Hawaii Five No
There is a controversy surrounding the filming for the popular TV show Hawaii Five-O. Ordinarily most people in the Tea Party movement do not care about what goes on in the entertainment industry. This controversy is one that does merit our attention.
What is it?
Last week, a special group of Americans made a trip to Hawaii. This was not their first trip to Hawaii. In fact, the first time all of these men were together in Hawaii was on December 7th, 1941.
Last week, these men and some of their families were back in Hawaii again for the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Today, less than ten percent of those who served during World War II are still alive.
For the men who made this trip, there was also another tacit acknowledgement. This would be their last trip. The average age of a Pearl Harbor is in the early nineties. In fact, there are now so few Pearl Harbor survivors left that the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is disbanding at the end of the month.
On December 9th, 24 Pacific veterans, including 23 Pearl Harbor survivors were taken to the National Cemetery of the Pacific for a memorial ceremony honoring those who fell during the attack on Pearl Harbor and those who fell during the Pacific campaign.
While the men were at the cemetery, the TV show Hawaii Five-O was filming at the cemetery. As the National Anthem was played and the ceremony went on, the CBS production crew was filming. At first they told the veterans and their families to hush, then repeatedly pushed them back and finally told them to hurry up. As the veterans were laying roses on the graves of their fallen comrades, a production employee walked through the middle of the ceremony telling them to hurry up.
Perhaps the ultimate insult came at the end, when someone with the veterans group asked if one of the cast members of Hawaii Five-O could come over and say hello to the group. The production crew refused.
These World War II vets are a tough bunch. They went through the first depression and then the Second World War. I can guarantee you they did not let this incident ruin their trip, though some of their family members might feel differently.
Unfortunately, the attitude shown by the production crew is far too common in the entertainment industry.
We all owe those men and women who served in the Second World War a debt we cannot repay.
World War II veterans are rapidly leaving us. My father served in Europe under General George Patton. He passed away in 2008. Both of my uncles served in the Navy in World War II. They are both gone as well.
CBS has issued a carefully nuanced statement claiming they would look into the incident and throwing out some boilerplate language about how they respect the veterans of World War II
Those 24 veterans will never go back to the place that changed their lives and changed history again. By the time December 7, 2012 comes around, age will have claimed even more of them. If CBS were really sorry, it would be nice of them to do something other than issue a meaningless statement.
If CBS is really sorry, perhaps they can come up with something more appropriate to show respect for some men who helped save this country. If CBS is going to do something, do it quickly, while these men are still here to appreciate it.
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