Notes:

Captain Courtney Blake Sugai served with the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq.


Remarks by Captain Courtney Sugai
U.S. Army
May 31, 2005.

It is an honor to be here at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial to pay my respects to the veterans of past and present wars. It is an honor to be in the presence of brave men and women who have fought for our country and our way of life.

I grew up on the island of Kaua’i in a close knit family. My family was what we in Hawaii call a "mixed-plate," with ancestral ties to Ancient Hawaii, China, England, Germany, and the mid-western United States. As a child, I learned early on that I was the product of generations of migrants who had come from all over the world. How do you define such a variety of backgrounds coming together? Our pot pourri of culture could be summed up in one word, "American."

I never really thought about it as a child or even as a young adult. I had loving parents and grandparents, I lived on a beautiful island where everyone in the community was like family. I was free, and I was safe. I never thought that what I had was anything special, and I never feared that it could be taken away. I took it for granted.
For my whole life, I was told that I was lucky to be an American and to live in a free country. I was told that freedom wasn’t free, and that my grandfathers on both sides had fought in World War II and my father in Vietnam. All to give me a good life. To give me a good life, I thought? To give me freedom? These ideas were abstract, and I never came to understand them until years later.

My father believed that everyone should serve. Whether it was military service, the Peace Corps, or public service, somehow, you would give something back. My father also told me that women from Kaua’i were known for being tough and had been strong warriors in the days of ancient Hawai‘i. So, as a freshman in college, I asked myself, how was I going to give serve. I enrolled in Army ROTC. Although my husband, brother, father, and grandfathers had all been in the military, I did not grow up in a military atmosphere. I did not watch war movies, and I was not interested in reading about them. At the time, I made a living dancing the hula on a dinner cruise for tourists. The military life was not something that came naturally. How in the world was I going to be an officer? I never really planned on staying in ROTC. I was going to try it, I probably wouldn’t like it, and I would most likely drop out after one semester.

Then, I met a woman named Major Kathy Schlimm. MAJ Schlimm had all the qualities of a true leader. She was tough, smart, and dedicated to her cadets and the Army. She managed to balance her professional life as a soldier with marriage and motherhood. She was like a mother to her cadets, the kind of mother that teaches you right from wrong, picks you up when you fall, and beams with pride when you succeed. She dedicated herself to the profession of arms and to training the future leaders of the Army. She didn’t do it for the money. And, she did not do it for recognition. She did it because she loved soldiers and she loved her country.

So, when the opportunity to drop out of ROTC came, I did not. I stayed in, got knee deep in Army training. I was afraid that I would not amount to much as a soldier. But, I had to try my best. There were so many opportunities out there for me, opportunities that were not there for my mother and grandmothers. The women who served in Vietnam were so much braver than I was. The decision to join the Army and go to Vietnam were choices that women of that era did not have to make. When it would have been completely acceptable to stay home where it was safe, they chose to do something that was larger than themselves, and go to war. Women were fighting for rights at home in America, and yet these courageous women, took an extra step, and went to Vietnam. The men and women who went to Vietnam fulfilled an obligation to serve our country to advance the cause of freedom. Yet, so much of what they did was unappreciated, and so many of them were condemned by fellow Americans.

So, why did they go to war? The reasons for going to war are not easily defined. If I were asked why I went to war, I would answer: I chose the profession of arms because I love my country. The decision to go to war was made. I am a soldier, and I will willingly do my duty. I don’t mean to imply that my response was robotic. I want to believe that I went for the right reasons. And now that I have served in Afghanistan and Iraq, I know that I helped advance the cause of freedom. I saw people there who were so desperate to have just a little piece of what we have. Men would stand in line for days at the front gate of our base camp, just for the chance to earn four dollars, a meal, and a bottle of clean water for a full days work. The majority of the people I met were seeking what I always thought of as the simple things in life. Now, the people of Iraq and Afghanistan have the right to vote, the right to pursue an education, and freedom to practice their religion.

The soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan sacrificed their lives to give others freedom. These brave soldiers come from all branches of the military and perform various duties. Brave soldiers, like my cousin, Infantry Platoon Leader, First Lieutenant Nainoa Hoe, and my friends, Maintenance Officer, Captain Pierre Piche, blackhawk pilot Second Lieutenant Jeremy Wolfe, and the Sergeant First Class Kelly Bolor, our Laundry and Bath Platoon Sergeant. Now, my husband and I are both home from the war, and my brother and brother-in-law are serving in the Middle East. When I think of all them, the soldiers who have died, and those who continue the fight, I am comforted to know that the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are beginning to taste the fruits of freedom.

So, when I think back to my childhood, and my parents telling me that my freedom did not come without sacrifice, I can truly say that I understand. I am so grateful to all who have served so that I can be free, and I hope that by serving in the Army, I can someday be worthy of their sacrifice.
Captain Courtney Sugai, U.S. Army

Family/Spouse: Capt. Iven SUGAI. Iven was born on 1 Jul 1976 in Ewa Beach, O’ahu, Hawaii. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Kawena SUGAI was born on 2 Oct 2008.
2. Hoku SUGAI
3. Kanoa SUGAI

Notes:

Hartwell Blake knows daughter is in deep in Iraq
By Paul C. Curtis - TGI Staff Writer (April 10, 2003)

 Imagine how Hartwell Blake must have felt when he stumbled into the kitchen to make coffee one recent Sunday morning, clicked on the TV and heard that a U.S. Army maintenance company that included a woman had been captured in Iraq. His daughter, 1st Lt. Courtney Blake Sugai, is in an Army maintenance company in Iraq.
 "My heart hit the floor," he recalls. "I was hoping for the best, imagining the worst," and began to understand the feelings of family members of those killed in action, missing in action, or prisoners of war.
 The captured soldiers turned out to be from a unit other than Sugai’s, but her unit has had its share of close calls, too, said Blake, a former county attorney.
 "Initially, I tried to be fatalistic about it," knowing that his daughter and other soldiers are well-trained and well-armed, and that whatever happens happens, said Blake, 58.
 And that was working until he heard that a maintenance company had been captured. Sugai’s company is a maintenance unit, supplying drinking water, fuel and other supplies to the soldiers closer to the front lines, whom Blake calls "the trigger-pullers."
 Her 101st Airborne group is west of Baghdad, near the newly renamed Baghdad International Airport. The last time father and daughter talked, she told him she was in Iraq, but couldn’t tell him where. She told him to watch CNN and they’d tell him where she is, he said. Blake replied that if the cameras ever pan her way, shoot him the shaka sign so he’ll know it’s her. Sugai says, "We’re very, very careful about security," something that doesn’t necessarily give her father a secure feeling. Especially when he tells her that folks on Kaua’i are asking about her and praying for her safe return, and she replies, "I know, we’ve had some real, real close calls."
 Blake said he’s not sure if that’s good news or bad news. The father is also thankful for those prayers, "because that’s something you can’t have too much of," he said. In fact, Blake, who has never seen himself as particularly religious, starts his mornings with prayers not only for the safety of Sugai, but for friends here and elsewhere who also have children fighting a war. It hasn’t been all intensity for Sugai, who with some of her fellow soldiers posed for pictures with Geraldo Rivera a day before he was asked to leave Iraq.
 Sugai, a Kaua’i High School graduate who used to dance hula with Kumu Kapu Alquiza’s Na Hula O Kaohikukapulani, was born and raised on Kaua’i. Her mother is Rosemary Blake, now of Florida. Sugai’s husband, 1st Lt. Iven Sugai, is a native of Ewa Beach, O’ahu, and could be on his way to Iraq now to rejoin his unit, after finishing U.S. Army Ranger training.
 She has been sharing a tent with a French journalist embedded with her unit, and was able to borrow her satellite phone to call Blake in Koloa. He said the connection was better than most on-island connections, calling it "crystal clear." An e-mail he received from his daughter this week gives insight into one soldier’s view of the war. "My goal is to get my soldiers and myself home safe," she said. "Today I reflected on why we are here. It finally sunk in that I am not just here because I was ordered to come here," she said. "I actually realized that I want to he here to help the people in this country have a better life and rid them of this corruption and cruelty." She also said she is thankful to be able to continue the Blake tradition of serving in the armed forces. Her father fought in the Army in Vietnam, she has a brother in the service and other generations of Blakes were soldiers as well. At a Sunday church service, "I prayed that we, the soldiers, remember why we are here, and to remember to be selfless in our service to our country and to the world," she said. She also asked Blake to forward her e-mail to her friends, and thanked all those who have sent letters, care packages and other signs of support. When her unit deployed from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, she told her father, "I don’t want to go, but it’s my duty."
 Some of Sugai’s experiences, of frustration at not being able to keep the front-line troops supplied as well as they and she would like, reminded Blake of some of his similar experiences in Vietnam. So, he told his daughter to remember and reward those who helped her get supplies into the hands of the fighting soldiers. While some items are like gold, even sharing arare or Kaua’i Kookies with those who helped her will leave a lasting impression on the receivers of those goodies, Blake said. Finally, Blake took the interview opportunity to commend The Garden Island for telling the stories of Kaua’i war families. The newspaper articles put names and faces on the conflict, he said. "If any of these people don’t come back, or are horribly wounded, or missing in action, they shouldn’t just be some nameless, faceless statistic," he said. "People should know who these Kaua’i people are who didn’t come back, or didn’t come back whole."
 Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).

