IN THE LINE OF DUTY
A dinner Dec. 11 will raise funds to build Hawaii’s first memorial to law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of duty
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ilies. Krissy Winn had just moved to Hilo in 1991 with husband Alan and two daughters, Whitney and Lauren. They still hadn’t gotten all the boxes emptied when, while watching cartoons with the girls, a news bulletin reported a DEA pilot had been killed in a helicopter crash. She called the hangar and a person she never met asked her to stay put while someone came for her. Sadly, the family had unknowingly prepared for such a horrific event. One of Alan’s best friends, a fellow DEA agent who was very close to Krissy and the kids, was killed during Operation Desert Storm. It fell on the parents to explain it to the girls. Using the same message, the girls were able to comfort their mother.
“We had a talk with the girls about Uncle Gene, that he died and that he had an important job to fly helicopters with God. That evening when I was putting them to bed, I was sad and was crying, and we were all in bed together trying to get them to calm to down, and Lauren (who was 4 at the time) said, ‘Don’t worry, Mommy, Dad is in heaven with Uncle Gene flying helicopters for God.’”
The idea for the memorial came after Gribbin-Aiu, daughter Tiffany and husband Thomas visited a police museum five years ago in Titusville, Fla. Inside the building was a replica of the D.C. memorial, which showed Bayne’s name and those of the the other Hawaii officers. “I just couldn’t believe that here, in this town in the middle of nowhere, they could afford to build a memorial but we could not.
I didn’t understand that,” she says.
The project became even more emotional a few years later during a service for a Neighbor Island sheriff’s officer. A mother came to Honolulu to mourn her dead son and there was no place to grieve. Gribbin-Aiu said it broke her heart. So after Thomas retired, they decided the time was right to act.
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They petitioned for land on the state Capitol grounds, and both houses agreed unanimously.
“The area is perfect,” she says of the spot they found near the Kalanimoku building. “You want a place for people to go with their families so they can reflect either alone or with their families to celebrate.”
The memorial will be designed by the University of Hawaii School of Architecture. Two-hundred-and-fifty students turned out for the presentation. A scale model of the top three plans as chosen by the board and the school will be presented at the dinner, as will the young architects and designers. Attendees to the dinner will vote for the winning design.
For those deeply involved, the memorial is more than just a list of names. It is a tangible reminder of what they have lost.
“There is such a sense of finality to it when you look at the wall and see your loved one’s name there, but there is also such a sense of pride to know that there is somewhere that recognizes the sacrifice. I think a memorial serves so many purposes,” says Gaspar, who is a local board member of COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors), which provides assistance and counseling for family members.
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“Of course it serves the surviving families. I think it does a great service to the community to have somewhere to honor public servants. I think it also serves officers who are currently serving and protecting to have a place to go to not only remember their fallen brothers, but to serve the purpose of reminding them about why they do what they do. The benefits are so far-reaching that for us not to have one does our survivors, our community, our current officers such a disservice.”
For Johnson, the memorial will be just another way to connect with the father who took her to school in his SWAT truck, had her attend role call at the station where she got candy and her own nickname, Little B.B (dad was Big B.B.), and whose talent as a singer still helps her through the tough times.
“When you’re a kid, you’re used to having your parent around, and when they are not around you don’t have anyone to hold,” she says. “I guess it is something you can touch and you can feel. When I went to the memorial in D.C., I did the rubbing the first time. I’ve always had the rubbing on me all the time because it is something I can hold, and when I get sad I can pull it out of my wallet and hold it ... it helps me know they are not forgotten.”
Gribbin-Aiu estimates it will take $1 million to have the memorial built and maintained. Shopo kicked in a $50,000 donation to get the ball rolling, and she figures when they hit the halfway point, they can start putting shovel to dirt.
The Dec. 11 event is open to the public. Anyone interested in attending or purchasing a table can call 294-0715. For more information, visit hlemf.org.
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