LIHUE — Heroes flocked through the Lihue Airport Thursday like the chickens on the grounds outside the airport.
“We have a lot of chickens,” Stu Burley said to Sydney Revak, one of the daughters of Josh Revak, a Wounded Warrior. “Make sure you each take a chicken home.”
Burley was among the group of veterans and dignitaries who were on hand Thursday to welcome Josh Revak and his family who arrived for a stay on Kauai through the Vacations for Warriors program.
“I have never been to Hawaii,” Revak said. “I even have an ukulele that I can learn to play.”
The Revak family, including wife Marta and daughters Keilah and Sydney will be staying at the DeMonbruns condominium in Princeville while enjoying their stay on Kauai.
Enlisting in the Army immediately following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Revak spent nearly two years at war in Iraq where a mortar attack killed his roommate Terry Lisk, and wounded him.
Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. bulled his way into the welcoming delegation, waving a proclamation declaring Thursday as Josh Revak Day in honor of Revak’s deeds of courage, valor and heroism.
“I have never had a day named after me,” said Revak as he was swept up in the gestures of aloha welcoming his family to the island.
Among the crowd the milled about for luggage, SFC Robert McCoy and his family, including wife Morgan, daughter Teigen and son Jaxon, waited patiently for the excitement surrounding the Revak family to subside.
“Robert is a Wounded Warrior, too, serving 18 years in the Army,” said Morgan. “He is stationed at Schofield Barracks, Oahu. Robert and Josh know each other because of a Wounded Warrior program where Robert got to go hunting in Alaska. That’s where he met Josh, and the two are friends.”
One of the stops Revak will make while here is a visit to the Mayor’s Office next week.
“Can I bring them along?” Revak asked Carvalho, who was surprised to find they were greeting not just one, but two Wounded Warrior families.
The Revak family leaves July 28.
