Volume No. 7, Issue No. 10 Web Site: http://www.aloha-moaa.org October 2006

2005 Chapter Rating

(Voices of Warriors)

Chartered January 27, 2000

Aloha Chapter Members Given Tour of C-17 Globemaster III On Thursday, September 21st, a group of 27 members and 11 guests enjoyed the viewing of a C-17 transport airplane at Hickam Air Force Base. It started with an orientation at 9:30 at the 535th Airlift Squadron audito-rium in the new $30 million complex, going aboard the plane which was parked just outside their building, and finally viewing their flight simulator. It is a very large plane with lots of room to transport troops, equipment, supplies and emer-gency humanitarian supplies to any part of the globe. We had unrestricted access to all parts of the plane, including the cockpit. One thing that stood out was how huge an aircraft it is. It can accom-modate 102 soldiers and their equipment or two 19-ton fully-equipped Stryker combat vehicles or 170,900 pounds (85.5 tons) of cargo. Its 4,500-mile range can be extended to anywhere with in-flight refueling, and it can take off and land on runways as short as 3,500 feet. The simulator was an exact rep-lica of the cockpit; being in it gave one the sensation of actually flying in the plane. The squadron is made of active duty Air Force personnel and Hawaii Air National Guard members, many of whom we met.

We want to thank chapter member, Herb Nakagawa, Jr., LTC, USAF, Ret., who made all the arrangements and who even picked up our bento lunches, which we enjoyed at the squadron’s Heritage Room. Thanks also to Alice Fujiwara and Marion Von for the des-sert they prepared and passed out to all who stayed for lunch. Our appreciation goes to all chapter members and guests who came to see the C-17. Harold

Inside October Issue

Board of Directors 3 Bridge 5 Calendar 2 Chapter Leaders 8 Golf 6 HAMS Breakfast 4 Joint MOAA Lunch 7 Merrie Ladies 4 President’s Report 2

Newsletter of the Aloha Chapter, An Affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America

The members & guests on the C-17 tour assembled in the vast cargo bay.

Our C-17

Page 2 Na Leo O Na Koa No. 10, October 2006

President’ s Message By Vernon Von

The Countdown Has Begun!

Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas will soon be upon us and we must start thinking about our participation in the fol-lowing events: 1. October 19: Mr. Phil Dyer from MOAA Na-

tional will be the keynote speaker at our luncheon. We have invited members of the Hawaii Chapter to join us for this event.

2. November 16: Election night. Watch the newsletter for time and place.

3. December 14: The Scholarship Committee will plan and implement this very important annual scholarship benefit program.

Set these dates aside and plan to attend and enjoy the company of other members and guests. KEEP TRYING! We need to recruit more members and actively participate in MOAA Na-tional’s “Give-Me-10” campaign. Membership application forms are available in the newsletter on page 7 or from Gordon Cho or me. The C-17’s are here to stay and our government has spent mega-bucks in providing for this state-of-the art cargo aircraft. Both the Air Guard and Active Duty forces have combined to accomplish the mission of this aircraft. They have spent $190 million on three new buildings to do this: a C-17 Operations building, a Flight Simulator building and a Maintenance Hanger for the eight C-17’s scheduled for Hickam AFB. Their mis-sion is both humanitarian and military airlift. The Air Force’s latest fighter jet, the F22, is also slated to be positioned at Hickam in the near fu-ture. More planning and construction of facilities needs to done before this can become a reality. Bob Kozuki needs your help for the Army Re-tiree Day on Saturday, October 21st. Please call him to offer your help if you can staff our table on that day. Vern

Notice This Newsletter is published monthly as an official publication of Aloha Chapter, MOAA, P.O. Box 19267, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96817-8267. Views ex-pressed herein are not necessarily chapter policy.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Oct 15, 2006 1:00PM, Bridge Group Party, 95-195 Mohai (Sunday) Place, Mililani

Oct 19, 2006 11:30 – 1:30 Joint Luncheon Meeting with (Thursday) Hawaii Chapter, Hale Koa Laulima Room

Oct 21, 2006 Army Retiree Appreciation Day, Schofield (Saturday) Barracks. Call Bob Kozuki for details.

