Royal Guard Leaders
Posted on Nov 10, 2020 in Retiree Update
Thanks to Darrell Bactad for send this photograph to Retiree News. It shows Darrell, the current Kapena Moku (Captain) of the Royal Guard, and Randall Lum, a former Kapena Moku. Both were attending the memorial service of Ronald Cozo, who was another retired Kapena Moku.
Related: Taps: Ronald Cozo
The Royal Guard is an Air National Guard ceremonial unit which is uniformed in a manner similar to the royal bodyguard of the Kingdom of Hawaii of the late 19th century. The original 50-man unit had been disbanded by King Lunalilo after the barrack mutiny of 1873, reestablished by King Kalakaua, and finally abolished when the monarchy fell in revolution at the end of the 19th century.
The current Royal Guards were raised in 1962 as a purely ceremonial unit. Each guardsman is a Hawaiian resident, a member of the Hawaii Air National Guard, of full or partial Hawaiian descent. The unit appears in support of the Governor at official State and other public functions; less frequently, the unit appears at ceremonies involving descendants of former Hawaiian royalty. (Wikipedia)
