• Proud to be a teacher in Hawaii • All vets deserve our respect Proud to be a teacher in Hawaii I am very offended to hear that Hawaii is the worst place to teach — according to whom? My 28 years
• Proud to be a teacher in Hawaii • All vets deserve our respect
Proud to be a teacher in Hawaii
I am very offended to hear that Hawaii is the worst place to teach — according to whom? My 28 years of teaching and librarianship at Hanalei School was the highlight of my 42 years of my teaching career. I feel that my contribution to the students of North Shore is evident in the lives of my former students who have gone onto careers in many fields.
I have been retired for 11 years and continue to give back to education through volunteering at Hanalei School and the pre-schools in the area. Retirement benefits are very generous.
I will always be proud to be a teacher in the Hawaii State Department of Education!
Sue Meyer, Retired Hanalei School librarian
All vets deserve our respect
Thanks Joanne, I appreciate your letter more than you will ever know.
When I fired off that angry rant, with way too many exclamation points, I didn’t make my point very clearly. Normally, when writing into the GIN, I will read and re-read my offering over and over again before submitting it. Sadly, that time I did not.
When I realized about an hour later that what I had written would be insulting to many veterans, including my father, who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, I quickly wrote another note asking to not print my letter. I thought that was the end of it. When it came out in the paper a week later, there was nobody more upset and disgusted than I was. Then the firestorm started …
I actually agreed with everything you said and all of what the older vets also expressed. I did a very poor job of doing that.
Instead of trying to take away the honor and respect that they all deserve, I was also trying to call for acknowledgement for all those that died in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And for those that paid the ultimate sacrifice in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Japanese in Hawaii that fought to protect their adopted home, will forever be a true testament to their loyalties and should never be forgotten. For those that were insulted, I ask you to accept my apology.
And especially to Joanne Yukimura, I’m sorry. This has been eating me up inside.
Jack Custer, Kalaheo