Oct 27, 2006 Golf Outing, Mamala Bay Golf Course, (Friday) Hickam AFB

Nov 6, 2006 Merrie Ladies Meeting to Benefit Veterans (Monday) in Tripler’s Center for Aging, Gyotaku Res- taurant, Waimalu. Call Marion Von.

Nov 15, 2006 7:00AM, HAMS Breakfast Honoring MG (Wednesday) Herbert Wolff, Hilton Hawaiian Village

Board Chair Elected Through 2007 Jerry Lesperance, Capt., USCG, Ret., has been functioning as Interim Board Chair since Ed Hi-rata, BG, USA, Ret., resigned as Chair in early 2006. In late September the Board elected Jerry to serve as Board Chair until the end of 2007.

See related article on Page 3

Workshop for Active Duty Engineers In May, 2007, the Honolulu Post of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) will sponsor a Pacific Industry Forum. This event will bring together SAME Sustaining Member firms with service leaders for a look at construc-tion plans throughout the Pacific over the next several years. The Post would also like to hold a half day workshop for active duty military mem-bers who are considering transitioning into the private sector. Chapter members interested in participating in the transitioning workshop may contact Jerry Lesperance, CAPT, USCG, Ret., at jlesperance@hawaii.rr.com or, less preferred, 488-5205. Jerry

Welcome to Our New Member Andrew T. Key, LCDR, USN, Ret., Ewa Beach

No. 10, October 2006 Na Leo O Na Koa Page 3

Jerry Lesperance, newly elected Board Chair of Aloha Chapter, MOAA, appointed a nominating committee to recommend the selection of Board of Director nominees for the term 2007–2009. The nominating committee members are: Bob Kozuki, LTC., USA, Ret., Chairperson, Mel Ku-wamoto, LTC, USAF, Ret., Ruth Willenborg, AUX., and Tak Yoshihara, CAPT.,USN, Ret. The current Board of Directors are: Jerry Lesperance, CAPT.,USCG, Ret., term 2005-2007, Board Chair Clarence Agena, BG, USA, Ret., term 2004-2006 Anna Blackwell, AUX, term 2004-2006 Jack Bohman, LTC, USA, Ret., term 2005-2007, and Joe Magaldi, Jr., COL., USMC, Ret., term 2004-2006 Board of Directors who resigned during the year: Ed Hirata, BG, USA, Ret Charles Ota, LTC, USAF, Ret The nominating committee recommends the fol-lowing nominees for the term 2007-2009: AUX Anna D. Blackwell

General Election for the Board of Directors, Aloha Chapter, MOAA USN Bob Diebler, CAPT., USN,

Ret. USA Les Ihara, COL, USA, Ret. USA Curtis Lee, COL, USA, Ret. USMC Joe Magaldi, Jr., COL.,

USMC, Ret., and USAF Leroy Perry, LTC., USAF,

Ret. The above nominees for the Board of Directors will be presented to the general membership during the Aloha Chapter, MOAA, November meeting to be held on Thursday, November 16, 2006, tenta-tively at Club 14, Sand Island, USCG Base Hono-lulu Nominations from the general membership will be entertained and then the election will be held to select our new Board of Directors. Bob

Collection Point for Used Clothing Sandy Ballard, Executive Director of the Oahu Veterans’ Center, has agreed to be the collection point for our used clothing and small toilette arti-cles for the homeless veterans at Barbers Point. Take your donations to the Oahu Veterans’ Cen-ter, 1298 Kukila Street, Foster Village, across from Radford High School on Salt Lake Blvd. Norm

