{"id":479116,"date":"2025-06-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=479116"},"modified":"2025-06-14T03:15:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T03:15:52","slug":"mana-o-ke-koa-the-spirit-of-the-warrior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=479116","title":{"rendered":"Mana O Ke Koa “The Spirit of the Warrior”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Maj. Gen. (Ret) Suzanne Puanani Varess-Lum delivered a speech during the Mana O Ke Koa “Spirit of the Warrior” a civilian community service award ceremony on Fort DeRussy, Hawaii, Jun. 12, 2024. This prestigious award serves as a tribute to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional dedication in supporting Soldiers, their families, veterans, and the broader U.S. Army community in the Pacific. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Shanae Sable Garrett)
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\n From left to right, Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Schmidt, U.S. Army Pacific senior enlisted advisor, Maj. Gen. (Ret) Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum, Gen. Ronald P. Clark, U.S. Army Pacific commanding general pose for a photo Jun. 12, 2025, during the Mana O Ke Koa award ceremony held at Fort DeRussy, Hawaii. The MOKK civilian community service award honors individuals who are community leaders that have distinguished themselves by their support to Soldiers, their families, and the Army community in the Pacific. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Shanae S. Garrett)
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\n Gen. Ronald P. Clark, U.S. Army Pacific Commanding General gives his opening remarks at the Mana O Ke Koa \u201cSpirit of the Warrior\u201d award ceremony at Fort DeRussy, Hawaii,, on Jun. 12, 2025. The MOKK civilian community service award honors individuals who are community leaders that have distinguished themselves by their support to Soldiers, their families, and the Army community in the Pacific. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Shanae Sable Garrett)
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FORT SHAFTER, Hawai’i\u2014 Maj. Gen. (Ret) Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum has dedicated decades of service to the Army and to Soldiers of Hawaii. Her vision and advocacy helped shape and define a space for the U.S. Army to create a peaceful, prosperous Indo-Pacific region through people-to-people connections, education and empowerment.<\/p>\n

Her unfailing contributions and commitments to the pacific and Army community was key in her receiving Mana O Ke Koa award on June 12, 2025.<\/p>\n

Vares-Lum was born and raised in Wahiawa, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, where she majored in journalism and earned a master\u2019s degree in education at University of Hawaii-Manoa.<\/p>\n

Currently, Vares-Lum serves on several nonprofit boards, including the American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region. She proudly stands as a member of the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research and the U.S. Japan Council.<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Pacific Commanding General, Gen. Ronald P. Clark had the honor of presenting the prestigious community service award to Vares-Lum, he stated, \u201cSuzanne serves as a role model for how to build community. She has influenced generations of Hawaiians, Soldiers, Families, non-profits, and academics to create connections. Today, the Army, Hawaii, the Indo-Pacific, and the World \u2013 are better places because of Suzanne.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m sincerely humbled to be a part of this ceremony, because I believe that this award is really not about me. It’s about this spirit that so many of you display, day in and day out. This a place not just for the United States, but for our allies and partners in the Indo Pacific, and for our community,\u201d said Vares-Lum.<\/p>\n

Veras-Lum served 34 years in the United States Army, and her military journey started as a private first class and ended as a two-star general. Within her military career she has served within three components, Active Duty, National Guard and the Reserves.<\/p>\n

She has deployed to Iraq with the Hawaii National Guard as an intelligence officer. Vares-Lum has led a diverse group of military intelligence servicemembers including, Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors. She has served at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command at Camp Smith after key roles that addressed the priority of national-security challenges in the region.<\/p>\n

During her time as President of the East-West Center, Vares-Lum oversaw the center\u2019s recovery from pandemic lockdowns and worked closely with the institution\u2019s board, staff, and stakeholders to implement EWC\u2019s first new formal strategic plan in nearly two decades. Both government and private funding increased, and enrollment in EWC\u2019s programs have reached some of the highest levels in several decades.<\/p>\n

Vares-Lum has also aided in building a collaboration between the East-West Center and the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Vares-Lum hopes her servant leader outlook will help her create good governance across the Pacific and mentor the next generation of leaders on all platforms of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inaugural Mana O Ke Koa award was presented in 2007, and each year the award continues to symbolize the commitment to recognizing and fostering positive relations between the local community and the Army. This year marks the 16th anniversary of the award.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below is a list of past Mana O Ke Koa award recipients:<\/p>\n

\u2022 2007- William W. Paty, Jr. (Legendary Hawai’i WWII Veteran, D-Day Paratrooper, POW; Civic Leader and Civilian Aide to SECARMY Emeritus)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2008- Ms. Pasha Baker (Employer Support to Guard and Reserve Ambassador, Civic Leader)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2009- Hon. Linda Lingle (Hawai’i Governor, Military Supporter\/Army Community Covenant)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2010- Mr. Ken Bailey (Chamber of Commerce Armed Services Committee)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2011- Ms. Carole Kai (Great Aloha Run founder, Carole Kai Charities have made donations to Army MWR)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2012- Mr. Albert Silva (Outspoken Army Supporter, Waianae Civilian Advisory Board, Makua Military Reservation)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2013- Senator Daniel K. Inouye (Legendary Hawai’i Soldier and Statesman, Posthumous)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2014- Mr. David Carey (Military Supporter, Outrigger CEO, Hawai’i Chamber of Commerce)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2015- Hon. Ed Kubo (Hawai’i Judge, Veterans Treatment Court)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2016- Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (Legendary Hawai’i Soldier and Statesman)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2017- Rep. K. Mark Takai (Hawai’i Soldier\/Statesman, Posthumous)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2018- Mr. Allen K. Hoe (Vietnam Veteran, Civ Aide to SECARMY)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2019- Ed Gayagas (Vietnam Veteran, University of Hawai’i Fallen Warrior Memorial)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2020- Domingo Los Banos (World War II veteran, Outspoken Filipino veteran supporter, Posthumous)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2021- Maj. Gen. (Retired) Robert Lee (Former Hawai’i Adjutant General, Chinese American WWII Veterans Recognition advocate)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2022- Gen. (Retired) David Bramlett (Vietnam War infantryman, Former U.S. Army Forces Command commander)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2023- Command Sgt. Maj. (Retired) Henry N.J. Lee (WWII, Korea, Vietnam veteran, Posthumous)<\/p>\n

\u2022 2024- Ms. Jennifer Sabas, Community Leader, former Chief of Staff, Senator Inouye<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Maj. Gen. (Ret) Suzanne Puanani Varess-Lum delivered a speech during the Mana O Ke Koa “Spirit of the Warrior” a civilian community service award ceremony on Fort DeRussy, Hawaii, Jun. 12, 2024. This prestigious award serves as a tribute to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional dedication […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479118,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=479116"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":479122,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479116\/revisions\/479122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/479118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=479116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=479116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=479116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}