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KAILUA, Hawaii — Kainalu Elementary School students learned about the history of the Marine Corps with a performance of the Marine Corps birthday pageant on their campus, Nov. 8.
This was the first known time Marine Corps Base Hawaii brought its traditional pageant out into the community for a public performance.
More than 30 Marines and sailors from the base, dressed in historical and modern Marine Corps and Navy uniforms, told the Marine Corps story to students, faculty, parents and guests.
“We feel very, very blessed and honored that we were asked to host this for the community,” said Sheri Sunabe, principal, Kainalu Elementary School.
Rain sprinkled across the field as Lt. Col. Michael Antonio,
commanding officer, MCB Hawaii, stepped up to the microphone. Dressed in his dress blue uniform and adorned with a kukui nut lei, Antonio asked the children what Marines say to get motivated, to which they responded “ooh-rah!”
“We’re here to share with you what we hold dear — our history, the history of the Marine Corps. It’s been around for 236 years. It was born even before the Declaration of Independence was written … so we’ve been there a long time,” Antonio said. “We go to far away lands across the world … so we can protect your freedom. That’s why Marines exist … so you may have the freedom that we enjoyed at your age ... we hold that dear, we hold that in our hearts [and our] souls.”
After an opening prayer by Navy Lt. Ben Mathis, Headquarters Battalion chaplain, and a Color Guard presentation; the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific Band provided a musical accompaniment to the pageant. From the Revolutionary War to the present day Marine, each performer noted a milestone in the Corps’ history.
Several children pretended to play instruments in time to the band. Others enjoyed the Gulf War Marines rolling across the field as if in combat, and laughed upon the announcement of “The Banana Wars.”
After the pageant, the performers greeted students, faculty and guests. Lance Cpl. Justin Cantrell, an administration clerk at
Installation Personnel Administration Center, played a modern day Marine during the pageant. This is his second year being part of the pageant. He said he enjoyed “carrying on the heritage of the Marine Corps” and wearing the uniform.
“It’s hard not to smile,” Cantrell said of being able to perform for
and meet the children.
For him, the best part about being in the pageant was performing at the school. Although he said the pageant performance on the base in front of familiar people would be fun, being able to perform for the children was an opportunity to “show Marines in a different light” instead of being thought of as rough, tough and scary people.
“It was pretty awesome,” said Kainalu fifth grader Dominic Brown, 11.
Brown, whose father is in the Marine Corps, had never seen a Marine Corps birthday pageant before, and enjoyed meeting the pageant performers afterward.
“We are always thinking of ways that we can build a bridge between [Kainalu] and the base,” said Suzanne Mulcahy, the complex area superintendent for the Kailua and Kalaheo area. “I think it’s a brilliant idea to bring [the pageant] here. [It’s] a wonderful opportunity because now the community is more aware [of the base].”
Mulcahy said many people called the school, because they were curious about the bleachers and pageant setup.
“[The community sees] the signs, they know some people who live on the base, but they don’t really know what happens there,” Mulcahy said. “But now, what a tremendous outreach and a festive event.”
Kainalu Elementary students also interact with service members
regularly through its Adopt-A-School partnership with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24.
Among other activities, Sunabe said the Marines and sailors tutor the children and work on the school’s building projects. The squadron also assists with the Kainalu Invitational physical fitness meet, and helps prepare for and greet students on the first day of school.
As an added testament to the military influence on the children,
Mulcahy added that she once met a seventh grader who frequently got into trouble, and was sent on a field trip to MCB Hawaii.
After returning from the trip, this young man told Mulcahy that he wanted to live in officer housing one day, and was determined to do better in school and eventually graduate from college and join the military.
The last time she spoke to him, he had been student council president by eighth grade and moved on to excel at Kailua High School.
“It’s important for elementary kids to start thinking now about what they may want to do [as adults],” Mulcahy said. “There’s such pride in being a Marine … [the students] can understand that when you are part of an exemplary organization, there’s pride that comes with it. It’s earned because of the people they are, because of the goals they have set and accomplished, because of the excellent job that they do.”
| Date Taken: | 11.14.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2011 14:47 |
| Story ID: | 80029 |
| Location: | KANEOHE, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, MCB Hawaii performs Marine Corps pageant at Kainalu Elementary School, by Kristen Wong, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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