Department of Defense

Hawaii Air Guard personnel along with Army Guard and departmental employees assisted with the gathering, packaging and delivering of relief supplies to the earthquake victims of the Kobe, Japan, in January.

– 1995 Annual Report pp. 20

State DOD takes a leading role in Hawaii’s Kobe disaster relief efforts

Story and photos by Stephen M. Lum

Japan’s worst disaster in recent history, the Jan. 16 earthquake, has brought out the best in Hawaii’s people.

The governor’s office organized a committee of state and private agencies to help Kobe citizens by gathering donations from the public and private sector. The committee included representatives from the Departments of Defense (DOD), Accounting and General Services (DAGS), Transportation (DOT), Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Public Safety (OOPS), the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, the YMCA, and Japan Airlines (JAL).

Meeting the governor’s Mission Aloha committee chal lenge to assist the earthquake victims were the soldiers and airmen of the Hawaii National Guard. Lt. Col. James K lwamura, representing the Department ofDefense, volunteered the transportation assets of the Hawaii Guard. lwamura, the Hawaii Air Guard’s deputy commander for resources, said, “The adjutant general’s guidance was to give our full support to Mission Aloha.” Since the DOD committed the most vehicles, we were asked to be the state’s lead agency to coordinate the transportation of relief supplies.

Warehouse operations key to success

Iwamura gives much of the credit to those responsible for the Hawaii Guard’s on-site operations staff headed by Maj. Gregory L. Burgess, from the Army Guard’s State Surface Maintenance Division. Burgess and Sgts. 1st Class Dean M. Hiramoto, Russell L. Bishop and Gregory DeCosta, from the Army Guard, coordinated the movement of thousands of pounds of relief goods from fire stations, YMCAs, and other drop-off locations to the Sand Island warehouse. Transportation included teams from the Army Guard (4), Air Guard, DAGS, and DOT.

The Hawaii Guard worked closely with Don Anderson, YMCA president, and his staff. The YMCA provided the tables, chairs, pens, markers, scissors, and tags, and gathered 120 to 160 volunteers daily to process the donations. Volunteers included private citizens, the Guard, and inmates from Oahu Community Corrections Center (OCCC).

Generous donations keep volunteers busy

An assortment of bags and boxes of blankets, liners, tarps, clothing, disposable diapers, paper products, personnel hygiene items, and food products greeted the volunteers each day.

DeCosta said during his two-week tenure, “Sometimes the donations formed mountains 15 by 20 feet wide by 10 feet high.”

Relief operations ran every day for three weeks, often from 6:30 in the morning to 11 at night. The daytime operations included the pick-up and delivery of goods, cleaning of the warehouse, and coordinating donations of packing supplies and meals. Moving, storage, delivery, and food product businesses donated packing supplies such as boxes, tape, plastic bags, and plastic wrap.

While Bishop and DeCosta, both from the 193rd Aviation ran the warehouse operations, Hiramoto coordinated Guard staffing and wrote daily summary reports. “Although the warehouse operation was to shutdown Feb. 17, we were still coordinating some smaller relief deliveries after that,” said Hiramoto.

A morning crew of 20 to 30 Guard members and OCCC volunteers offloaded, sorted, boxed, labeled, and palletized the relief goods. The inmates were relieved by YMCA volunteers at 2 p.m. An evening crew of YMCA volunteers continued sorting a goal of 14 pallets a day. Y’s volunteers came from elementary schools, church groups, Boy and Girl Scouts, Y’s Men’s clubs and youth groups, Lion’s Club, and other private businesses.

“Volunteers gave from the heart. One of the inmate volunteers was on his last day of imprisonment, but wanted to pitch-in … to do his part .. to help,” said Iwamura.

“The same hard working OCCC crew stayed with us for the three weeks,” said DeCosta. “They knew what to do, how to sort, and the military style clean-as-you-go route. We had to adjust our military style of ordering soldiers to diplomatically showing how we wanted each mission accomplished.”

The response from Hawaii’s people and businesses was so overwhelming that the collection and distribution was extended another two weeks.

The operation did not go off without minor glitches, said Burgess. We were ready to shut down, but uncoordinated donations from neighbor island and Oahu schools keep coming in sporadically.

“Like a boiler, you have to know which valve to tum on or off to relieve the pressure,” said Burgess “with the last minute shipments coming in we had to cancel the pick up of the forklift, coordinate packing staff and check with the air cargo to see if they could take the load.”

Tons of relief goods sent

The first shipment of 165 boxes loaded into.three JAL cargo containers were given an Aloha send off to Japan by Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, Tadamichi Okubo (JAL vice president and regional manager), Don Anderson (YMCA Hawaii president), and the Hawaii National Guard members, Jan. 25. The following day, 406 boxes were hauled by an Air Guard semi-trailer to JAL Cargo for shipping. More than 70 U.S. tons of relief goods were donated. Donations were shipped free by JAL on a space available basis.

“Fifty-two Hawaii Guard soldiers and 16 airmen, and volunteers from DOD staff and family members assisted in the relief efforts,” adds Burgess. “Many full-timers often spent 10 to 14 hours making the operation happen. We’re still receiving relief supplies and hope to wrap-up the scaled down operation by the end of March.”

– 1995 January – February Pūpūkahi pp. 1 & 3

Command notes

Kudos

On another matter, I want to thank everyone who participated in the Mission Aloha project drive for the victims of the Kobe, Japan, earthquake. The State Department of Defense played an integral part
in the state’s relief efforts.

Our operations were supported by both the Hawaii Army and Air National Guard in a truly joint operation. I would like to extend my appreciation to all the HING men and women who participated. This was another effort that was well planned and well executed.

– 1995 January – February Pūpūkahi pp. 2

Hawaii Army National Guard

Thank you to all who helped in the Mission Aloha activities. Mission Aloha is the state government’s program of assistance to the victims of the Kobe earthquake disaster. National Guard soldiers have been in the thick of the effort, transporting, packaging, and organizing the tons of donated material.

– 1995 January – February Pūpūkahi pp. 5

Hawaii Guard supports worldwide missions and disaster relief

In January and February, the Hawaii National Guard was designated as the lead State agency for Mission Aloha, the effort supporting victims of the Kobe, Japan, earthquake. The Hawaii Guard organized transportation from the various collection centers and delivered 72 tons of donated items to Honolulu International Airport. Beginning in November, Mission Aloha II, was launched to assist the victims of Typhoon Angela in the Philippines. Once again, the Hawaii Guard helped move relief supplies, more than 64 tons, for that effort.

– 1995 December Pūpūkahi pp. 2

In the aftermath of the 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquake. Mission Aloha was, born to provide relief efforts to the victims. The unit collected food, clothing and other donations from various organizations; throughout the island of Oahu. The 293 CBCS provided manpower and vehicle support to accomplish the goals set for mission Aloha

–1996 Five Decades of Service Excellence Hawaii Air National Guard Golden Anniversary 1946-1996 pp. 77