Hawaii's Vets: Proud Election Firsts

A  L  O  H  A  !

 

Article Six

 of the U.S. Constitution

 includes the guideline,

 "no religious test 

shall ever be required

 as a qualification

 to any office or public trust

 under the United States."

In 2006,  a Muslim, Keith Ellison, D-Mich.,

 and two Buddhists, Johnson, D-Ga.,

 and Hirono from Hawaii,

 were elected to the US House.

Mazie Hirono, 

my former Leutenant Governor,

and fellow University of Hawaii grad,

  has now been elected 

to be MY next US senator!

  

She will be the Senate’s first 

Japanese-born Asian-American,

 as well as the first Buddhist

 to hold that position.

 courtesy: MauiFeed

 Born in Fukushima Japan,

 the 65-year-old Hirono moved

 with her mother 

here to Hawaii

 as a shy eight-year-

 old speaking no English.

  Mother was escaping

 an abusive marriage;

  Her snug little barber shop,

 where Mazie did  homework, 

was a fixture for many years

 here in our Honolulu.

 Mazie attained US citizenship

 in 1959,

 the very year our Hawaii

 became a U.S. state.
 

 31-year-old 

female Iraq War vet 

Tulsi Gabbard 

will succeed Hirono in Congress,

 as one of 2 (see below)

  "first female combat vets"

  to serve as US Representatives.

 

Tulsi will also be 

the first Hindu 

in our Congress as well,

 likely to take her oath

 over the sacred Hindu text

 the Bhagavad Gita.

 Born in American Samoa

 to a Catholic father 

and a Hindu mother,  

Tulsi was brought to Hawaii 

at two years of age.

 

 In 2002, at age 21, 

she was elected

 to the Hawaii state legislature.

        The next year, 

she joined the Hawaii National Guard,

and in 2004 was voluntarily 

deployed to Baghdad 

as a medical operations specialist.

 After completing officers’ training 

she deployed to Kuwait in 2008 

where she trained counter-terrorism units. 

Tulsi was the first woman

 in the history of the 

Accelerated Officer Candidate School

 at the Alabama Military Academy 

to be designated a

 ‘distinguished honor graduate’

!

 

Her name 'Tulsi' 

 refers to a tree sacred to Hindus,

 and a healing herb.  

Embracing her mother's Hinduism

 as a teenager, Tulsi is a devotee

 of the Vaishnava branch

 [ believing in the Supreme Lord Vishnu,

 and his 10 primary incarnations.] 

 "Her primary scripture is the 

 Bhagavad Gita, 

whose themes include

 selfless action, 

spirituality, war, 

and serving God 

and humanity. "

Huff Post

Our new Congressional

 representative 

  hopes her faith will help

 to encourage stronger ties 

with India.

  'It is clear 

that there needs to be 

a closer working relationship 

 between the United States

 and India.

 How can we have

 a close relationship 

if decision-makers in Washington 

know very little, if anything,

 about the religious beliefs, 

values, and practices 

of India's 800 million Hindus?'

 Ms Gabbard quoted by: Religion News Service.

    TULSI GABBARD'S FAVOURITE VERSES FROM THE BHAVAGAD GITA:

 
        'That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.' (2:17)

The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.'(2.23).

 Gabbard said her faith

 helped her through military service in Iraq,

 where there were daily reminders 

that she could be killed any time, 

according to the Huffington Post.

 Newly elected US Representative

 Tammy Duckworth  (D-Illinois)

 was nominated by President Barack Obama

 to serve as 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

 Assistant Secretary and

confirmed by the Senate

 on April 22, 2009.

  Interestingly, she was sworn in

 by ANOTHER Hawaii guy, 

and favorite son:

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs,

 Eric Shinsek. 

A decorated and disabled

 combat helicopter pilot

 and veteran, 

Tammy is biracial, trilingual. 

She is also a Hawaii gal, 

graduating from McKinley High 

a mile away from where I write this

 in Honolulu!

For a tiny group of islands,

 once an independent kingdom 

that joined the USA 

under troubling circumstance,

Hawaii has contributed 

much to our nation!

Did you know 

that our President Barack Obama 

was born here in Honolulu, 

went to Punahou School here,

 buried his family members here, 

and brings the First Family

 'home' to this island 

every Christmas?

His re-election

has made me SO proud

of our country! 

God Bless America,

all our friends

ALL

 around the world;

Especially, Y O U!

How does this

make YOU feel?

Share in comments.

                               Warmly, cloudia