Events and ceremonies marking Memorial Day will take place Monday across Oahu.
The 73rd Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. The ceremony will feature oli, a color guard, an F-22 aircraft flyover, a 21-gun salute, performances by the Royal Hawaiian Band and the 95th Lei Court. Keynote speeches will be delivered by Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Adm. Stephen Koehler, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The ceremony, which is expected to draw at least 500 attendees, will be livestreamed on ‘Olelo 49.
“It’s really an honor to be a part of this. Each year, we’ve had great attendance, and I encourage (people) to please come,” Blangiardi said Monday at a news conference. “It’s a
somber day of remembrance for those souls who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Pets are not allowed at the cemetery, and visitors should not bring chairs unless medically necessary. Umbrellas are allowed. Reserved seating will be offered to veterans and invited guests, with the remaining seats for the public being first come, first served.
Parking is limited at Punchbowl, but guests can park at alternative lots at Stevenson Middle School and Lincoln Elementary School beginning at 7 a.m., with courtesy shuttles running service between the lots and the cemetery. Free parking also will be available at the Frank Fasi Municipal Building. Special bus service from the Alapai Transit Center also will begin at 7 a.m., with three buses traveling to Punchbowl every 20 minutes and returning to Alapai after the ceremony concludes at around 10 a.m.
The city Department of Parks and Recreation also asks the public for assistance with its Sew a Lei for Memorial Day effort. A promise that began in the 1950s, the city adorns every resting place at Punchbowl with a fresh lei. Approximately 38,000 lei are needed for the Scouts of Hawaii to adorn each grave with a lei and an American flag Sunday afternoon at their Good Turn Event.
The city is hosting several lei-sewing volunteer sessions across Oahu on Friday, including at Honolulu Hale, Kapolei Hale and Kilauea District Park. More information about the events can be found on the Parks and Recreation Department website.
Lei or flowers also can be dropped off at any city or federal fire station Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. or brought directly to Punchbowl between 8 a.m. and
6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
“We stand on the shoulders of giants, and really, all of the privileges and blessings that we have today are not a coincidence. It is because of the sacrifices of those that came before us,” Department of Parks and Recreation spokesperson Nate Serota said Monday at a news conference. “This is just a small way that we can remember that and honor their memory.”
The Governor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe will begin at 1 p.m. Monday. Civilians should wear aloha attire, while military attendees are asked to dress in Class B
attire.
Commemorating its 25th anniversary, the Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaii Ceremony will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday
at Ala Moana Beach. Six thousand lanterns will be floated at the ceremony,
according to the event’s website.
Individual lanterns will be distributed first-come, first-served at the Lantern Request Tent beginning
10 a.m. Monday, until 4 p.m. or when all the lanterns are gone. Messages for the “collective remembrance lanterns” may be submitted in person at the Shinnyo-en Hawaii temple until Thursday or online until Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Messages will also be accepted at the
remembrance tent from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the day of the ceremony.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on the KHON-2 TV website and YouTube channel.