Dear Members of our Armed Forces, our Veterans, our family members, and our Veterans Organizations,
Aloha!
We have been receiving complaints concerning violations occurring at our Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery at Kaneohe. These infractions have been taking place during the weekends and on holidays when the State Cemetery Staff is not on duty. We have repeatedly passed out information to our Veterans through the Oahu Veterans Council over the last three months and through briefings with Veterans Organizations as well as with members of the general public during our weekday operations. Unfortunately, the violations have persisted. Consequently, the State Office of Veterans Services is reviewing measures to place uniform security on duty for these periods. Security personnel will advise clientele visiting the cemetery of the rules violation, present them a copy of the rules and regulations, and ask them to comply. If they choose not to comply, the uniformed security will request that they leave the cemetery. If they are still non-compliant, the uniformed security will contact the Honolulu Police Department for removal and enforcement. There is no plausible reason for the latter to ever occur. For those loved ones who are buried at our State Veterans Cemeteries, we accomplish pre-burial meetings with all families and they sign an agreement concerning the rules and standards for the cemetery. These cemetery rules were established to maintain respect, honor, and dignity for all those who are buried and those who visit these hallowed grounds. Attached are our current cemetery rules and standards. These rules apply specifically to our Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, but we are asking our County Directors on our neighbor islands who maintain our Veterans Cemeteries to adopt these measures as well to ensure these high standards are maintained. Please feel free to share this info with your fellow Veterans, your family members, and finally, your friends. Our goal and objective is to ensure our State Veterans Cemeteries are maintained at a level of excellence…we owe this to the sacrifices of all those who have made these hallowed grounds their final resting place.
Thank you in advance for your kokua and assistance!
Mahalo,
Ron Han