LIHUE — Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami proclaimed Wednesday as Zenon Kapalehua Wong Day at the Kauai Museum where Wong volunteers.
Surrounded by other Vietnam War veterans, Wong’s family, including sister Novena, and brothers Levon and Reuel, and friends gathered in the museum’s courtyard. The mayor’s proclamation was the icing on the cake of other honors, including the draping of the Quilt of Valor, and the greeting by Kauai Museum Executive Director Chucky Boy Chock.
“Somebody set me up,” Wong kept saying after having the quilt draped over his shoulders by sister Novena and brother Levon.
The Quilt of Honor by the Quilt of Honor Foundation was presented to Wong to recognize his outstanding service to the United States. The Zenon Kapalehua Wong Day was done because Wong was a recipient of the prestigious Quilt of Honor that was created especially for him by a quilting group in Texas.
Gordon Doo, one of Wong’s friends who was in attendance at the quilt presentations, said Wong was a student at Kamehameha Schools in Kapalama, Oahu, where he held the state record for the 440-yard run, and turned down a college scholarship so he could enlist.
During his year of unfathomable combat horrors in Vietnam, where he was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, Wong was awarded two Silver Star medals for valor, the nation’s third-highest award. He also received a Purple Heart and many other medals for his gallantry and heroism under fire, according to the Quilt of Valor Foundation.
Following the war, Wong served a full, distinguished military career, most of which was in Active Guard and Reserve status as a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Army Reserves.
Following his retirement, Wong was selected by then-Gov. Linda Lingle, and then-State Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Robert Lee as Operations Manager and Kauai Island Coordinator — a position he held for seven years — for a five-phase program to help at-risk teens.
Following, Wong continued to serve his community. He has been one of the most prolific volunteers at the Kauai Museum, and is acknowledged as a renowned expert in the field of Kauai artifacts. He has been consulted by the Smithsonian Museum for his knowledge of artifacts, and also educated and mentored many students from the nation’s finest universities and colleges, along with speaking to more than 4,500 of Kauai’s adults and teens.
In May 2024, Wong was recognized as the year’s Outstanding Older American of the County of Kauai over a field of a number of nominees by the mayor of Kauai.