Hartwell married Rosemary Jean HOLLAND on 28 Oct 1967 in Fort Myer, Arlington, Virginia, and was divorced. Rosemary (daughter of Lt. Col. Gould King HOLLAND and Mary Helen BROSE) was born on 28 Oct 1943 in Mason City, Cerro Gordo, Iowa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

A daughter weighing 6 pounds 6 ounces was born to Mr. and Mrs. Gould K. Holland, Clear Lake, at the Park hospital Thursday. (Source: The Mason City Globe-Gazette, Friday, October 29, 1943)

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1920, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
• Census: 1930, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
• Census: 1940, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa

Notes:

Lt. Gould K. Holland plans to return to Duke university, Duram, N. Car.. Thursday after spending a 15-day furlough with his wife and daughter, Rosemary, born Oct. 28 at Park hospital, Mason City. Lieutenant Holland was graduated from the finance department of officers training school at Duke university just before coming to Clear Lake and expects lo spend 2 weeks more in the fiscal school there before receiving an assignment. (Source: The Mason City Globe-Gazette, Nov. 3, 1943)

Lt. and Mrs. G. K. Holland and Rosemary went Thursday to Des Moines to spend a few days with the former’s parents, Mr. and Mrs O. H. Holland. Lt. Holland reports Tuesday at George Field, Ill., and Mrs. Holland and Rosemary wil come back to Clear Lake. (Source: The Mason City Globe-Gazette, May 19, 1944)

Major and Mrs. G. K. Holland and daughters, Rosemary and Judy, spent the weekend at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Vance, 16 Jefferson N.W., en route from Arlington to Major Holland’s new assignment with the Air Force in Tokyo. Mrs. Holland, the former Mary Helen Brose, is a niece of Mrs. Vance. They also visited her mother, Mrs. Lela Brose, and her sister, Mrs. Herman Underkofler of Clear Lake, and another sister, Mrs. Maynard Odden, Mason City. The Hollands will be living in Tokyo for three years. (Source: The Mason City Globe-Gazette, Jul. 5, 1960)

Gould married Mary Helen BROSE. Mary (daughter of George Earl BROSE and Leila Myrta ANGELL) was born on 4 Mar 1915 in Decatur, Iowa; died on 9 Apr 2015 in Port Charlotte, Charlotte, Florida. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1930, Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo, Iowa
• Census: 1940, Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo, Iowa

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1910, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
• Census: 1920, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
• Census: 1930, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
• Census: 1940, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa

Orson married Katherine WELLS. Katherine (daughter of George A. WELLS and Fanny Marie GOULD) was born in Aug 1894 in Wisconsin; died in 1954 in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa; was buried in Masonic Cemetery, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1900, New Richmond, St Croix, Wisconsin
• Census: 1920, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa
• Census: 1940, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa

George married Leila Myrta ANGELLFloyd, Iowa. Leila was born on 9 May 1893 in Swaledale, Cerro Gordo, Iowa; died on 5 Mar 1975 in Port Charlotte, Charlotte, Florida; was buried in Jefferson Memorial Park, Pleasant Hills, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]