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Volume No. 14, Issue No. 12 Web Site: http://www.aloha-moaa.org December 2013
(Voices of Warriors)
Chartered January 27, 2000
Na Leo O Na Koa
Newsletter of the Aloha Chapter,
An Affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America
2007 Chapter Rating
The Merrie Ladies and the Aloha
Chapter Community Service
Joint Venture
On Wednesday, 6 November, the Merrie Ladies joined the Aloha Chapter Community Service chairperson, Wesley Fong, and some members of the Aloha Chapter, MOAA, in gathering baby
items for the Tripler Army Medical Center's Fisher House II. After presenting our donation of supplies for babies, such as diapers, baby wipes, infant outfits, baby socks and lotion, of an approximate value of $250, we were treated to a very informative tour by the Fisher House II as-sistant manager, Anita Clingerman. Fisher House II is the newer of the two facilities on the grounds of the medical center. Learning of thegenerosity of the Fisher House Foundation, a non-military family who wanted to honor military personnel and their sacrifices for our country,
See Community Service Project Page 5
Patriotic Songfest and
November Luncheon Meeting Nineteen Aloha Chapter members and spouses gathered at the VA Center for Aging on the grounds of Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) Thursday morning, 21 November, to sing patri-otic songs to the residents of that hospice. We were enthusiastically led by Rose Baysa.
Afterwards, 23 of us assembled on the lanai of Mulligan’s Restaurant at Hale Ikena, Ft. Shafter, for our annual General Membership Meeting. MGEN Kelly Lau, USA, Ret., Chairman of our Aloha Chap-ter Nominating Committee, pre-sented his slate of nominees for chapter officers for 2014, replac-ing those whose terms are expir-ing. All were unanimously accepted.
Inside December Issue Birthdays 7 Bridge Report 6 Calendar of Events 2 Chapter Leaders 8 Christmas Parties 3 & 4 COLA 7 Golf Report 6 Golf Schedule for 2014 6 HVGD 3 Jan. Installation Meeting 3 Membership Application 7 President’s Message 2 Reservation Forms 4 & 7
Shopping for Baby Items at the NEX Clockwise from lower left, Marion Von, Harold Takenaka, Joan Lee, Charleen Towne,
Rowena Okita, Linda Fong, Lani McCabe, Esther Takenaka, and Mary Cho.
Rose Baysa, front center in blue top, with her patriotic singers
Page 2 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 14, December 2013
President’s Message
By Curtis Lee It is said that the older one gets the faster time flies. That is so true for me, as I don’t know where the past year went.
Looking back, I believe that our Program Committee chaired by Jack Boh-man did a really outstanding job. Thanks Jack!
Our guiding philosophy has been that we are a group of friends who enjoy the fellowship of each other as we reminisce and endeavor to fur-ther our national MOAA’s objectives in support of active duty and retired military personnel.
We have found it difficult to attract more of our members to our activities and to find new members. I am very encouraged that retired Brigadier General John Ma and retired Major General Stephen Tom have agreed to be our Aloha Chapter President and Vice President, respectively, in 2014. We need these newly retired, younger and vigorous leaders to guide our chapter into the future!
As we celebrate the season, we have two recruit-ing opportunities to gain new members: First, the Aloha Chapter Christmas Luncheon at Camp H. M. Smith on 11 December and, Second, a Christ-mas Dinner Party at the Hickam Officers’ Club on 14 December to which we have invited over 800 officers who belong to National MOAA, but who are not affiliated (yet) with a local chapter. We are doing this to support national MOAA’s membership recruiting efforts and, hopefully, find some new members for Aloha Chapter. Please join us for these festivities.
As my term as your president ends on 31 De-cember, I would like to express my sincere appre-ciation to the Aloha Chapter officers, committee chairs and last, but not least, the marvelous Merrie Ladies who work so diligently, who are the life of the party and who have done a super job check-ing in the members and guests and decorating the tables for our meetings. Thank you all for your support and for enduring my jokes! Please lend
Notice — 8 Years! This newsletter, my 96th issue of Nā Leo O Nā Koa, is promulgated electronically monthly as an official pub-lication of Aloha Chapter, Military Officers’ Association of America, P.O. Box 201441, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96820.