Page 4 Na Leo O Na Koa No. 10, October 2006

MERRIE LADIES’ Merry Event in Nov. Our next Merrie Ladies gathering will take place on Monday, November 6th at the Gyotaku Restau-rant in Waimalu. We will be making ribbon angel ornaments for the patients at Tripler's Center for Aging for our Chapter’s Christmas Community Service Committee’s activity. We need to make 60 angels for the patients and everyone who partici-pates in this project will also be able to make a rib-bon angel for themselves. All materials will be provided. Please call Esther Takenaka at 456-7822; Nari Hamlin at 486-7159 or Marion Von at 732-3908 if you would like to join our altruistic fellowship. Marion

Add these Websites to your “Favorites” http://www.aloha-moaa.org

http://www.moaa.org

Major General Wolff to be Honored Chapter Charter and Life member MG (Ret) Herbert E. Wolff is being honored by the Hawaii Army Museum Society (HAMS) at a breakfast gathering to be held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) on Wednesday, November 15, 2006. Ma-jor General Wolff, founder and retiring President of HAMS, will be presented its IHE Award for his long outstanding leadership and service. “Major General Wolff has been a staunch sup-porter of Aloha Chapter since it was chartered in January, 2000, and is the major contributor to its Scholarship Fund to date,” said Charter Board Chair and President Colonel (Ret) Les Ihara. “So it is most appropriate that Aloha Chapter honor and pay tribute to him by being sufficiently present when he is presented that award,” he added. Aloha Chapter is reserving at least one table of 10 persons for this event, scheduled to begin at 7 AM at the HHV’s Coral Ballroom. Cost of the event is $40 per person. Current and former Chap-ter and Scholarship Fund leaders are especially en-couraged to attend, but other members/spouses are also welcomed. Please contact Col Ihara at 239-7947, or e-mail him at lsi@hawaii.rr.com, to sign-up as soon as possible, but not later than No-vember 1st, 2006. Checks should be made payable to Hawaii Army Museum Society and mailed to Les Ihara at 47-230 Hui Aeko St, Kaneohe, HI 96744. Les

Entertainment Books for 2007 Two-for-one Entertainment Books (EB) 2007 are available now through the Aloha Chapter Party Bridge Group since chapter leadership has decided not to undertake that annual fundraising task. Books are now available from Shirley Ihara, Party Bridge Program Coordinator, who says her Com-mittee is using this initiative to raise funds for cards, supplies, prizes, and Mahalo mementos. Persons desiring to purchase one or more EB's are asked to contact Shirley at 239-7947, or e-mail to lsi@hawaii.rr.com. Cost of each EB was not confirmed at press time, but will not exceed last year's cost of $35. Shirley

No. 10, Octobwe 2006 Na Leo O Na Koa Page 5

The Colonnade on the Green in Aiea was the site for the monthly party bridge session on Sunday, September 17th, hosted by a trio of bridge enthusi-asts who live and/or frequently play there, namely Mitzi Austin, Sam Heard, and Helen Hubbell. As evidenced by the 1st photo, they provided a ta-ble full of party snacks for the 20 bridge players who participated, and it didn't show the desserts and drinks - cakes, pies, coffee, soft drinks, etc. Their efforts made possible the ambiance, niceties, and good food most conducive to good fun and entertainment, regardless of the results. The results revealed that the top scorers were an interesting mix of new and older chapter members and spouses of our chapter. Three of the six top scorers were “new” in that they joined our chapter because of our chapter's monthly bridge program — Top scorer Lois Luehring, Helen Hubbell, 2nd, and Sam Heard, 4th. Other top scorers were: Edy Kuwamoto, who came in 3rd, Shirley Ihara, 4th and Ken Carroll, 6th.

