My personal Help Story was submitted for an international publication.
The submission was made during my time as a Success Report Writer Helper with the Organization
So, it has likely been edited further
Angela M. (Kikuchi) Kneale
Honolulu Community, Hawaii, USA
December 7, 2017
Help with Photo
Paying Family Respect at Pearl Harbor 76th Anniversary
In case you want to verify if this is based on any factual information due to the unusual nature of
my personal story I am sharing; My Mother & Father are mentioned in the Obituary, as my
father is his nephew at www.https://www.afterlife.co/us/obituary-upper-darby-edward-j-
stankiewicz-5402786
I woke up in the morning and was still sad from my great-uncle passing last year before the big
Pearl Harbor 75th Anniversary. I went quietly on my own to the memorial with flowers for the
water. I did this in Hawaii the day of his funeral in Philadelphia and for the 75th Pearl Harbor
Anniversary since I could not afford to leave Hawaii. I was forced to move to Hawaii
unintended, in 2009 due to Government coercion. My great uncle served on the USS
Langley during World War 2 and was on its skeleton crew as a gunner the day Pearl Harbor
was bombed by Japanese forces. My Father was USAF OSI from a normal Philadelphia family.
My mother was a Japanese National until the late 80’s. I grew up in Quakertown, PA where my
we lived with my Philadelphian Great-grandmother, singer & voice teacher, until she passed. I
saw my Uncle Eddie almost every weekend before and after I attended college. Uncle Eddie
doubled as my USA grandfather since I never met my Grandfather on the USA family side.
As a kid, Uncle Eddie stood up for me to my Japan hating great-grandma and great-aunts. He
stood between those in my dad’s family who attacked me since birth. And he let me be a kid
taking me out for candy & Philly cheesesteaks before I had to go vegan. He didn’t spoil me like
my cousins or even give me graduation present, but he helped me through my life as a dual
national Japan-USA kid.
Uncle Eddie provided a political buffer for me through my adulthood. And a buffer in my mind to
handle USA kids & community members who abused me at School, Church, and at Piano
classes. Under teacher supervision I’d was beaten up at school regularly by groups of girls at
recess and racially taunted by boys since I was a kindergarten kid at the front of the bus line.
The Bucks County families who hated me and my family were “fake” to me in a sense of actual
USA patriotism.
Uncle Eddie remind me on weekends that I know what REAL is. He’d say, “Angie, hey
you know what real is, you’re looking at it.” He made sure I always knew that he was a
Real guy who fought the Real battles, Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima. In 2009 before I
departed for my Hawaii vacation he stopped by and left his real mission cards for me to
see. I learned he had 8 bronze stars and 2 silver stars from Iwo Jima and his service on
the USS Langley.
Lethargic the morning of December 7, 2016, I didn’t get up and go to Pearl Harbor at 6:30AM to
wait in line & pay my respects with flowers. I also waited ALL day before I decided I should go.
And, I forgot how bad traffic is, horrendous. I did not have time or flowers (or much cash on me).
I had barely 20 minutes by the time I started praying hard. I searched my mind, I had Bruno
Groening’s photo on my car’s visor and pleaded for help. This is a normally impossible scenario
to complete at 4:30PM on Nimitz Hwy with the Arizona Memorial closing at 5PM. I pulled into
the airport lei stand and its owner immediately asked me what I wanted and dropped the price
considerably for three lei and gave me an extra lei. I had 4 beautiful lei for the Memorial. I asked
God to bless her! A shut down construction lane made traffic stand still. I was praying the whole
way and I actually got over 2 lanes with cars leaving more than enough space for me to drive
around the long way, driving through the town to the right, making a circle back to the opposing
lane to drive to Pearl Harbor memorial entrance.
When I arrived, the gates were closing and I managed to get in. A park ranger told me they are
closing the park, but saw that I had the flower lei. I placed 2 lei on the Contemplation Circle.
She showed me a place where I could easily place the remaining flowers in the water at the
Memorial. I snapped a couple photos to send to my parents. The park ranger told me some
people didn’t make the early ceremony because a house had fallen off a truck and blocked a
lane. I hope the day was perfect for them regardless of the accident. All I know is that what I did
was normally impossible, I would have been sitting in construction traffic when the Arizona
Memorial closed. I thank God, Bruno, the Lei Stand, the fellow traffic drivers, and the Park
Ranger for making this possible.