Views expressed herein are not necessarily chapter policy.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
11 Dec. 2013 1100, Christmas Party Luncheon, Sunset(Wednesday) Lanai, Camp H. M. Smith, Halawa Heights.
14 Dec. 2013 1730, MOAA’s Annual Christmas Party, (Saturday) Hickam Officers’ Club, JBPHH
15 Dec. 2013 1100, Bridge Bunch Buffet Brunch. (Sunday) Hosts: Iharas, 47-230 Hui Aeko, Kaneohe
27 Dec. 2013 0900, Golf Outing, Navy-Marine Golf Course,(Friday) 943 Valkenburgh Street, Honolulu 96818
24 Jan 2014 1100, Installation Luncheon, Hale Ikena. (Friday) Installation of 2014 Aloha Chapter Officers followed by USAA Presentation by USAA Rep. Joe Zettlemoyer, CSM, Retired
27 April ‘14 Annual Chicken Sale Fundraiser and Volunteers(Sunday) Serving Lunch of Donated Chickens at IHS
Correction Nā Leo O Nā Koa strives to be fair and accu-rate. However, there was a great big, unforgivable error on the front page of the November issue. Your publisher, a retired Navy officer, is cha-grined that he got his battleships mixed up. This is no small thing. Neither are the battleships!
Daniel Martinez, our guest speaker at our October luncheon, is the National Park Histo-rian at the World War II Valor of the Pacific National Monument, USS ARIZONA Memo-rial, Pearl Harbor—not the USS MISSOURI Memorial, as stated. Oooops! Mark
your support to the 2014 leadership team and en-courage your friends to join in the fellowship.
In closing, let us remember the reason for the season and enjoy the time we have with our family and friends.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christ-mas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Aloha, Curt
No 14, December 2013 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 3
JANUARY 2014 MEETING ALERT First things first!
Your chapter leadership team sends sincere wishes to all of you for a joyous Christmas and New Year! By now, you should have received your reminders about our 11 December Christmas Luncheon and the 14 December MOAA Candle-light Dinner; we hope to see at both functions.
Our first meeting of the new year will be at Fort Shafter’s Hale Ikena starting at 1100, Friday, 24 January. Following our luncheon, the meeting will start with the installation of our 2014 slate of officers conducted by MGEN Kelly Lau, USA, Retired. The nominees and their respective of-fices will be listed in the January newsletter.
Our program will continue with a presenta-tion by Command Sergeant Major Joseph Zet-tlemoyer, USA, Retired, who is the USAA Military Affairs Representative for Hawaii and Guam. This will not be a marketing presenta-tion! CSM Zettlemoyer will explain the USAA/MOAA affinity association and will share with us the current status of USAA mili-tary affairs with emphasis on the expanded ar-ray of benefits and services now offered to members and their families.
This meeting date was specifically selected to take advantage of the fact that it is Pro Bowl weekend. USAA is a major sponsor of the game and there is the possibility that one of their senior vice presi-
dents will be in attendance at our meeting.
You’ve undoubtedly noticed that USAA is making a big national advertising campaign to hopefully make many young people realize that they may be eligible for membership based upon the military service of their ancestors.
Please mark your calendars now and watch for an expanded meeting notice and Reserva-tion Form in your January newsletter.
Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!
Aloha, Curt Lee and John Ma
Sunset Lanai
Security Gate
REMINDER Aloha Chapter Christmas Party Sunset Lanai,
Camp H. M. Smith Wednesday, 1100, 11 December 2013 Reservation Form Page 7
Directions to Sunset Lanai
Drive mauka up Halawa Heights Road to PACOM, Camp Smith; follow arrows.
Hawaii Veterans’ Goodwill Delegation
Our fellow Aloha Chapter member COL Wes Fong, USA, Ret., departed Hawaii on 22 Novem-ber leading his 6th Hawaii Military Veterans’ Good-will Delegation to China. He and his group will re-turn 2 December. A member of the group that he is escorting is MGEN Stephen Tom, USA, Ret., our chapter’s Vice President effective next year.
Besides touring Beijing and Shanghai, this time the group will be visiting Kumming and the new “Flying Tiger” exhibit at the Kum-ming Museum. This is the museum that helped ADM Ron Hays, USN, Ret., President of the Pacific Aviation Museum (the delegation representative from the 2nd HVGD) acquire memorabilia and artifacts for the Pacific Avia-tion Museum’s “Flying Tiger” exhibit. Wes
Page 4 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 14, December 2013
MOAA Christmas
Dinner Party To the right is the Reser-vation Form for the MOAA Christmas Party at the Hickam Officers’ Club at 1730, Saturday, 14 De-cember. All MOAA mem-bers are invited, including those not yet affiliated with either chapter on Oahu.
A national MOAA print-out of likely candidates to join a chapter was win-nowed down to about 800 prospects who have been sent invitations. This party, hopefully, will be a great recruiting tool.
A fabulous, festive eve-ning is planned. This will be an excellent occasion to subtly recruit new mem-bers for either chapter. Hopefully, there will be a significant representation of the Aloha Chapter to ensure our fair share of the prospective new members.
If you plan to attend this memorable MOAA Christ-mas Party at the Hickam Officers’ Club on 14 December, please mail in the above Reserva-tion Form not later than 6 December.
