The "Punchbowl" - the resting place for more than 25,000 victims of three American Wars - World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War - this is truly the "Cemetery of Heroes." Few national cemeteries can compete with the dramatic natural setting of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The "Punchbowl" was formed some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago during the Honolulu period of secondary volcanic activity. A crater resulted from the ejection of hot lava through cracks in the old coral reefs which, at the time, extended to the foot of the Koolau Mountain Range. The Punchbowl's Hawaiian name, "Puowaina", roughly translated means "Consecrated Hill" or "Hill of Sacrifice". 

 In 1964, the American Battle Monuments Commission erected the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery "to honor the sacrifices and achievements of American Armed Forces in the Pacific during World War II and in the Korean War". The memorial was later expanded in 1980 to include the Vietnam War. The names of 28,788 military personnel who are missing in action or were lost or buried at sea in the Pacific during these conflicts are listed on marble slabs in ten Courts of the Missing which flank the Memorial's grand stone staircase.

 The dedication stone at the base of staircase is engraved with the following words:  "In these gardens are recorded the names of Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country land whose earthly resting places are known only to God."  

 At the top of the staircase in the Court of Honor is a statue of Lady Columbia, also known as Lady Liberty, or Justice. Here she is reported to represent all grieving mothers. She stands on the bow of a ship holding a laurel branch. The inscription below the statue, taken from Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby, reads:  "The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom."

 

  
The Punchbowl quietly sits above the Honolulu skyline.

Please contact marleneatwood@usatfga.org, VP Communications, with any questions regarding this communication.
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