Hawaii’s Memorial Day events, ranging from parades and wreath presentations to aircraft flyovers, prompt a pause to pay tribute to those who gave their lives in defense of our nation as well as to honor the sacrifice of service members, first responders and their families.
And we’re mindful of the military’s presence here throughout the year. Hawaii serves as a home to all five armed forces, with about 64,000 defense personnel and 100,000 veterans living here. Also, we see the everyday economic impact tied to military service.
According to a report on defense spending released last month, Hawaii received $5,865 in per-capita spending for fiscal 2015 — the most recent year with complete data available — and was third in line behind Washington, D.C., with $10,413, and Virginia with $7,132. The national average for the year that ended Sept. 30, 2015, was $1,510.
Nearly three-quarters of Hawaii’s per-capita defense spending represents salaries, wages and retirement benefits for Department of Defense personnel working to provide for their families. The bulk of the balance goes to military contracts awarded here, directly benefiting our local economy. This spending figures into an economic engine fed largely by tourism and the military.
With enactment of a $1.3 trillion federal government spending bill, which includes $317 million for military construction in Hawaii — a $119 million increase from last year — we can expect to see even more military-related employment opportunities. Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii have said they’re looking to hire more than 175 people for jobs including security and firefighting positions. In addition, Pearl Harbor shipyard, the state’s largest industrial employer with about 5,200 civilian employees, is trying to replace an aging workforce.
What’s more, earlier this month the Army announced plans for its “Hawaii Infrastructure Readiness Initiative,” a $2.6 billion, 32-year plan to build and upgrade facilities across the state that can contend with “challenges that are high-technology in nature.”
Observers note the military buildup, most recently spurred on by President Donald Trump, has been underway since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. While economic gains are easy to embrace, of course, they cannot outweigh holding leadership responsible for peace-focused diplomacy as well as, when necessary, judicious deployment of troops and weaponry.
In a new era of concern over North Korea’s nuclear weapons, and tensions tied to relations with China and Russia, Hawaii is situated in a strategic (and potentially vulnerable) position in the mid-Pacific.
In the aftermath of Trump’s decision on Thursday to cancel his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation lamented the diplomatic setback and rightly urged peaceful negotiation to remove a nuclear missile threat. The promise of diplomacy should not be so rashly discarded; there simply are too many stark reminders of the consequences when nations fail to preserve peace.
War memorial sites in the islands pre-date statehood. The Waikiki Natatorium serves as Hawaii’s official memorial to those who served and died in World War I — more than 100 from the Territory of Hawaii, which also produced more than 10,000 WWI volunteers. An annual Memorial Day ceremony held there honors fallen military members, from the American Revolution to conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
There’s also the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, where the longest-running and largest Boy Scout service event on Oahu is held over the holiday weekend, with scouts decorating some 38,000 graves with flags and flower lei. In keeping with the holiday’s intent, it’s a poignant yet patriotic sight.
