Flags to fly at half-staff in honor of former Gov. George R. Ariyoshi
Trending
Gov. Josh Green has ordered U.S. and Hawaii flags lowered to half-staff from sunrise Sept. 18 to sunset Sept. 21 in honor of former Gov. George R. Ariyoshi.
Flags will be lowered at the state Capitol, all state offices and agencies and all Hawaii National Guard facilities. They will remain at half-staff through sunset Sept. 21, the day of Ariyoshi's interment. The flags will return to full staff at sunrise Sept. 22.
Ariyoshi died April 19 at age 100. He was the nation's first Asian American elected governor and Hawaii's longest-serving governor.
Born in Honolulu in 1926, Ariyoshi served as a U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service interpreter in Japan at the end of World War II. His political career began with his election to the Territorial House of Representatives in 1954. He later served in the territorial and state senates before being elected lieutenant governor in 1970.
Ariyoshi became acting governor in 1973 after Gov. John A. Burns became ill. He was elected governor in 1974 and reelected in 1978 and 1982, serving until 1986.
"Gov. Ariyoshi was a true model of public service whose leadership helped shape modern Hawaiʻi," Green said. "He served with courage, humility and an unshakable devotion to our people. Hawaiʻi is stronger because of his life's work and we lower our flags in profound gratitude for a legacy that will endure for generations."