Governor Neil Abercrombie has ordered that all national and Hawaii State flags fly at half-staff Thursday from sunset to sunrise in honor of U. S. Marine Lance Corporal Christopher L. Camero. Corporal Camero was killed in July in Afghanistan from wounds he sustained after stepping on an improved explosive device, a homemade bomb. Corporal Camero was 19, a 2010 graduate of Honoka’a High.
Community members will stand in honor along Corporal Camero’s funeral procession route and along the access road to the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery Thursday. Several local businesses are supporting the effort. Hawaiian Electric Light Company (HELCO) will place two large boom trucks at the entrance to the cemetery and drape a garrison flag, a 38 foot by 20 foot United States flag, over the entrance to the access road.
Jack’s Tours is donating a shuttle bus to shuttle community members up the access road from Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway to West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery after the funeral procession passes by. Koyo USA, which processes and bottles deep ocean water at the Natural Energy Laboratory, is donating 12 cases of water for use at the cemetery. Kona Lua is donating seven portable toilets to be placed along the cemetery access road. Civil Air Patrol cadets will be at the cemetery to assist the public. And at the conclusion of Corporal Camero’s burial service, Blue Hawaiian Helicopters will provide a flower drop over the cemetery.
Over 250 students from Waimea Middle School, Corporal Camero’s alma mater, will stand in tribute just on the Kona side of the school as the procession passes. His teachers there still remember Chris’s dedication to joining the Marines, even then…along with his impish smile and mischievous ways.
The funeral procession leaves Annunciation Church in Waimea Thursday 11 a.m. and will go along Mamalahoa Highway, the upper highway, to Waikoloa Road. It will go makai on Waikoloa Road past Waikoloa Village, then south on Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway to West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. It should arrive around 11:45 or 11:50 a.m. Community members are advised that traffic will be slow, but they are invited to stop and honor Corporal Camero as the procession passes. Dodo Mortuary says the flag-draped casket in the hearse will be visible. Corporal Camero’s parents, sister, and other relatives will be present.
