I am the son of a U.S. Marine Corsair pilot. I still live in the house my father built in 1947 when he was stationed at Ewa Marine Field. Major Scott Gier was shot down in Korea in 1951 and never came home.

Six American service members killed in the Korean War were returned to Hawaii last week (“South Korea’s president pays respects to the war dead at an Oahu ceremony,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 23)

My father was not among them, but six other families now have hope of putting their fathers finally to rest. We must rejoice for them and pray that other remains will follow in our lifetimes. My gratitude to South Korean President Moon Jae-in is immense for understanding the gravity of this humanitarian mission and the profound respect he has demonstrated for these, our lost warriors.

This is in direct contrast to our own president and his administration, who apparently felt no need to receive the Korean president at a diplomatic level. No surprise here: Witness President Joe Biden’s shameful distractions and self-references when he met with the families of the Marines just killed in Afghanistan, killed in the chaos of Biden’s own creation.

Thank you, President Moon.

Scott G. Gier

Ewa Beach

Get ready for season of fireworks bombs

Forget about COVID-19 mutations. Forget about a hurricane preparedness kit. We need to prepare for our annual Hawaiian bombfest. Yes, we need to get ready for the attack of the HTB (Hawaii Terrorist Bomber) that runs from October until well into the new year. Why go to Afghanistan when you can get PTSD right here at home?

We have an epidemic, a poor-quality-of-life one: classless, inconsiderate and infuriating acts of thousands of locals randomly blowing up bombs at all times of the day and night with impunity. Never mind the folks who need to get a good night’s rest or the animals that have no idea why their world seems to be coming to an end.

If the feds can’t help us stop the flow of illegal fireworks into this state at the docks, you can bet our state and city officials won’t. Incarcerating a few illegal fireworks brokers would surely send a clear message, but I won’t hold my breath.

Seal up your windows, invest in a good pair of earplugs and order more tranquilizers for your pets. The HTB is coming!

Brian Yamane

Moanalua

Taking vaccine makes good economic sense

Let’s take politics and conspiracy theories out of the pandemic and focus on the monetary impact of health and mortality.

The vaccine is free. You pay nothing to be protected from a deadly virus. Should you refuse to take it, you could end up in the hospital. If you have good insurance, you can pay off the bill after you recover and go back to work. If you die, your loved ones are obligated to pay.

Moreover, who covers your funeral expenses? It may cost thousands of dollars, unless you have prepaid funeral arrangements or life insurance. Is burdening your family both financially and emotionally worth being combative because of misinformation or disinformation? I’m not a medical professional or math genius, but if you crunch the numbers, you’d save a lot of money and heartache by just getting the shot(s). You shouldn’t deliberately leave loved ones holding a bag of regret and debt.

Shelly Awaya Kidani

Kapolei

Anti-vaxxers should avoid public contact

I have expressed myself on this subject before. But there can never be too much attention given to the ridiculously small minority of what are now called anti-vaxxers.

We — and there are a lot of we’s — are letting this minority of ill-informed and ill-advised people stop the rest of us from coming out of this terrible pandemic. They have chosen their path and should now start to accept the responsibility for their actions.

No vaccine, no service. This should be a nationwide mandate enacted by the federal government. No service has to include all areas where there is public contact: grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, shopping centers, hospitals, doctor’s offices and other areas.

The anti-vaxxers care nothing about you or I, so the time has come to take any and all actions to rid ourselves of this pandemic so we can all return to the normal we once enjoyed. Drastic times call for drastic actions. Too harsh? I think not!

Barry Christian

Kailua-Kona

Aloha Freedom Coalition shows its lack of aloha

The Aloha Freedom Coalition should do everyone a favor and remove the word “aloha” from its name. Protesting in front of the lieutenant governor’s residence and spreading racist messages is not what aloha means to the majority of us living here. They can deny that the racist messages came from their organization, but it did come about as a result of their protests.

They rally against the government mandates, but offer no alternative solutions to controlling the pandemic. What would they rather have our elected officials do, nothing? They whine about their loss of freedom, but they still have the freedom to roam about without masks and gather in large groups, as most of them did on Sept. 18.

Aloha is caring about one another and our families. Aloha is about caring about our community. There is no aloha shown as evidenced by their selfish actions and hateful messages.

Judd Ota

Aiea

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