Aloha!  I want to personally thank each of you who helped make this a reality —you should know what you did for my Soldiers and the people who attended the luau. 

We publicized the luau all over the place. I sure wish I was on that beach right now!

The attached pictures are just a sample of the craziness and “aloha spirit” the Soldiers in my 314th PAOC from Birmingham, Ala., created for folks from all over the world here in the International Zone on August 21.  More than 300 attended – and of those about 10-15 were from Hawaii and many more had either been stationed there or visited the islands. 

SPC Brittany Gardner circulated in the crowd distributing plastic, silk and shell leis to luau attendees.

The Soldiers in my unit are great.  I convinced the 314th Soldeirs to wear donated aloha shirts and circulate through the crowd and give everyone a warm welcome and lei.  They made everyone feel special — you can tell from all smiles in the pictures.  It might not have been an “authentic” luau (we could not put a pig in the ground in a Muslim country, for example) but I could definitely feel the spirit.  Besides, with no mai tais (General Order #1), we had to act a little silly to get everyone to “hang loose”.  Of course, we could not have done this without the support of my friends in Hawaii like Sherri Okinaga, Lorraine Nakaji and Mike Mau.  And then they told their friends and co-workers.  

SGT Mary Lee was our photo assistant. We took photos of all the participants with their leis at a small kiddie pool (the closest thing we could find to simulate Waimea Bay).

 For instance, Lorraine told David Gonsalves at Hilo Hattie, a store in Hilo that sells aloha clothing and other items that make you think about Hawaii.  Collectively they shipped us everything from aloha shirts, grass skirts and haupia to tiki god statues, calendars of the men and women of Hawaii (in bathing suits) and more than 750 leis of all sorts.  Now tell me, how could this not have been fun?  We even had a huge Hawaii state flag flying over here (I think even King Kamehameha would have been happy). 

Soldiers at the luau got to try local food favorites like roast pork, macaroni salad, sticky rice (with seaweed sprinkled on top), chicken long rice, and haupia.

After we finished our luau, we took part in a teleconference with Hawaii  Governor Linda Lingle, U.S. Pacific Command Admiral Timothy Keating, Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.  One Soldier from Hawaii now in Kentucky for college, SPC Amy Balli, a 2006 graduate of Konawaena High School, joined us in sending our collective “aloha” to the thousands of people in the Hawaii Convention Center listening in on that conversation.  It was quite an evening for all of us!

SFCs Jeremiah Glassford and Adam Daley enjoyed the food...and their aloha woven hats.

 I know some people in Hawaii did not want the state to celebrate.  They see statehood as a negative thing.  From my point of view, however, all this outpouring of love, generosity and the aloha spirit showered on my Soldiers and those at the luau would not have happened without statehood. 

 People stuck around the luau for more than hour after we closed everything down, just basking in the “aloha spirit” and enjoying a break from the reality of Iraq with all the boredom interrupted by moments of violence, death and insanity.

 For that, I thank all of you.  And to those who made my 17 years in Hawaii some of the best in my life, mahalo nui loa! 

LTC Lee Reynolds (left), a former resident of Hawaii, gives the shaka sign with our luau emcee SFC Benari Poulten, a Soldier in the 314th PAOC (and a Broadway actor and comedian when he is home in Manhattan).

There was no beach, so no surfing competition, so we improvised -- we had a limbo contest. I don't know, but I think MAJ James Lincoln, the 314th Executive Officer, might do pretty well "hanging ten" at Banzai Pipeline.

After the experienced hula dancers at the luau showed how to do it right, we opened it up to others (prizes for everyone who got up to entertain us). Here is SGT EMily Anderson. I think she looks pretty authentic...and she was darn good with the dancing, too.

At the end of the night, the Soldiers of the 314th took a well-deserve break from cleaning up the luau. Shortly after this, we moved to our Combined Press Information Center for a telephone call to talk to the thousands of people assembled in the Hawaii Convention Center. (Photos by SSG Paul Roberts, 314th PAOC)