Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 4, 1 April 1997 — Remembering Helm and Mitchell [ARTICLE]

Remembering Helm and Mitchell

In honor of two Hawaiian leaders who fought to stop the bombing of Kaho'olawe, the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana and the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission held a ceremony, last month, at Chang's beach on Maui. The ceremony commemorated the loss of Kimo Mitchell and George Helm. A lei of limu kala and a lei of hala were offered at the ceremony. One lei was placed on the lele and one in the oeean. Helm and Mitchell were lost at sea on March 8, 1977. They were paddling to Molokini atoll from Kaho'olawe and were never seen again. It was not until 1987, ten years later, that Helm and Mitchell were officially pronounced dead. Helm had made several landings on the island, but that trip in March to Kaho'olawe was an attempt to rescue friends who had been on the island for a few months. However, Helm and Mitchell weren't aware the Coast Guard had already removed their

friends from the island. • When Helm and Mitchell found themselves stranded and their friends gone, they attempted to paddle a surfboard to Molokini atoll. The weather that day was rough and they were never seen again. Three years later, in 1980, PKO was given regular access to the island to practice religious and cultural rights and to restore the island's plant life. Two plaques sit on the Kaho'olawe cliffs near Hakioawa. The date on Helm's plaque says March 8 while the date on Mitchell's plaque says March 9. The family believed Mitchell probably survived a day longer because he knew the oeean well, Davianna McGregor, from PKO said. After the ceremony friends talked and remembered what Helm and Mitchell started, their legacy today and questioned how things would be different today were they still alive.