USO Spells Aloha For Our Troops
For U.S. military personnel far from home, there’s no friendlier place than the USO
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Del.icio.usThe Ala Moana resident takes TheBus to the airport each day and helps where he’s needed. “I’ve done everything from changing baby diapers to talking a sailor from going AWOL (absent without leave),” he says.
The sailor, arriving for his Naval assignment at Pearl Harbor, was very homesick and spent the night at the airport lobby figuring a way to return home. When Villa met him and found out he was from his home-town of Pennsylvania, he struck a common chord.
It took three hours of coaching and counseling by Villa before the young sailor had a change of heart and reported to duty. A week later, he came back to thank Villa.
“I’ll never forget that experience,” Villa says, then adds emphatically, “Nobody from Pennsylvania goes AWOL!”
Historically, USO centers and clubs opened around the world in order to be a “home away from home” for GIs. The USO was a place to go for dances and social events, for movies and music, for a quiet place to talk or write a letter home, or for a free cup of coffee and a doughnut.
During World War II, the largest concentration of USO centers was in Hawaii. Following the Pearl Harbor attack, thousands of troops arrived here. In one month, some 2.25 million servicemen were served.
WWII brought thousands of soldiers into Waialua and other North Shore spots. A successful project, co-sponsored by the USO and Waialua Community Association, was dances for the enlisted men.
As reported in a Star-Bulletin account, women who represented the “upper crust” of social life in this plantation community were hostesses and chaperones. For the young women, it was a chance to make a difference in the war by dancing with someone who was about to go to battle in the South Pacific.
Today, dances and entertainment comprise about 20 percent of USO Hawaii’s programs. Deployment and redeployment hosting fill a major part of the 200 volunteers’ efforts.
Among new programs to be introduced this year are United Through Reading and Secret Operation Santa for families of deployed troops.
United Through Reading is a partnership of USO and the Family Literacy Foundation. This program helps deployed servicemen and women stay connected to their children through the medium of reading aloud. Members are videotaped reading a children’s book. A DVD, the book and instructions are mailed to the child and family back home. Recording equipment, books and packaging materials are supplied by USO.
Secret Santa is aimed at schools with children of military families. Holiday surprises, including Disney entertainment media and commissary gift certificates, are distributed.
That’s why USO spells aloha to Army Staff Sgt. Diane Brookins, based at Fort Shafter. She says, “USO tells me that people in the community care about what we do and appreciate us being here.”
Marine Sgt. E5 Omar Longoria says USO is especially valuable to newly arrived personnel. “You’re not used to being on your own and being away from family. USO is a place where there are other military (persons), so the mind-set’s the same. It is very accommodating.”
Hawaii and USO have something in common, observers say.
Islanders are natural hosts with a heart for welcoming strangers to their shores. USO reflects that Island tradition.
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