A service was held Sunday at the Hanapepe Veterans Cemetary to honor members of the 100th Batallion of World War II fame. The service is marked on the Sunday closest of Sept. 25, the date the unit suffered the first
A service was held Sunday at the Hanapepe Veterans Cemetary to honor members of the 100th Batallion of World War II fame.
The service is marked on the Sunday closest of Sept. 25, the date the unit suffered the first combat death among their members during a World War II battle.
The 100th Batallion was comprised mainly of Japanese American soldiers, and became known as the One Puka Puka. The batallion has the distinction of being known as the the Purple Heart Battalion among the Armed Forces of the United States since 98 per cent of that battalion’s troops were awarded purple hearts during World War II fighting.
Prior to the start of the special service Sunday, which marked the 58th anniversary of the callup of the 100th Batallion on Kaua‘i and other islands in Hawai‘i, members of the new Waimea High School JROTC bugle team performed. The unit was started through the efforts of former JROTC buglers Tobin Teruya and Andrew Lundgren. Lundgren is seeing action during the current conflict in Iraq.
First sergeant Dan Glover said the bugle team is the first of its kind in Hawai‘i.
Other buglers on the team include Cadet Sgt. Nathan Martin and Jeremy McDown.
The JROTC buglers are called on to perform during special veterans’ events as well as during the funerals of veterans.
Earlier this year, Uyehara was called on to perform a special composition for the Nissei Project, a project involving second-generation Japanese Americans.
