Hawaii honored its war dead in a fitting tribute to their sacrifices on Tuesday, April 18 before a joint session of the Hawaii State Senate and House. Dignitaries including Governor Linda Lingle, U.S. Congressman Ed Case, U.S. Senator Dan Akaka, State Senate & House members and a military delegation led by Major General Robert G.F. Lee presented the families of our fallen soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq the newly minted and approved "Hawaii Medal of Honor."

During the 90-minute long solemn ceremony, the House Clerk read the names of each of the Hawaii based soldiers as a Navy sailor rang a bell in their honor. The Governor and General Lee presented family members and friends of our fallen soldiers with the medal. Shortly afterward the soldiers were further honored with a 21-gun salute from outside the chamber. I wrote a special commentary that was published at HawaiiReporter.com at this link: http://tinyurl.com/lwe3s.