The submission was made during my time as a Success Report Writer Helper with the Organization
So, it has likely been edited further
Angela M. (Kikuchi) Kneale
Honolulu Community, Hawaii, USA
December 7, 2017
Help with Photo
Paying Family Respect at Pearl Harbor 76th Anniversary
In case you want to verify if this is based on any factual information due to the unusual nature of
my personal story I am sharing; My Mother & Father are mentioned in the Obituary, as my
father is his nephew at www.https://www.afterlife.co/us/obituary-upper-darby-edward-j-
stankiewicz-5402786
I woke up in the morning and was still sad from my great-uncle passing last year before the big
Pearl Harbor 75th Anniversary. I went quietly on my own to the memorial with flowers for the
water. I did this in Hawaii the day of his funeral in Philadelphia and for the 75th Pearl Harbor
Anniversary since I could not afford to leave Hawaii. I was forced to move to Hawaii
unintended, in 2009 due to Government coercion. My great uncle served on the USS
Langley during World War 2 and was on its skeleton crew as a gunner the day Pearl Harbor
was bombed by Japanese forces. My Father was USAF OSI from a normal Philadelphia family.
My mother was a Japanese National until the late 80’s. I grew up in Quakertown, PA where my
we lived with my Philadelphian Great-grandmother, singer & voice teacher, until she passed. I
saw my Uncle Eddie almost every weekend before and after I attended college. Uncle Eddie
doubled as my USA grandfather since I never met my Grandfather on the USA family side.
As a kid, Uncle Eddie stood up for me to my Japan hating great-grandma and great-aunts. He
stood between those in my dad’s family who attacked me since birth. And he let me be a kid
taking me out for candy & Philly cheesesteaks before I had to go vegan. He didn’t spoil me like
my cousins or even give me graduation present, but he helped me through my life as a dual
national Japan-USA kid.
Uncle Eddie provided a political buffer for me through my adulthood. And a buffer in my mind to
handle USA kids & community members who abused me at School, Church, and at Piano
classes. Under teacher supervision I’d was beaten up at school regularly by groups of girls at
recess and racially taunted by boys since I was a kindergarten kid at the front of the bus line.
The Bucks County families who hated me and my family were “fake” to me in a sense of actual
USA patriotism.
Uncle Eddie remind me on weekends that I know what REAL is. He’d say, “Angie, hey
you know what real is, you’re looking at it.” He made sure I always knew that he was a
Real guy who fought the Real battles, Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima. In 2009 before I
departed for my Hawaii vacation he stopped by and left his real mission cards for me to
see. I learned he had 8 bronze stars and 2 silver stars from Iwo Jima and his service on
the USS Langley.
Lethargic the morning of December 7, 2016, I didn’t get up and go to Pearl Harbor at 6:30AM to
wait in line & pay my respects with flowers. I also waited ALL day before I decided I should go.
And, I forgot how bad traffic is, horrendous. I did not have time or flowers (or much cash on me).
I had barely 20 minutes by the time I started praying hard. I searched my mind, I had Bruno
Groening’s photo on my car’s visor and pleaded for help. This is a normally impossible scenario
to complete at 4:30PM on Nimitz Hwy with the Arizona Memorial closing at 5PM. I pulled into
the airport lei stand and its owner immediately asked me what I wanted and dropped the price
considerably for three lei and gave me an extra lei. I had 4 beautiful lei for the Memorial. I asked
God to bless her! A shut down construction lane made traffic stand still. I was praying the whole
way and I actually got over 2 lanes with cars leaving more than enough space for me to drive
around the long way, driving through the town to the right, making a circle back to the opposing
lane to drive to Pearl Harbor memorial entrance.
When I arrived, the gates were closing and I managed to get in. A park ranger told me they are
closing the park, but saw that I had the flower lei. I placed 2 lei on the Contemplation Circle.
She showed me a place where I could easily place the remaining flowers in the water at the
Memorial. I snapped a couple photos to send to my parents. The park ranger told me some
people didn’t make the early ceremony because a house had fallen off a truck and blocked a
lane. I hope the day was perfect for them regardless of the accident. All I know is that what I did
was normally impossible, I would have been sitting in construction traffic when the Arizona
Memorial closed. I thank God, Bruno, the Lei Stand, the fellow traffic drivers, and the Park
Ranger for making this possible.
