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CChildrenhildren oonn TThirdhird IIslandsland pplaylay wwithith ssportsports eequipmentquipment bbroughtrought ttoo tthemhem byby tthehe KeystoneKeystone ClubClub dduringuring tthehe mminiini YYouthouth LLeadershipeadership FForumorum tthishis mmonth.onth. TThehe eequipmentquipment wwasas ddonatedonated bbyy tthehe KKwajaleinwajalein ccommunity.ommunity. FForor mmore,ore, sseeee ppageage 44.. PPhotohoto bbyy JaredJared BBarrickarrick Thank You The Fullerton family would like to extend our most sincere thanks to those who contributed to Based on oral traditions, there was a great deal the fl owers sent for Faith’s memorial service. To of warfare in the Marshall Islands between chiefly know that our island “family” was thinking of us clans, primarily for political control of the various in our time of grief touched and comforted us; we truly appreciated it. Thank you. atolls. The two chains of islands, Ralik and Ratak, were never united under one chief. Also, none of the atolls and islands within each of the chains have ever united except in the case of Ralik, but this was a comparatively late development and was of rather short duration. Thumbs Up! ... to the Kwaj Swim Team coaches and board Rumor: National Public Radio will no longer play members for a fabulous year! All the kids were at Kwajalein. successful because of you! ... to the tennis players who sweep the court when This rumor was brought up at the recent town hall fi nished playing. meeting. AFN Headquarters changed the program ... to Community Activities for maintaining the tennis courts. lineup and channel NPR normally plays on. AFN ... to Roy Tomas, Surfway manager, for being publicly Kwajalein technicians corrected the issue and NPR is recognized at the Kwaj town hall meeting for a job well done. now playing as usual. Thumbs Down! ... to the person who took the gray Rubbermaid trailer with white rims from the front of the Reef BQ. Please return it or call 59252 and let me know where it is. THE KWAJALEIN HOURGLASS The Kwajalein Hourglass is named for the ment, Department of Defense, Department of the Commanding Offi cer ....Col. Joseph Gaines insignia of the U.S. Army 7th Infantry Division, Army or USAKA. It is published Saturdays in ac- Sergeant Major............. Sgt. Maj. Hohn Wolf which liberated the island from the forces of cordance with Army Regulation 360-1 and using Imperial Japan on Feb. 4, 1944. a network printer by Kwajalein Range Services Acting Public Affairs Offi cer....Michael Sakaio The Kwajalein Hourglass is an authorized editorial staff. Managing Editor ....................Sheila Gideon publication for military personnel, federal em- ployees, contractor workers and their families Phone: Defense Switching Network 254-2114; Temp Associate Editor .......Wendy Peacock assigned to U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll. Con- Local phone: 52114 Media Specialist...................... Shawn Brady tents of the Hourglass are not necessarily offi - Printed circulation: 1,200 cial views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Govern- E-mail: [email protected] Media Specialist.......................... Eva Seelye The Kwajalein Hourglass 2 Saturday, April 21, 2012 World War II vet returns to Kwajalein Stewart was stationed on supply ship at Kwajalein in 1944 Article and photo by Sheila Gideon the Reagan Test Site MDA/DTR Site Managing Editor support manager. Stewart got his very fi rst passport at age 86, just wajalein hosts numerous visi- to come to Kwajalein to visit. “It’s Ktors that come here for various a strange reason why I’m here,” he reasons. Some come to visit family, said. “I’m not here because I hap- others come to tour the island as pened to be here during the war.” a battlefi eld site from World War II The Gray family sent Stewart a 2012 and some might even visit for both Kwajalein calendar. The very last reasons. This is offi cially the fi rst picture was an overhead shot of the time Charles Stewart has ever been island. He passively told his son he’d to Kwajalein, but technically, he has like to go there. “It just looked so been here once before. nice,” Stewart said. Once his family Stewart served in the U.S. Navy found out he’d like to visit, they ar- from September 1943 to June 1946. ranged the trip for him. He was stationed aboard the supply “It’s a very nice place,” he com- ship USS Cheleb. The ship found its mented of Kwajalein. He joked that way to Kwajalein Atoll during Opera- “at his age” he doesn’t appreciate bi- tion Flintlock in 1944. “We issued cycles as the main mode of transpor- Charles Stewart was stationed on a supply supplies to