BLACKFIVE: A New Park In Hawaii

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A New Park In Hawaii

Posted By Mr Wolf • [July 06, 2009]

A new monument and park has opened near Diamond Head on Oahu, Hawaii. This new park is in honor of those who died in Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to Blackfive, who was on vacation there and he commented on the new memorial not yet completed or dedicated. I tweeted the question (twittered? twatted?? tooted??) and got a quick reply that, not 2 days after Blackfive was there, the park was completed- the monument was finished and the park had a dedication ceremony. So Matt had an answer to his question- what was going on?

Thanks to several people who took the time to go and gather the info, and sent pics of the ceremony and the completed monument- as you can see, it's a fantastic dedication. Small, but poignant. Now, those of you with sharp eyes and a good recollection will notice something not quite right- take a look at the photos and see if you can catch it (hint: look at the title of this posting.)

The new park, called Fort Ruger the Operation Red Wing-Medal of Honor Park, was initially dedicated last Veteran's Day (2008). As we all know, that was the operation where the SEAL team lead my LT Murphy was ambushed and during the operation and attempted rescue, 19 soldiers and sailors died, and included the largest loss of life in the Teams since Vietnam. Ft. Ruger is named for

Maj. Gen. Thomas Ruger, who fought in the Civil War on the Union side and later served as governor of Georgia during the Reconstruction period. The headquarters of the Hawaii National Guard is named after him and is located near the park. (How is it that a Georgian gets a park named for him in Hawaii??? just askin').

Here's the pic that begged the question and the tweet:

Now, the completed monument pics: