On POW/MIA Recognition Day, Sept. 20, 2024, at 10 a.m. HST, American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) hosted a rosette ceremony at its Honolulu Memorial, in Hawaii, where approximately 950 bronze rosettes were placed to honor Vietnam veterans who have been accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

More than 300 guests including 30 Gold Star Families of Vietnam service members identified and U.S. and ABMC officials as well as the local community gathered at Honolulu Memorial for the ceremony. The ceremony included the posting of colors, the national anthem, an invocation, the reading of the Hawaii Proclamation, a wreath laying, Taps, as well as remarks from dignitaries.

Ceremony remarks were provided by U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Sharon Bannister, daughter of U.S. Air Force Capt. Stephen A. Rusch (formerly missing in action, now accounted for); Colleen Shine, daughter of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Anthony C. Shine (formerly missing in action, now accounted for) and representative for Sons and Daughters In Touch; DPAA Principal Deputy Secretary Fern Sumpter Winbush; ABMC Secretary Charles K. Djou; and White House Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Senior Advisor Keone Nakoa.

“When we send our young, when we send our brave, when we send our finest abroad to fight, we will do everything we can to make sure that they come home”, said Djou.

Representatives of the families present placed the rosettes on the walls of the missing near the names of their loved ones. Wreaths were laid in honor of the service members commemorated today. Commissioner John L. Estrada placed the ABMC wreath during the ceremony.

Among the families placing the rosettes were Suzanne Sylvester and her mother Sandy Sylvester. Suzanne honored her father, U.S. Air Force Capt. Raymond Salzarulo Jr., an F-4C Phantom pilot who was shot down on September 4, 1966, over Vietnam. In September 1990, the Vietnamese government repatriated a set of remains they associated with Capt. Salzarulo, and in 1991, U.S. analysts confirmed the identification. His father, Maj. Raymond Salzarulo, is also commemorated at the Honolulu Memorial as he remains unaccounted for from World War II, after his plane crashed off the coast of Midway shortly after takeoff on June 7, 1942.

“There’s only one father and son World War II/Vietnam loss and that’s my grandfather and my dad”, said Sylvester.

This ceremony was an opportunity for ABMC to place the missing rosettes and to honor those commemorated at this site. ABMC has plans in development to increase the agency’s footprint and staffing at the Honolulu Memorial to enhance outreach and oversight for this location.

In addition, rosettes for service members from the Korean War and World War II have also been positioned, bringing the total of rosettes placed that week to more than 1,000.

Paying tribute to our missing and publicly recognizing new accountings does more than just honor our fallen, it gives hope to those who are still seeking answers.

The Honolulu Memorial was dedicated in 1966 to honor the sacrifices and achievements of American armed forces in the Pacific during World War II and the Korean War, and since expanded to include those missing from the Vietnam War. In total, the memorial commemorates nearly 29,000 individuals, including 2,504 missing Americans from the Vietnam War.

Sources:

ABMC brochures and documents

PAO team