the fl eet,” Stewart said. tation; but, he’s been getting around ship at Kwajalein in 1944 and came back to “A lot of times we’d rendezvous with fi ne on a tricycle and golf carts. “At visit Kwajalein this month. a fl eet before they had their next as- my age I don’t think I’d want to live take off, but just knowing they take sault. Then sometimes we’d be there here and pedal my bike all over the off from there is cool too. after the assault.” place. It’s much easier to hop in a At home, Stewart is a volunteer While at Kwajalein, he never saw car. … But, it’s a unique lifestyle on the Battleship New Jersey. When the island. “We never got ashore and I can see why people like it.” He he told the guys he volunteers with anywhere we were,” Stewart clari- enjoys sitting out back of the Gray’s that he was visiting Kwajalein, they fi ed. “The only reason I knew I was at Oceanside home and feeling the were baffl ed. “Why are you going Kwajalein was they told us we were breeze off the ocean. He said the big, there? There’s nothing to do there,” at Kwajalein.” Now that he has vis- crashing waves here are nothing like they told him. “That was our im- ited the island, he thought back to back home at the New Jersey shore. pression – that there was nothing to when his ship was here; he’s now not Stewart has enjoyed going to the do here,” Stewart said. “But you’ve sure if he was at the island of Kwaja- softball games to cheer on his neph- got all kinds of clubs to participate lein, Roi-Namur, or maybe just Kwa- ew. He got to tour Kwajalein and see in and you’ve got everything you’d jalein Atoll in general. “I assume we all the World War II memorials. He have back in the States. It’s just a were out in the lagoon somewhere.” went on a boat to Meck Island and different location and a different Stewart also has family here at saw the launch pad and some of lifestyle.” Kwajalein. His nephew, Dave Gray, the buildings. He said it would have Stewart departs Kwajalein on came to Kwajalein in 1996. Gray is been neat to see an actual missile Monday. Nikki Delisio arrived at Kwajalein just in time for St. Patty’s Day on March 17. She moved from Frederick, Md., after reading about Kwajalein on the Kwajalein Range Services website. She is the new physical therapist on island. Her family will be arriving shortly. She will be joined by her husband Chris and two daughters Tessa, 6, and Juliet, 1. Delisio is looking forward to making new friends and enjoying all the outdoor recreational activities here on Kwajalein. Photo by Sheila Gideon The Kwajalein Hourglass 3 Saturday, April 21, 2012 Students develop leadership skills at mini youth forum on Roi-Namur Article and photos by Jared Barrick Youth Services Director he CYSS Keystone Club is a youth council that meets Tbiweekly at the Namo Weto Youth Center. The club consists of high school students who are inter- ested in developing leadership skills by planning events and activities for Kwajalein teens. Throughout the year, the club organizes such events as the community Hallow- een Carnival and Haunted House, the recent variety show for Opera- tion Baby Bag, and recreational activities for teens such as dances, sporting events and other day-to- day activities. Another major com- ponent of the club is character The students attending the mini youth leadership forum on Roi take a tour of the radars. building, teen issue discussions and leadership development. The The event is teen-organized and start to the weekend and it led to Keystone Club attends quarterly teen-led, so the group spent a couple a discussion about teamwork that Youth Action Council meetings in months organizing and planning all would benefi t them throughout the which they invite parents, school the activities for the weekend. When rest of their activities on Roi. faculty, CYSS staff and the general the group fi rst arrived on Saturday After the team-building exercise, public to attend and discuss issues afternoon, they spent some time the group listened to a presentation affecting the teen population. The getting their rooms organized and about college life given by Jared culmination of all of these events, purchasing snacks for the weekend. Barrick. The teens were very recep- meetings and discussions is the When 5 p.m. rolled around, it was tive to the information, and asked mini Youth Leadership Forum. The time for the fi rst activity. many questions about daily life and offi cial YLF takes place yearly, and Club members had a team- what to expect when they leave the is organized by the Pacifi c Teen building relay race planned for the atoll and head off to school. It was Panel. This trip includes represen- kick-off activity.