Some Kaua‘i troops come home on leave

Warm, long hugs greeted some citizen-soldiers who are now Iraq veterans when they showed up at church recently.

Cpl. Andrew Apuna spoke to students at Wilcox Elementary School last week.

Slowly but surely, some of the Kaua‘i members of the Hawaii Army National Guard stationed in Iraq are receiving 15-day leaves, and many of them are finding the time to make it home to Kaua‘i during those short respites from what is becoming more-intense service in Iraq.

Apuna was not allowed to discuss specifics of what he has been experiencing in Iraq during his time there when interviewed by The Garden Island last week, but earlier, during a telephone interview when he was in Iraq, talked about mortar attacks and truck bombs.

Wives who are in contact with their husbands who are part of Hawaii Army National Guard’s Company A, 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry Regiment, said they are being told by their loved ones abroad that they don’t know when their leave time will come, only that others serving with them have been given the 15-day leaves.

Back on the home front, support for the Kaua‘i troops remains strong, both at public schools and with the active Friends of Company A & BCT. Members of the Friends of Company A & BCT recently held a potluck gathering at the Kapa‘a Hawaii Army National Guard armory, for families of men deployed. Several families turned out.

Up at Kapa‘a Middle School, Principal Maryanne Bode handed over to Vietnam and Gulf Army veteran Adam Britto, of Kapa‘a, a box full of letters students there penned for 299th members. Some of the “touching” letters brought tears to the eyes of Britto, a retired master sergeant. Britto, who is in contact via e-mail every other day with 1st Sgt. Phillip J. Kamakea, one of the 299th Kaua‘i leaders, confirmed that the leaves are being granted in two major waves. Britto, who with Frank Cruz of the Kauai Veterans Council coordinates the ongoing Operation Morale project to send letters, toiletries, nonperishable food items and other things to Kaua‘i soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, said through the efforts of retired Col. Teddy Daligdig III, leaders of the Kapaa Business Association and others, an Internet cafe has been set up in the Iraq compound where most of the Kaua‘i-based troops are stationed.

That allows the men to e-mail family members on a regular basis, and not have to compete for telephone time with four other companies in the same compound, Britto said. Through various efforts, the 299th members have their own recreation room in Iraq, with DVD players suitable for family movies from home, Britto said. Working with officials from the U.S. Postal Service, Britto and others have arranged for donation boxes to be placed in post offices across the island.

June will see a big packing party, where donated goods will be packed for Iraq, to reach the men who will just be back from their leave periods, he continued. “I will not stop until they come home,” Britto said. On Kaua‘i, he and other veterans have shown support for families of deployed men by cleaning their yards, fixing their vehicles, and performing other services as requested. “We’re proud of the men and the women in back of them,” said Britto, whose son, the youngest of eight, will graduate from Kapa‘a High School soon.

• Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net.