Contributing editor Stephen Lum provided this article and the photographs for this Retiree News post.
Former Maui armory named for former 299th Infantry commander
click on photographs to enlarge
The Hawai‘i Army National Guard’s Wailuku Armory, built on state lands in 1937, was named after Frank A. Alameda Armory, November 11. 1973. The armory once housed the Guard’s Headquarters, 1st Battalion, 299th Infantry. In 2003, Iao Intermediate School, which shared the gymnasium with the Guard, took over the building completely and moved in after renovations.
Brigadier Gen. Frank Aloysius Alameda Sr., who was born in Halawa, North Kohala, Hawai‘i County, retired from the Hawai‘i Guard in 1959 after 34 years of military service.
In civilian life, after graduating from St. Louis College, he moved to Maui and worked at Lahaina’s Pioneer (Sugar) Mill then worked in the Philippines sugar plantation. He returned to Maui County and worked as a tax assessor until his county retirement in 1965.
Alameda enlisted in the Hawai‘i Guard’s Company A, 299th Infantry at Lahaina, Maui as a private in 1925. In less than two years he was the first sergeant, a second lieutenant in 1932, and a captain and company commander, in 1936.
He was activated along with his Hawai‘i Guard brothers, in 1940. By 1943, he was leading 2nd Battalion, 298th Infantry in the South Pacific. He also served as a battalion commander of the 6th Infantry Div. in the Philippines, before going to Korea to become the military governor. He returned to Hawai‘i as a full colonel, but took a reduction in rank to rejoin the Hawai‘i Guard.
Alameda regained his “colonelcy” when he took command of the 299th Regiment Combat Team from Col. Bryan in 1947. In 1957, he was promoted to brigadier general and was assigned as Assistant Adjutant General, Hawai‘i Army Guard until his Hawai‘i Guard retirement in 1959.
His awards included the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army Commendation Ribbon, Army of Occupation Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, and Hawai‘i National Guard Medal for Merit.
For the next generation of retirees, the question that will trump all others will be a simple one: How do you add life to longer lives?
As people live longer, and spend more time in retirement, the challenge will be to get more out of those years. How do you find a rewarding second career? How do you stay close with friends and family? How do you maintain independence and mobility? How do you embrace new experiences?
The equally simple answer: technology.
A Retiree News reader emailed that retired CMSgt Steve Kamaura in the front row of the photography of 3704th Basic Military training Squadron, Flight G204. Steve is in the front row.
Did you find any other Hawaii Air National Guard members in the photo collection?
The USAF Basic Military Training Flight Photograph Project is a concentrated effort to collect the approximately 119,000 USAF basic training photographs from the inception of the US Air Force in 1947 to the present. The collection includes photos from all bases that conducted Air Force basic training including Lackland AFB, Texas, Sampson AFB, New York, Parks AFB, California, Keesler Field, Mississippi, Amarillo and Sheppard AFB, Texas. The collection will also include Air Force basic training that was conducted overseas.
It’s time for the 46th Annual Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam tower lighting ceremony. The Freedom Tower ceremony will be on Friday, December 11, 2015.
More information about the ceremony
What Is Bronchitis? Bronchitis is a respiratory disease in which the mucus membrane in the lungs’ bronchial passages becomes inflamed.
Some people call it a “chest cold,” but its name is bronchitis. See how serious it can be.
You can register to receive an email every time there is a new post. In the “Follow Blog via Email” section and press “Follow”. On the next screen, enter your email address and press ENTER. Shortly, you will receive a confirmation email to your address from WordPress.com. You acknowledge the email and you are a registered reader.
After you compete this short registration process, you get a notification email every time there is a new posting. The email has a quick teaser of the posting, along with tags that indicate how the posting relates to special topics/areas. There is a direct link to the website (Read more of this post)
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Thanks to these Retiree News readers who registered to “Follow Blog via Email”: Sandra Yuen, Jimmy Dang
Planes and hangars burning at Wheeler Army Air Field, Oahu, soon after it was attacked in the morning of December 7, 1941. View toward the southwest as seen from a Japanese Navy plane. Naval History and Heritage Command photograph
From the This Day in Aviation website
On the morning of December 7, 1941, only two American pilots were able to get airborne to fight the Japanese attackers. Second Lieutenants Kenneth Marlar Taylor and George S. Welch took two Curtiss P-40B Warhawk fighters from a remote airfield at Hale‘iwa and against overwhelming odds, each shot down four enemy airplanes: Welch shot down three Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers and one Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter. Taylor also shot down four Japanese airplanes. Although both officers were nominated for the Medal of Honor by General Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold, they were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
A great trip down memory lane – Oahu in 1958.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zowXjuGwpQ
Special thanks to Fred Hyun for sharing this video.
WASHINGTON — Tricare could be fixed rather than scrapped if the first House hearing Thursday on reforming the military health care system is any indication.
Troop advocacy groups and lawmakers who kicked off the reform effort said they were interested in major reforms in the system of military and private providers that cares for 9.5 million beneficiaries. But they veered away from recommendations earlier this year that Tricare be replaced with an array of private provider plans similar to what federal civilians are offered.
From the G.I. Jobs website
Everyone from your career counselor to the neighbor down the street has let you know that LinkedIn is the place to be as a job seeker. So you establish an account. That’s all there is to it, right?
Unfortunately, it is not quite that simple. Your well-meaning advisors are correct in that LinkedIn is a very powerful tool for a job seeker. In a previous post we talked about ways to use Social Media to Advertise “You”; this post will also help you with the LinkedIn strategies we are about to discuss.
Will women now be required to register for the draft? Stars and Stripes‘ Tara Copp investigates through the lens of a pending federal lawsuit that goes before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON — Whether or not Thursday’s historic decision to allow women in all combat roles may require them to register for the draft faces its first test next week when a federal lawsuit challenging the male-only registration gets its day in court.
The case, National Coalition for Men vs. the Selective Service System, will be considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday.
Air Force Magazine is the monthly journal of the Air Force Association and one of the world’s foremost publications in the fields of defense and aerospace reporting. From Air Force operations, programs, and people to the exploits of Air Force heroes, Air Force Magazine reports on important aerospace news and developments and provides authoritative background material.
Click here to visit the magazine archive. (Also linked in the drop down menu under Periodicals on the maroon bar above.)
Retiree News just learned of the passing of Clayton E. M. Yuen, a Hawaii Air National Guard retiree. His wife, Sandra, emailed the following:
Clayton passed away on November 25, 2015, at the age of 72 at Pali Momi Hospital. He is survived by his wife Sandra, son Cameron and daughter Joell.
Service and burial will be on January 23, 2016, at 9:30 am at Mililani Mortuary’s mauka chapel.
Aloha Pumehana, Clayton!