Other participants that day were: Mitzi Austin, Lia Carroll, Len & Helen Fahrni, Bill & Trudi Ernst, Les Ihara, Mel Kuwamoto, Dave Luehring, Ken & Lillian Patterson, Vernon & Marion Von, and guest player Hazel Theodore. The next chapter party bridge session will be held on Sunday, October 15th, at the residence of hosts Gary & Bev Jensen in Mililani, beginning at 1 PM. Their address is 95-195 Mohai Place. Those bridge players who did not sign up at the last session and all others desiring to participate are asked to con-tact Gary or Bev at 623-4296 NLT Wednesday the 11th. Shirley

Aloha Chapter September Bridge Party

Five of the Six Top Scorers: Lois Luehring (Top Scorer), Shirley Ihara, Helen Hub-bell, Edy Kuwamoto & Sam Heard Hosts for September’s Bridge Party with their Snacks

and, l – r, Jesse Gutierrez (Sam Heard’s guest) Helen Hubbell, Sam Heard & Mitzi Austin

Page 6 Na Leo O Na Koa No. 10, October 2006

Aloha Chapter Golf Report For September By Norm Fujiwara

Recruit A New Member in 2006!

Your Aloha Chapter is always looking for new members—active duty, retirees, and auxiliary members, all are welcome and will enjoy the camaraderie of the Aloha Chapter. Make it your goal to recruit at least one new member in 2006. For more in-formation, contact Gordon Cho, Vernon Von or any member.

Whoever coined the phrase “it's feast or fam-ine” must have had the Aloha Chapter golf out-ings in mind. Last month we a record-breaking 29 players at the Mamala Bay Golf Course; this month we had a sorrowful 8 players on Monday, September 25th, at the Ewa Beach Golf Club. The real culprit was not the players, but a mis-communication between Leilehua Golf Course and yours truly. As they say, “we were not play-ing on the same music page.” I had planned for us to play at Leilehua GC on Friday, September 22nd, but Leilehua GC said otherwise; thus, I frantically tried to set up an alternate date and was able to schedule play at the Ewa Beach GC. There were 17 players signed up to play on Sep-tember 22nd, but when I notified them of the problem and explained that I have rescheduled our outing to Ewa Beach Golf Club for Monday September 25th, a majority of the players indi-cated that they were unable to play on Monday due to other commitments. I would like to take this time to apologize to all the players that were signed up for Friday at Leilehua, but were unable to play on Monday. My apologies go to Cla-

rence Agena, Bob Kozuki, Curtis Lee, Gordon Cho, Don Dismuke and his guest, John Seeley, Ken Munechika, Hal Okita, Mel Soong, Jack Bohman, Walter Kinoshita and Leroy Perry. As for this month’s golf outing at Ewa Beach Golf Club, the group was small but as they say, “a good time was had by all.” The course is in excellent shape and any problems experienced by the players were basically the fault of the player, I will vouch for that personally. Because of the small group, we had no format for a mega jack-pot. I wish to thank all the players that came out that Monday instead of the previously scheduled Friday. I had to do some arm twisting but they all came to the call for kokua. The players who had such a great time playing our first non-military golf course were: Allen Ono, Vernon Von, Ken Yamada, Yoshi Nakamura, Alice Fujiwara, yours truly and two of our guests, Mike Pang and Bob Oshiro. That's my sorrowful golf report for this month. Next month's golf outing is back at the Mamala Bay Golf Course, Hickam AFB, on Friday, Octo-

