Gary Cera - KHP Volunteer Docent
These are special times, that take special people, to achieve special goals. One such person is Gary Cera. I think I met Gary a little over a year ago. It doesn’t matter. It seems like I knew him forever. Extraordinary people are like that. This is the Gary I want you to know, a person you will never forget. You will on the day you come to visit us at the Kalaeloa Heritage Park. Gary is one of our extraordinary docents.Gary is a little younger that I am. We’ll let you guess when you come to visit us at the Kalaeloa Heritage Park. He was born in Hilo of a Hawaiian mother and a Filipino father. Both parents now deceased were sugar, coffee and pineapple laborers. He is 7th of 11 brothers and sisters. The family moved from place to place on Hawaii Island and they eventually moved to O’ahu where Gary graduated from Leilehua High School in 1967. That year he joined the Marine Corps and served as a tank crewman after recruit school. He served in Vietnam during the time just following the Tet Offensive which were challenging times. Managed to return home unscathed. Interesting though he was discharged honorably in May 1970 same date as yours truly. We must have passed each other in the hallway as we were walking out. He from the Marines and I from the Navy. He in a tank, and me in a boat. While in the Marine Corps Gary accumulated a number of decorations; in addition to the National Defense Service Medal he received the Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Viet Nam Combat Action Ribbon and the Viet Nam Campaign Medal. Subsequently attended Honolulu Community College where he learned Fabrication/Welding. He served in the Hawaii National Guard as a weekend warrior while working as a Technician. After his retirement Gary joined the Kapolei Veterans Center and this is where I met him. I was asked by a fellow veteran and member of the Kapolei Veterans Center to come and give them a presentation on a project we were involved in on the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station. That meeting resulted in a site tour at the Kalaeloa Heritage Park for a group of veterans from the center and a number of veterans who became a part of our volunteer program.Gary Cera was at the front of the line. It is easy to say that Gary is a member of our volunteer program but not as easy to speak to the level of his participation, dedication, commitment and passion to help. As difficult as it is to explain let me try in respect for his level of commitment and dedication. It takes an enormous amount of sacrifice of one’s free time to commit as Gary has. One cannot fully appreciate what he does unless you do it yourself. We have no irrigation at the park although we have approximately 4 acres of Native Hawaiian plants and trees growing. We have to haul 2,000 gallons of water a week and store in 40 water totes placed strategically around the park. Gary hand waters the 4 acres of plants that most often takes 3 hours when done alone. In addition he is the only volunteer who hand weeds 4 acres by constantly squatting down and standing up removing weeds by the roots. I can’t. This is only a small part of his contributions to the things that we are trying to achieve at the park.In addition to all of this Gary is one of our docents. In the amount of time that Gary has been with us he is like a sponge. There is nothing more we can share with him. In the time you spend with him and listening to all his stories, history of the park it is hard for one imagine that he has been with us for only a little over a year. When he is not conducting a site tour he is a very quiet, giving, humble, hard working, unassuming kind of person. I can say that we could not do what we do at the park if it was not for Gary.These are special times, that take special people, to achieve special goals. Gary is one such person……..you will find him at the park all day on Fridays.Article by Shad Kane