The water cannon salute by airport fire fighters was provided to the Hawaiian Airlines aircraft as it taxied into the gate area. (Photo courtesy of Megan Balinowski)

MEDIA RELEASE

Medal of Honor awardees were welcomed Sunday, Oct. 7 in traditional Hawaiian style upon arrival at Kona International Airport at Keahole.

The Hawaiian Airlines aircraft carrying these heroes received a water cannon salute from airport fire fighters while taxiing into the gate area, with the awardees and their guests greeted with Hawaiian music, hula and fresh flower lei upon disembarking, courtesy of the Big Island Visitors Bureau.

The group is part of the Medal of Honor Society that met last week in Honolulu for its annual convention. Fifty-two Medal of Honor recipients gathered Wednesday at the National Cemetery of the Pacific to memorialize their fallen comrades.

The medal recipients dedicated a stone memorial to 30 missing-in-action honorees and 32 recipients interred at Punchbowl.

That ceremony was one of the first public events of the Medal of Honor Convention, an annual gathering that draws recipients from Word War II to Afghanistan.

Recipients then flew to the Big Island for three days of post-convention activities.

— Find out more:
www.HawaiianAirlines.com

(Photo courtesy of Megan Balinowski)

(Photo courtesy of Megan Balinowski)