Photo By Spc. Devin Davis | U.S. Army Pfc. Thoren Kaufusi, a transportation management coordinator with the 8th...... read more read more
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FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii – They were fired up, adrenaline pumping, trying to figure out how to do the job, and how to do it right. What was going to happen? They could only speculate. The group of U.S. Navy Sailors were aboard the USS Henry B. Wilson and USS Coral Sea, along with a U.S. Marine recon detachment, preparing to rescue the merchant ship SS Mayaguez, that was seized by the Cambodian Kashmir regime.
Lyle Batula, a U.S. Navy petty officer first class operation specialist veteran was there that night. It was his second tour in Vietnam, this time during the fall of South Vietnam. The night, as he recalled it, was pretty clear, very little wind, and dark. As the Marines jumped onto the merchant ship, they soon realized nobody was aboard. The second group of Marines went on land while Naval aircraft scouted for potential threats from the sky.
Eventually the crew members were able to reach a negotiation. A SH-3 Sea King helicopter, which normally carries six people, blacked out its lights, landed on the beach and pulled out 43 Marines sent to rescue the crew members. They were dropped off at the merchant ship and from there, Batula’s fellow Sailors were able to cut the anchors and tow the personnel to safety.
“That was the most memorable thing. We were at war in Vietnam,” said Batula, recalling the experiences that shaped him and moments he would never forget. “Anytime you serve the military is a good thing.”
According to Batula, serving one’s country for the good of the nation is a great option for anyone looking to find their way and create purpose in their life.
U.S. Army Pfc. Thoren Kaufusi, a transportation management coordinator with the 8th Theater Sustainment Command, has a legacy of family members who have served in the military. His grandpa Batula, being just one of them, and was one of the reasons Kaufusi joined the military.
“I would say, him [Batula] being in the military motivated me a little bit. At the very least it piqued my interest,” said Kaufusi. “I saw the military as something else we could bond and connect over. I wanted to experience a little bit of the kind of things he went through.”
During his senior year in high school, Kaufusi started working for the city of Henderson, Nevada, as a lifeguard. For about three years he spent a majority of his time watching people swim. To him, that didn’t feel rewarding and he didn’t see himself working in aquatics for the city longterm.
“I was just feeling stagnant at my old job and wanted to be a part of something greater than myself,” Kaufusi said. “The feeling of joining the military was heavily on my mind throughout the whole third year of being a lifeguard.”
Kaufusi procrastinated joining, but the turning point came once he saw a lot of his old co-workers move on to new careers.
“He decided on his own, without any convincing, to join,” said Batula. “He wanted to join the Air Force, but they didn’t have any openings then for a certain job. He waited and waited, I think, for almost a year.”
Eventually he enlisted in the Army on Sept. 6, 2022.
Batula believed having a plan after high school was necessary and he imprinted this belief on Kaufusi. During the same part of their life, they both decided on the military. For Batula, the Navy was his first choice. He graduated from Damien Memorial High School and did one year at Leeward Community College, both on O’ahu, Hawaii, before joining the military.
“I signed up because if I didn’t go to school, I would be draft eligible,” said Batula. “They were drafting young men to serve the services at that time for Vietnam.”
Batula attended his training in California at San Diego Recruit Training Center, extra schooling in Treasure Island, San Francisco, and electronic warfare school back in San Diego. He trained as a radar man, which consisted of plotting radar tracking, evaluating flooding courses, and assessing threats while passing information on to the officer in charge.
“We even did anti-submarine warfare where we tracked submarines, mostly at that time was Russian submarines,” said Batula. “We practiced general quarters, which was battle mode for either gunfire support for surface action, aircraft action, or anti-submarine action.”
Most of Batula’s time in service was spent on the West Coast in California, but it was most comfortable for him to come back to his home of Hawaii, where he was born and raised However, his comfort was short-lived, as he was on sea duty, which meant he only came into port briefly to replenish the ship before heading back to sea for months at a time.
“I just came from San Diego to Hawaii and they were going to ship me back to San Diego. That’s not what I signed up for,” said Batula. “I talked it over with the senior enlisted officer at Pearl Harbor, and they transferred me to another destroyer in Pearl Harbor.”
After Batula’s mission to rescue the Mayaguez was complete he began his transfer out of the military.
For Kaufusi, Hawaii is his first duty station. He is still new to the military with most of his experiences coming from training. From September to November 2022, he attended basic training on Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Afterward he went to Fort Lee, Virginia for advance individual training.
“Basic training strengthened by mindset, mental toughness and resiliency,” Kaufusi said, looking back on the experiences that shaped his views on life. “Church has also helped me with gratitude, hope, optimism and just my overall peace and well-being.”
The weeks before basic training were filled with nervousness and excitement for Kaufusi. He knew, physically, he could handle it, but was still excited to start a new chapter in his life full of different experiences.
“My grandpa’s work ethic definitely rubbed off on me. He could’ve retired a couple years back, but he’s still working,” said Kaufusi. “He inspires me to be more proactive because I find myself just relaxing and not doing too much a lot of the time. He’s always kept himself busy, always working on something around the house.”
Kaufusi admits that for the longest time he didn’t know much about his grandpa’s military career, but now he’s learned in greater detail what his grandpa experienced in Vietnam.
Lately, Kaufusi has been involved with coordinating the movements of containers from Fort Shafter to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He makes sure documentation is accounted for and that the necessary equipment and personnel are present so that the cargo is transported successfully to its final destination.
“Thoren was born and raised here, so he knows his way around. He just has to find his own experiences and go with it,” Batula said with a smile on his face. “He asks me and mama for advice, and we tell him how it’s going to play out and he’s a very good young man – he listens. He has a good head on his shoulders. Actually, we’re very proud of him, and I know his mom worries about him all the time, but since we’re here, she doesn’t worry too much.”
Batula and his wife celebrated 51 years of marriage on O’ahu in 2023. Today, Kaufusi enjoys being in Hawaii and connecting more with family.
| Date Taken: | 12.08.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2023 15:42 |
| Story ID: | 459536 |
| Location: | FORT SHAFTER, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Legacy: How two Hawaiian natives answered the call to serve their country, by SPC Devin Davis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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