The state Department of Defense has received a $6 million federal grant to maintain a Hilo cemetery.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent the state a $6.1 million grant on Sept. 30 intended to restore gravesites at the East Hawai‘i Veterans Cemetery (No. 2).
Maj. Jeff Hickman, Public Affairs Director for the DOD, told Aloha State Daily that the project will realign 4,495 grave markers at the cemetery, making all headstones uniform in height and spacing. It will also grade some 5.5 acres of land, rehabilitate the soil and turf, and install new markers and flower watering stations throughout the cemetery.
The specs of the project note that “much of the beauty that exists or should exist in a national cemetery is the direct result of perfectly aligned markers. It only takes one marker out of alignment to spoil the appearance of an entire row, and thereby, the appearance of the entire section.”
The project will begin in January and will take 1.5 years to complete, with a completion date sometime around June 2028. The DOD previously conducted a similar project at the Maui Veterans Cemetery, which lasted between July 2018 and October 2020.
Veterans of wars from World War I to the Iraq War are interred at the Hilo cemetery, according to John Alamodin, director of the state Office of Veterans’ Services.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan, Hawai‘i Adjutant General, commended Samuel Brown, the VA’s Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs, for his “commitment to ensuring that our local residents who wore the nation’s cloth are entered in properly and meticulously maintained Veteran Cemeteries throughout the state of Hawai‘i.”
Hawai‘i County Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma told Aloha State Daily via email that the project has been “envisioned for many years” and will ensure the cemetery “meets the standards for veteran cemeteries and continues to honor the sacrifices and contributions of our loved ones who are buried there.”
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
