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Homeless veteran headed home to Texas after reuniting with family in Honolulu airport

By Craig T. Kojima

July 4, 2020

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Video by Craig T. Kojima and Allison Schaefers
A homeless veteran, 31, reunited with his mother at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on the Fourth of July.
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Earnest Andrews, center, is greeted by his mother, Alyna Brown-Lewis, left, and aunt, Wanda Thibodeoux, right, after going through TSA inspection at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Saturday. Andrews, a homeless veteran, is finally going home to Texas. The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii assisted in reuniting the family. Due to the state's 14-day travel quarantine for visitors, the women could not leave the airport and waited there for Andrews.
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Earnest Andrews is greeted by his mother, Alyna Brown-Lewis, after going through TSA. Andrews, who did two tours in Afghanistan, lived on Oahu's streets for about five years. His mother searched for him on Oahu last year but was unable to locate him.
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Earnest Andrews comes through TSA and is surprised by his mother and aunt. The veteran is finally going home to Texas after a Fourth of July reunion at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
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Earnest Andrews hugs his mother, Alyna Brown-Lewis, after going through TSA inspection. Brown-Lewis, said she was so happy in late June when Pali Momi Medical Center called to tell her the hospital was caring for her son. She immediately started making arrangements to pick him up but ran into problems when she discovered he didn’t have TSA-approved identification and she couldn't afford to stay the two weeks of Hawaii's quarantine. VASH President and CEO Jessica Lani Rich helped the family work through the logistics.
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Earnest Andrews is greeted by his mother, Alyna Brown-Lewis, and aunt, Wanda Thibodeoux, after going through TSA inspection.
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Earnest Andrews is greeted by his mother, Alyna Brown-Lewis.
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Earnest Andrews waits in an empty lobby before going home to Texas after a Fourth of July reunion with his mother and aunt.
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