ber 27th. Aloha, Norm

No. 10, October 2006 Na Leo O Na Koa Page 7

Joint Luncheon Meeting in October Our next general membership meeting will be held on Thursday, October 19, 2006, at the Hale Koa Hotel. This will be a joint luncheon meeting with the Hawaii Chapter. A speaker will come from our National Headquarters in Washington, D.C., to give his presentation to both chapters. The speaker will be Mr. Phillip A. Dyer, Certified Financial Planner, who is the deputy director, financial education at MOAA. Mr. Dyer is a graduate of West Point and was commissioned in 1985. He served on active duty as an armor officer with duty assignments in Germany and Ft. Knox, KY. He separated from active duty in 1990 with the rank of captain. His talk will cover MOAA’s lobbying efforts in Congress as they apply to veteran affairs, projects in which HQ is currently involved and what has been accomplished so far this year by National HQ and other topics. A question and answer period will follow his talk. Mr. Dyer will also present our chapter with a 5-Star Banner which is in recognition of our commitment to the mission of MOAA and its programs for the past year. This is the second time it has been awarded to our chapter and is a real tribute our chapter’s leaders and, more importantly, to the members who par-ticipate in our many activities and pro-jects throughout the year. We have also invited representatives from the Hawaii National Guard, BG Gary Ishikawa, and Army Reserves, Col. Mathew Horn, to attend. Since this is a joint meeting, it will be a good opportunity again for our members to meet members from the Hawaii Chap-ter. The luncheon will begin at 11:30 AM in the Laulima Room on the second floor of the Hale Koa Hotel. It will be a soup, salad and sandwich buffet and the cost is $19.50 per person. Harold

Veterans’ Benefits Health care: For most veterans, entry into the VA health care system begins by applying for enrollment (by completing VA Form 10-10EZ – available at the Spark Matsunaga VA Medi-cal Center, Tripler AMC or calling 1-877-222-8387). There are exceptions for the necessity of enrollment.

Home Loan Guaranty: VA home loan guaranties are issued to help eligible service members, vet-eran, reservists and unmarried surviving spouses to obtain homes, condominiums and to refinance loans. Visit http://www.homeloans.va.gov. Wes

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid

Honolulu HI

Permit No. 930

Aloha Chapter Military Officers Association

Of America P.O. Box 19267

Honolulu HI 96817-8267

MOAA Seal

Aloha Chapter * 2000 Outstanding Chapter Runner-Up

* 2000 3-Membership Recruiting Awards

* 2001 Outstanding Chapter

* 2001 Membership Recruiting Award

* 2002 5-Star Chapter

* 2002 Excellence in Recruiting Award

* 2003 Honorable Mention Newsletter

* 2003 4-Star Chapter

* 2004 Winner Best Website

* 2004 2nd Runner-Up Electronic Newsletter

* 2004 4-Star Chapter

* 2005 Winner-Cat VII "Give Me 10" Recruitment Campaign

* 2005 5-Star Chapter

Board of Directors

Jerry Lesperance, USCG, Chair 488-5205 lesperance@hawaii.rr.com Clarence Agena, USA 677-4103 cmagena1@hawaiiantel.net Anna D. Blackwell, AUX 739-9164 annagram2@aol.com Jack E. Bohman, USA 235-8078 jbohman59@hawaii.rr.com Joseph Magaldi, Jr., USMC 222-2013 magaldij001@hawaii.rr.com

Officers/Executive Committee President-Vernon Von, USAF 732-3908 vvon777@earthlink.net Vice Pres.-Harold Kuwahara 944-4010 harold@hele.net Secretary-Gordon Cho 484-2400 gcho440443@aol.com Treasurer-Art Yamamoto 833-3111 aty@verizon.net

Committee Chairs Community Services: Sam Heard, 488-8897, jetsethawaii@hotmail.com

Fundraising: Herbert Nakagawa Jr., 271-1172, shibikoherb@hotmail.com

Govt/Legislative Affairs: Kelley Roberson, 732-2988, kelleyroberson@hawaii.rr.com

Historical Activities: Nari Hamlin, 486-7150, narivee@aol.com

Membership: Gordon Cho, 484-2400, gcho440443@aol.com

Personal Affairs: Bob Kozuki, 693-8965, kozukir001@hawaii.rr.com

Program: Harold Kuwahara, 944-4010, Harold@hele.net

Publications/Webmaster: Mark Webster, 734-5994, Markster@hawaii.rr.com

ROTC/Veteran Affairs: Wes Fong, 595-6127, wesleyf.fong@hawaiiantele.net

Awards

2006 Aloha Chapter Leadership