{"id":566,"date":"2026-05-25T23:36:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T23:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=566"},"modified":"2026-05-25T23:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T23:36:36","slug":"mayors-memorial-day-ceremony-draws-hundreds-to-punchbowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=566","title":{"rendered":"Mayor\u2019s Memorial Day ceremony draws hundreds to Punchbowl"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hundreds gathered Monday morning at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Puowaina (Punchbowl) for the 75th Mayor\u2019s Memorial Day Ceremony.<\/p>\n

Read more Hawaiian Airlines flight lands safely in Honolulu after tire alert<\/a><\/p>\n

The free, public event featured performances from the Royal Hawaiian Band, hula from the 97th Lei Court, speeches and a military aircraft flyover. HNN\u2019s own Ashley Nagaoka served as emcee.<\/p>\n

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said, \u201cThis is an iconic location, this hallowed ground where more than 70,000 individuals have been laid to rest. More than 43,000 of our heroes lie in graves. More than 26,000 are interred here. We are all gathered here today to acknowledge their sacrifice and to pay our utmost respect to all others who served and gave their lives to defend us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will never be able to repay that debt, but we can promise to never forget,\u201d Blangiardi said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Keynote speaker Will Spencer, a veteran of multiple combat tours, told the crowd Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the cost of war and to honor those who died while serving.<\/p>\n

Read more New Haleiwa agriculture park helps immigrants, refugees start farm businesses<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a sobering reminder of the violent nature of war and conflicts,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cToday, we remember and honor those who answered the call and paid the ultimate price in service to our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Memorial Day is a federal holiday honoring U.S. military personnel who died while serving, observed annually on the last Monday of May.<\/p>\n

The Mayor\u2019s Memorial Day Ceremony was started by Mayor John H. Wilson in 1951, six years after the end of World War II, and eight years before Hawaii became a state.<\/p>\n

Each year, the city also places a fresh lei on every grave at Puowaina for Memorial Day to honor and thank Hawaii veterans for their service.<\/p>\n

Read more Got a SUN Bucks card by mistake? About 800 Hawaii SNAP households may need a swap<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds attended the Memorial Day ceremony at Punchbowl, featuring music, a flyover and keynote remarks honoring fallen service members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMayor\u2019s Memorial Day ceremony draws hundreds to Punchbowl - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=566\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mayor\u2019s Memorial Day ceremony draws hundreds to Punchbowl - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hundreds attended the Memorial Day ceremony at Punchbowl, featuring music, a flyover and keynote remarks honoring fallen service members.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=566\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-25T23:36:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=566#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=566\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Mayor\u2019s Memorial Day ceremony draws hundreds to Punchbowl\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T23:36:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=566\"},\"wordCount\":336,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=566#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/942ad186188c05ccf47a2bb3bc34b1dd.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=566#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=566\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=566\",\"name\":\"Mayor\u2019s Memorial Day ceremony draws hundreds to Punchbowl - 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