Welcome to Our New Member Nobuo Kiwada, LTC, USAR, Retired
Exciting Opportunity You, too, can be a publisher of our monthly news-letter and annual directory. Training will be provided by the current publisher who has done this task for the last 8 years and would like to do more traveling.
If you would like to tackle this challenge, p l e a s e con ta c t Ma rk Webs te r a t [email protected]. Please call! Your mentor is sitting by—but not holding his breath.
Recruit A New Member!
Your Aloha Chapter is always looking for new members—active duty, retirees, and auxiliary mem-bers—all are welcome and will enjoy the camaraderie of the Aloha Chapter. Make it your goal to recruit at least one new member in 2014. Cut out the Mem-bership Application on Page 7 of this newsletter to give to a prospective member. Help us win a bonus!
No 14, December 2013 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 5
Aloha Chapter Party Bridge
The Aloha Chapter bridge took place on Sun-day, 17 November, in the Farhni Real Estate classroom. Dayle and Bobbi Carlson were the hosts for this event.
We had three tables of bridge players. Atten-dees were: Dayle and Bobbi Carlson, Mitzi Austin, Bill and Trudi Ernst, Judy Lutfy, Jane Amaki, Dan Matthews, Vernon and Marion Von, Harriet Weissman, and Jean Wilkenson.
Harriet Weissman took first place, Mitzi Aus-tin came in second, Vernon Von took third place and Dayle Carlson came in fourth. One slam was made by partners Harriet and Mitzi.
The next bridge session, the first of Pro-gram year 2014, will be a luncheon affair and held at the residence of Program Coordinator Shirley (& Les) Ihara on Sunday, 15 Decem-ber. Those who have not signed up but would like to play on that date must contact Shirley or Les by telephone at 239-7947 or by e-mail to [email protected], not later than Wednesday, 11 December. Attendees are asked to be at the Ihara residence no later than 11 AM for refreshments, the presenta-tion of the 2013 Aloha Chapter Bridge Player of The Year Trophy, and a buffet lunch before play begins. Marion
Champions, left to right, Vernon Von, third place winner; Mitzi Austin, second place winner; Har-riet Weissman, first place winner; and Dayle
Carlson, host and fourth place winner. Next to Dayle is Bobbi Carlson, hostess.
Community Service Project from Front Page
made the tour even more memorable. The Fisher House, which is nationwide, is a “home away from home” for military families and patients re-ceiving medical care at Tripler Hospital. U.S. mili-tary families whose family members need medical attention can stay at this beautiful facility for free or for a very nominal fee. Families from the neighbor islands and all over the Western Pacific have availed themselves of this wonderful benefit.
After our tour, 16 Merrie Ladies and Aloha Chapter members gathered at the Navy-Marine Golf Course Palms Restaurant to have lunch. We then worked on stamping cards of encour-agement to be given to the patients at Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) and the Center for Aging on the grounds of TAMC. The cards read “Be Strong and Courageous” and “Waiting” with inspirational words. They were stamped on the back with the words "Thank you or your loved one for serving. Aloha Chap-ter, Military Officers’ Association of America." Wes Fong took over 500 cards to the 250 pa-tients at Tripler Hospital to lift the spirits of the patients there. Sixty more were saved for our visit to the Center for Aging during our annual Patriotic Songfest on Thursday, 21 November.
Everyone in the group felt they accomplished much and great satisfaction in working together on these community service projects. Marion
Wes Fong, Community Affairs Chairman, left, with Aloha Chapter & Merrie Ladies volunteers, presenting donations to Anita Clingerman,
Assistant Manager, Fisher House II.
Page 6 Nā Leo O Nā Koa No. 14, December 2013
November Golf Re-port
Wow, it's unbelievable! No trace of rain this morning, Friday, 22 November, very similar to last month, as a smiling Aloha Chapter golf coordinator drove to Mamala Bay Golf Course.
I owe the weather guru an apology; he was so accurate with his predictions these past months. The closer I got to Hickam AFB, the sky seem to become bluer and the potential for rain was somewhere between nil and zero.
However, the pro shop at the golf course was having some problems, specifically, no electric-ity, so it was go ahead and play and pay later. Since all the players were present, we started a few minutes earlier than scheduled.
The group was led by Kelly Lau and his group of Paul Lister, Mel Soong, and Ken Munechika; followed by John Ma, Gary Hamada, a new joining member of Aloha Chapter, Gordon Cho and Leroy Perry; the third group was comprised of John Kim, Vernon Von, Ken Yamada and Eddie Lee; the fourth group had only two players, Ira Ta-gawa and Larry Enomoto; they were fol-lowed by Myron Brumaghin, Bob Nagao and their three guests, Soto, Watanabe and Umeda; and in the final group was the three-some of Curtis Lee, John Holmes and yours truly. The size of the group today was fine ex-cept for one deficiency: no wahine golfers. Come on Marilyn, Janice, Honeyjean and any other female golfers—we need you!
