Waimea man’s ceremony attracts veterans from across state

WAIMEA — On Veterans Day 1969, just months after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, Klem Kaniho Sr. put up an American flag and saluted.

“The first one was up on the wall,” he said, “a small, little 8-by-12.”

Kaniho, who was born in Kohala and raised in Waimea, had been drafted into the Army in December 1966 and served two tours during the Vietnam War before his discharge in December 1968.

When he was drafted, he said, he went.

“I just went in the Army and had to do what they told us, basically,” Kaniho said Friday.

“We had no choice,” he said later. “We didn’t know what we were there for, we just did what we were told.

“It was a tough situation.”

For his service, Kaniho received several medals and ribbons, including three bronze medals.

Standing in front of that first flag, Kaniho said he was struck with several emotions.

“I had a lot of pride, yeah,” he said. “But, um, I don’t know how you can put it.”

The feelings were complex, he said, particularly when it came to thinking about those with whom he served.

“I just think about the guys in my squadron,” said Kaniho. “Just losing the friends that was all in the service.”

Kaniho repeated that ceremony every year and would include his family, as well.

His daughter, Terri K. Kaniho, said that as a child, she didn’t quite understand the significance of the ceremony.

“We were just doing what we were supposed to do, doing what we’re told,” she said.

As the years went on, however, she gradually came to understand and appreciate her father’s ceremony even more.

“You know, you get older and you start to understand why there’s Veterans Day,” she said.

Her brother, Klem Jr., made a similar point.

“When we was young, I didn’t really recognize it,” he said. “After I was older, I kinda realized what was going on.”

Klem Kaniho Jr. said the ceremonies taught him respect.

“Pretty much respect for what everyone did for their country,” he said.

And not only did the children’s understanding grow, so did the ceremony, as well.

In the past 47 years, Klem Kaniho’s Veterans Day event has expanded dramatically from the veteran standing alone in front of a flag on the wall to an event that attracts veterans from across the state to the Kaniho residence.

Terri Kaniho said she loves seeing everyone come together for the event.

“When I see everybody gather, it hits me that it’s amazing how everyone’s here for a reason,” she said. “They’re here to salute or celebrate or remember. Everyone has something in common.”

After 45 years, said Terri Kaniho, the event nearly ended. Her father, she said, was getting older and “felt it was time to stop.”

She, however, wanted to keep going. That’s when she and her brother took over planning the event.

“We felt it was important to carry it on,” she said. “Everyone comes here. They look forward to it.”

Dozens gathered Friday for this year’s event, which featured live music, taiko drums, food and a flag ceremony.

Now a mother of a 6-year-old boy, Terri Kaniho wants to be sure her son is raised seeing these events.

“Something that I want my son to grow up and just know is it’s about his papa,” she said.

It was difficult for her father to talk about his service, she said. She makes sure her son knows about his grandfather’s service, saying that she shows him the medals and records of service.

“I tell him, ‘Papa has served his country,’” she said.

Michael Crush, a U.S. Army veteran who served as a door gunner in Vietnam from 1970-71, first started coming to the ceremony about five years ago. Since then, he’s made the trip from Oahu every year.

He said his sister, who lives in Waimea, told him about the event, so he came out and started to meet the others who attend.

“Like all veterans, we all feel connected,” he said Friday.

And there are always connections to be made, he added, saying that just that day he’d already met someone with whom he had a mutual acquaintance.

Crush added that he loves that the event can draw veterans together.

“It says something about all war veterans,” he said. “We’re all close together.”