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.
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