When all the score cards were checked for the net scores of the group, it was not a good out-ing for the group. Last month we had only 2 players with net 80, while this month we had only 5 players out of a total of 18 players who netted under 80. Beautiful golf weather but lousy golf scores. However, when the blind partners were selected, there was a tie for third
Norm Fujiwara
and fourth place, so a tie breaker was applied. In fourth place were the partners of Gordon Cho and John Kim; in third place were the partners of Leroy Perry and Vernon Von; in second place were the partners of Gary Hamada and Ken Munechika; and the grand champions of the day were John Ma and Myron Brumaghin. Congratulations to all the winners and especially our mega jackpot num-ber uno, and a big Mahalo to all the contributors.
Now for our thought of the day: “The honey-moon is over when your wife complains about the noise you make when you are getting breakfast.”
Our final encounter on the golf course for the 2013 golf year is at 0900, Friday, 27 De-cember, at the Navy Marine Golf Course. See yo'all there. Aloha, Norm
2014 Golf Schedule JANUARY Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Friday, 31 January
FEBRUARY Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 28 February
MARCH Leilehua Golf Course 0836, Friday, 28 March
APRIL Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Friday, 25 April
MAY Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 23 May
JUNE Mamala Bay Golf Course 0900, Friday, 27 June
JULY Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Friday, 25 July
AUGUST Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 22 August
SEPTEMBER Leilehua Golf Course 0900, Friday, 19 September
OCTOBER Navy/Marine Golf Course 0837, Friday, 24 October
NOVEMBER Barbers Point Golf Course 0900, Friday, 28 November
DECEMBER Navy/Marine Golf Course 0900, Friday, 19 December
No. 14, December 2013 Nā Leo O Nā Koa Page 7
Hau'oli lā hānau! Partial List of
December Babies Raymond DeHay 12/05 Stephanie Marshall 12/10 James Iwamura 12/16 Howard Okada 12/17 Tadahiko Ono 12/19 Carl Kinoshita 12/21 John Seely 12/23 Marvin Baum 12/26 Tylene Dunbar 12/27 Stephen Tom 12/27 Allen Ono 12/31 Richard Rankin 12/31
Best Wishes for many, many more Birthdays!
2014 COLA Based on the 2013 Consumer Price Index, military retirees and annuitants will get a 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment in their
January 2014 retiree checks.
Aloha Chapter
Military Officers Association
Of America
P.O. Box 201441
Honolulu HI 96820-1356
* 2002 5-Star Chapter
* 2003 4-Star Chapter
* 2004 Winner Best Website
* 2004 2nd Runner-Up Electronic Newsletter
* 2004 4-Star Chapter
* 2005 Winner-Cat VII "Give Me 10" Recruitment Campaign
* 2005 5-Star Chapter
* 2006 4-Star Chapter
* 2007 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter
* 2007 5-Star Chapter
* 2008 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter
Aloha Chapter Awards
2013 Aloha Chapter Leadership
Directors
Effective 1 January 2013
(Term in years indicated in parenthesis)
(2) Mark Webster, USN Chairman
734-5994 [email protected]
(2) Lawrence Enomoto, USAF Parliamentarian
685-1521 [email protected]
(1) Gordon Cho, USA 484-2400 [email protected]
(1) Norman Fujiwara, USA 626-4630 [email protected]
(2) Robert Kozuki, USA 942-4047 [email protected]
(1) Curtis Lee, USA 836-6733 [email protected]
(1) Vernon Von, USAF 732-3908 [email protected]
Executive Committee & Committee Chairs President: Curtis D. Lee, USA 836-6733 [email protected]
Vice President: Vernon Von, USAF 732-3908 [email protected]
Secretary: Ira Tagawa, USA 487-5448 [email protected]
Treasurer: Arthur Yamamoto, USA 833-3111 [email protected]
Community Affairs: Wesley F. Fong, USA 595-6127 [email protected]
Membership: Lawrence Enomoto, USAF 685-1521 [email protected]
Personal Affairs: Harold Okita (Windward), 262-0882; & John Jefferis (Leeward) 372-6601
Programs: Jack Bohman, Ira Tagawa, Melvin Soong & Helene Webster
Publications/PR: Mark Webster, USN 734-5994 [email protected]
ROTC/Veteran Affairs: Harold Kuwahara, USA 944-4010 [email protected]
Bridge: Shirley Ihara 239-7947 [email protected]
Fundraising: Herb Nakagawa, USAF 271-1172 [email protected]
Golf: Norman Fujiwara, USA 626-4630 [email protected]
Scholarships: Allen Ono, USA 536-6043 [email protected]
