Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 8, 1 August 2005 — Military in Mākua [ARTICLE]

Military in Mākua

We, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the families of those on active duty with the military and others of the silent majority support the training of the Army at Mākua for the following reasons: -Hawai'i's National Guard and Hawai'i's sons and daughters on

active duty also train in Mākua. They train so they ean accomplish their missions with the minimum loss of life. And is there anything more sacred than life? -The Army did not choose to be in Hawai'i. They are here because the people we elected to Congress made sure they were put here. These are the same people who are now actively working to get a carrier based in Pearl Harbor. Regarding cultural sites, there's no criteria or guidelines to identify what is of legitimate cultural value (Bishop Museum doesn't have one). Individuals have made authentications based on "oral history." We, who know better about the use of oral history, eall these utterings "opinions." Since there is so mueh eoneeni about cultural sites, plants and animals in Mākua, why weren't these concerns expressed when they began developing Mākaha Valley? I did not see any sandbags or fencing to protect sites on the two golf courses there. Nor did I hear of any complaints when they dug up endangered plants, did you? And did you know that Mākaha Valley was far more populated and important because of the availability of water there? Read Ross Cordy's book An Ancient History ofWai'cincie. We need to help the Army in every way we ean because they are the ones who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in order that our families ean eonlinue to enjoy the benefits of a freedom loving country. 6/7/ Prescott Wai'anae, O'ahu