KALAHEO – Eric Fujiwara is one of numerous Kaua‘i Army National Guard soldiers who returned home earlier this week from training in Texas preparing them for eventual deployment to Iraq. Fujiwara said that training has been hard and rough, but
KALAHEO – Eric Fujiwara is one of numerous Kaua‘i Army National Guard soldiers who returned home earlier this week from training in Texas preparing them for eventual deployment to Iraq. Fujiwara said that training has been hard and rough, but on Thursday, he faced a task that was almost as hard as he prepared to walk his daughter Michelle down the aisle at the Kalaheo Missionary Church for her wedding ceremony. A fellow soldier was having difficulty sleeping so spent his time trying to get some shut-eye during the wedding, opting instead to attend just the wedding reception that night.
Fujiwara said they’ve been training hard, sometimes going seven days in a row to prepare for their Iraq tour. He said the weather is cold, and his gaunt figure is a testament to the rigorous training they went through in Texas. Reverend Edwin Terui, who officiated over the ceremony, recognized five soldiers in the celebration, and invited guests to offer a special prayer for the troops who will be heading to Louisiana for more training before leaving for Iraq early in 2005.
Since arriving home, the troops of the 299th Btn, Co. A have been catching up on six weeks’ worth of living, many spending quality time with family members during their holidays here.
Many have been seen in the holiday shopping crowds at the malls and shopping centers. Others have relished the local cuisine at restaurants. One soldier’s wife noted that her husband has had such a hard time adjusting to the food being served at training, he asked her at one point to “send rice.”
Nelson Acosta was with his family at the Wednesday night softball game between Kaua‘i High School and Waimea High School, where one of his daughters plays for the Menehune.
The following night, Acosta was on hand at the KIF girls soccer game, one of his younger sons alternately clutching him tightly and trying to crawl on Dad’s Carthy, who spent Christmas talking on the phone to her husband, 1st Lt. Joseph McCarthy, who is also serving in Afghanistan, but 300 miles away.
Ordinarily, Ivanez-McCarthy said she would have attended Christmas Eve midnight Mass at Sacred Heart church in Waianae with her family if she had been in Hawai‘i.
This year, her family gathered Wednesday at Schofield Barracks and celebrated Christmas with a 30-minute video teleconference call.
“There were eight to 10 kids,” said Ivanez-McCarthy, who received her undergraduate degree from Hawai‘i Pacific University three years ago, “and we sang Christmas carols.” Since joining the Army five years ago, Sgt. Lloyd Lau has only made it home for the holidays once. The others were spent in Kuwait and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. But serving in the war zone in Afghanistan does not make this Christmas any harder than past holidays.
“Just being away from the family is hard,” Lau, a 1995 Kaimuki High School graduate, said in a phone interview. “I will try to take it like another day and not think of it as Christmas.” head as he sat patiently in the stands with other parents. When the troops leave Kaua‘i starting later in the week, it will be their final trip before being sent to Iraq. In light of this situation, officials at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Lihu‘e Airport, are trying to accommodate families with special family passes so they can say their aloha to the troops in the old-fashioned Kaua‘i style. TSA officials note that the majority of the troops will be leaving on Dec. 31 on two flights. The Friends of Co. A will be hosting a special Hawai‘i Army National Guard Unit Fundraiser on Monday, Dec. 27 at the Kaua‘i Marriott Ballroom before the troops depart on Dec. 31. The event runs from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. carries a $40 donation and tickets are available by reservation, or at the door. For more information, call Col. (ret) Ted Daligdig III at 821-4477, SSG Jessica Higa at 651-7619, or Queenie Pezario at 651-8088.
photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
