Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Commentary

Media Credit: Courtesy of U.S. Embassy of the Phillipines Sgt. Myla Maravaillosa's mother, Estelita, receives a U.S. flag and the Bronze Star earned by her daughter.

Media Credit: Courtesy of the Hoe family 1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe was ranked fourth among 4,500 ROTC cadets. He was killed by a sniper in 2005.

Today continues our profile of U.S. soldiers and marines killed in action in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns who grew up in Hawai‘i. Yesterday, Hawai‘i residents who died in 2003 to 2004 were covered.
Part one: Names and memories dramatize true cost of war, Nov. 14
Part three: UH-Hilo grad among last year's local war dead, Nov. 29

If you are aware of any omissions or errors in these descriptions, please e-mail commentary@kaleo.org.

Finally, the leading paragraphs of yesterday's commentary erroneously related the anecdote from "A Rumor of War" by Phil Caputo. Contrary to what was printed, it was young, 24 year-old Lieutenant Caputo who suggested that 12 dead soldiers in two months "isn't bad," and it was the unit chaplain who reminded him that those deaths meant: "Twelve wrecked homes, Lieutenant."

2005

1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe, U.S. Army Reserve - Maunawili

Hoe was killed by a sniper in Iraq on Jan. 22, 2005. He graduated Kamehameha Schools in 1995, and attended the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where he nearly completed his MBA and was also ROTC battalion commander. In 2002, he was ranked fourth among 4,500 ROTC cadets.

According to Lt. Col. James Johnson, UH Mānoa professor of military science, Hoe was "genuine in his pursuit of the very best in himself and others."

His wife Emily said that although he was serious and precise, he loved to watch "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoons.

His father is an attorney active with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. His brother is a private in Hoe's 100th Battalion, 442nd Regiment.

Hoe's coffin was borne by four barefoot warriors in kīhei and four soldiers in full dress, led by two more warriors with koa and ‘ōhi‘a spears. Hoe was buried at the Hawai‘i State Veterans Cemetery in Kāne‘ohe. He was 27 years old.

Sgt. Deyson K. Cariaga, U.S. Army National Guard - Kalihi

Cariaga was killed by an IED in Iraq on July 8, 2005. He was the first Hawai‘i National Guard member Iraq KIA (killed in action). Cariaga graduated from Roosevelt High School in 2002 and attended Honolulu Community College. He loved surfing and eating li hing mango and coconut balls. He was buried in Punchbowl National Cemetery. He was 20 years old.

Spc. Ray Michael Fuhrmann II, U.S. Army - Volcano

Fuhrmann was killed by an IED in Iraq on Aug. 18, 2005. He was raised in Volcano, Big Island, and California. He attended Waiakea High School in Hilo. He left early to pursue his passion of studying aikido in Japan. Said his father, "He was a very good solider. ... He was their best."

A medic on his second tour in Iraq, Fuhrmann earned the Silver Star for saving the lives of six Iraqis on March 22 of that year. The medal was presented to his father. After finishing his Army service, he planned to become a physician. Fuhrmann was survived by a half-brother, half-sister and his wife. He was 28 years old.

Later that week, Maj. Marino Gilmete David, U.S. Army Reserve, of Mililani, died in Louisiana training to deploy in Iraq. He was 47.

Pvt. 1st Class Kevin S. Wessel, U.S. Army - Honolulu

Wessel was killed by an IED in Iraq on April 19, 2005. Although he listed Oregon as his home, he was born and raised in Honolulu and moved to Oregon to join the Coast Guard.

Wessel was a former Boy Scout who loved hiking in the mountains and wanted to become a pilot like his father Paul, who flies for United Airlines. After high school, instead of the Coast Guard, he became a soldier. Because of his high enlistment test score, he entered as a PFC. He was 20 years old.

Sgt. Daniel A. Tsue, U.S. Marine Corps - Moanalua

Tsue was killed by an IED in Iraq on Nov. 1, 2005. He graduated from Kahuku High School in 1996. He was a specialist in disarming bombs; he successfully disabled 63 IEDs. His aunt, Joan Murata, remembered that as a child, he solved math equations faster than they could be written out.

He attended UH Hilo for one semester before he joined the Marines. While in Iraq, he told his parents he would stay an extra six months because he was single to "save some married guy from having to leave his family." He was buried in Punchbowl National Cemetery. He was 27 years old.

Sgt. Myla L. Maravillosa, U.S. Army Reserve - Wahiawā

Maravillosa was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq on Dec. 24, 2005. A 1999 graduate of Leilehua High School, in Wahiawā, she previously attended Leeward Community College. She had planned to attend Hawai‘i Pacific University, but the Army sent her to Iraq. She died 34 days after entering Iraq.

Coming from the Philippines in 1997, she joined the Army to serve her new country. Maravillosa was a devout Catholic who attended the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu. Her dream was to work overseas for the U.S. State Department. Unmarried, she was survived by her mother Estelita, then 62 years old. She was 24 years old.

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