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Handheld sign to greet Wounded Warrior denied

Although a parking stall at OGG is as elusive as Amelia Earhart, a small group of Maui County Veterans Council members with a mayor’s representative went to the Kahului Airport to greet a Wounded Warrior and his family on March 29, 2018.

Armed with a very large U.S. flag, multiple lei, gift bags and a small sign with sunset and palm tree background saying “Aloha, to the family,” we were politely notified by airport security that we could not physically hold up our sign without a commercial greeting permit. The sign sat on the baseplate of the flag 2 inches off the ground upon the family’s arrival.

As the Second Amendment receives all the media coverage today, it is sad that our First Amendment right to greet a disabled military veteran with his family’s name on a handheld sign is against the law on Maui.

Uniquely, it was the date of the first annual National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Cummins Mahoe III

Wailuku

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