lay on the ground. One of them was his.

Shinyei Nakamine, Private of the U.S. Army made his sacrifice in Italy during World War II. It was June 2nd, 1944 when his unit became pinned down by intense machine gun cross fire. On this day, and on his own initiative, Private Nakamine charged and killed an enemy soldier, then led attacks on four enemy machine gun nests-but his luck ran out. During the last charge he was killed by a burst of enemy machine gun fire.

And on the same day during a different battle in Italy, Technical Sergeant Yeiki Kobashigawa also displayed extraordinary courage in the face of direct enemy fire. His unit had encountered strong enemy resistance from a series of machine gun nests. Without hesitation he successfully attacked two of them, and led a squad to neutralize two others. I am told that Mr. Kobashigawa is still among us.

The story of Nakamine, Pililau, and Kobashigawa is the story of hundreds of thousands of men and women who have been willing to give their lives for our country.

We take pride in knowing that there has been no other nation on earth whose sacrifice has been greater than ours. No where in the annals of history has there been a country before ours that has given so much to purchase freedom for others. Sacred and hallowed ground at Arlington and in cemeteries at places like the Ardennes, Normandy, Manila, and our own Punchbowl are evidence of the price to achieve and maintain freedom around the globe.

As we honor these memories, it is altogether fitting and proper that we also think of more than the accounted-for dead. The National League of POW-MIA Families reports that as of April 9th, there were still 1,862 Americans missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. We yearn for the fullest-possible accounting of those still missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains.

And so on this Memorial Day, honoring the sacrifice of all the men and women in our armed forces serves to remind us not only of the cost of war but, perhaps more importantly, the price we pay for peace. As you well know, freedom is not an entitlement. It comes with the burden that each generation must win it again.

In this regard, as we honor fallen patriots of the past, let us also be inspired to equally acknowledge the heroes of today.

There is a new generation of defenders who have committed themselves to freedom. They have been deployed to all corners of the world in the war against terrorism. More than 700 U.S. service members have lost their lives, most of them in our continuing fight to quell the insurgency in Iraq. Others have died fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida remnants in Afghanistan. A few of Hawaii's sons count among the dead, and our heart goes out to their family, relatives, and friends.

As we maintain the memory of our fallen sons and daughters, we face another task. Our Nation has the additional responsibility to care for those who have returned from military service. I grew up in a military family-so I well understand this-and I firmly believe it.

You did not choose to serve because you expected huge rewards from military service. Your motives were plain and simple-love of country, honor and duty.

When a defender of this nation returns home, we must be committed to ensure they obtain timely, adequate healthcare from the government. You deserve no less! Our veterans have earned the right to be treated with dignity and respect. It is the least we can do out of a deep, heartfelt sense of gratitude.

On behalf of the residents of the Community of Waianae, I offer a prayer of thanks to each of you who has served or is currently serving our country, and for our departed comrades, their friends and loved ones.

As we attempt to live with and reconcile the loss of loved ones who sacrificed their lives in the service of our country, let us remember: no one lives in this material dimension forever. Life in the material world is by definition temporary.

In other words, anyone who is born.will surely die. So, obviously, "not dying" cannot be the goal of our existence.

Therefore, success in our lives is not measured by how long we live, but how we live.

There are two ways to live in this world. We can live just for ourselves-or we can live as a servant of God and all of God's children, working for the welfare of others.

We all want those we love to succeed in life.

To succeed means to live a life that is pleasing to God. I can't imagine that there's anything more pleasing to the Supreme Lord than living a life dedicated to the service of the well-being of others. A person who lives and dies in the service of others-defending for present and future generations the democratic principles we cherish-has succeeded in life, without doubt.

Remembering such loved ones should therefore not be a sad occasion. It should be a happy occasion because we are remembering individuals who were victorious in the way they lived their lives. Despite any human imperfections they may have had-and we all have many-the fact that they lived and died in the service of others is testimony to their extraordinary success.

So we should not think that those who died young defending our freedom were somehow not successful, that they didn't have the opportunity to achieve something in life that they could have achieved had they lived longer.

Rather, the heroes we remember today achieved the greatest thing. They lived their lives in the service of the well-being of others. Their lives were successful!

May we always draw strength and inspiration from what those heroes-and those here today--have done to serve and protect our country. And may we never stop saying-from the depths of our hearts-thank you, mahalo nui loa.

God Bless each of you, and God bless America