Woman mission wont let her forget

Tag : passing link chain

Every Nov. 11, Veterans Day, Girelli has a ritual at Pu'ukamali'iCemetery in 'Alewa Heights. She brings dozens of American flags,lei, and a huge banner that reads, "Don't forget World War IVeterans." Her slogan is "don't forget" because she says "remember"belongs to Pearl Harbor.
But sometimes she feels she's the only one who hasn't forgotten.
Girelli, now 79, remembers visiting Pu'ukamali'i Cemetery as achild. She remembers rows and rows of grave markers for World War Iveterans. She had to walk past them to get to her family's plot.Now, that area is bare.
"It took a while for it to dawn on me that something happened,"Girelli said. "When my mother died in 1979 and was buried here,that's when I realized the stones were gone."
A few years ago, Girelli found five headstones with the names ofWWI veterans lying near a shack at the cemetery. She wonders if theheadstones were removed to make mowing the area easier. These mayhave been put aside because they're broken, but Girelli worriesthere are more headstones buried underneath.
Solomon Kam of VFW Diamond Head Post 8616 heard of Girelli'smission and joined in her quest. He has written to variousgovernment agencies and contacted veterans' groups. So far, norecords of Pu'ukamali'i WWI burials.
Girelli herself is meticulous about documents. She keeps photoalbums of every Nov. 11 ritual along with lists of who came andwhat they had for lunch. She has searched the state archives andthe Kalihi LDS Family History Center for information. Everythingshe has collected about Pu'ukamali'i is stored in a big rollingsuitcase that she guards carefully.
But there doesn't seem to be a complete master list of who isburied at Pu'ukamali'i. A survey done by cemetery expert NanetteNapoleon shows the approximate location of the unmarked graves.
In 1901, the land below Natsunoya Teahouse in 'Alewa Heights wasleased to the territorial government for the burial of inmates whodied in the government asylum. The territory bought the land in1917. The state got the land, but not much information. Over theyears, prison work crews came every few weeks to mow the grass andremove trash.
Some of the graves at Pu'ukamali'i are recent. Girelli saysfamilies like hers have large plots, and when someone dies, theyare brought to be buried with their 'ohana. She remembers the WWIgraves were at the mauka end of the cemetery, closest to theteahouse.
Girelli's uncle, a WWI veteran, used to take care of the cemetery,not as an official employee, but more from a personal sense ofduty. This feeling of obligation has passed down to her, and she ispassing it down to her descendants. Once, when the grass in thecemetery got as high as the chain link fence, she summoned hergrandsons to bring weed whackers and take care of it.
There was a time in the late 1980s when the state considereddigging up the graves at Pu'ukamali'i to turn the land into a park,but there was sufficient public outrage and the plan was dropped in1991.
A few things have changed for the better in recent years. A chainlink fence now keeps the cemetery from being used as a parking lot.The grass is mowed, the weeds minimal. The state put up a sign withboth the name Pu'ukamali'i and the older name, Kalaepohaku, so thatfamilies looking for their ancestors can find the cemetery.
Girelli and Kam want validation of what they believe is there.Though the names corresponding with each grave may never be known,they envision a memorial plaque listing the Hawai'i men who servedin WWI who are buried on that 'Alewa hillside. Girelli would liketo talk with families who might have information on Pu'ukamali'i,and she wonders if someone who served on a prison work crewcleaning the cemetery all those decades ago knows what happened tothe rows of headstones she remembers.
This Veterans Day, she'll be up there again with her flags and herbanner and her family. It's part of the mission. Kam has signed onwith the same kind of determination. For him, it's about notwanting fellow soldiers to be forgotten.
"When I see those graves," he said, "I picture myself in there andI would want my 'ohana fighting for me."