 Hello and welcome to Think Tech Hawaii and It Never Got Quiet. This is a half hour program that explores the Hawaiian connection with the Vietnam War. I'm your host, Vic Kraft. Our guest today has a remarkable record not only of service while in uniform but as a public servant and one who has committed much of his personal time to volunteer activities. He is Michael Lilly and was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1968, subsequently serving aboard the USS Waddell and held other positions on shore after sea duty. While aboard the Waddell, he did a tour on the gunfire line or the gunline off the coast of Vietnam, providing fire support to troops engaged with the enemy or conducting interdiction operations to prevent more material from entering the south from North Vietnam. Michael left active duty but remained in the Naval Reserve, retiring as a captain. This dress uniform displays his accomplishments with allegiance of merit, defense meritorious service, and meritorious service medals, along with a host of other decorations. During both active duty and reserve time, he served in a number of functions that most people outside of the Navy would call alphabet soup. The one job I found the longest attempt by the Navy for a job title was, I'm going to give this a shot, ComNav surf group mid-pack for Commander Naval Surface Group Mid-Pacific. There are probably more that are much longer, but maybe not as tug-twisting. Michael Lilly is a licensed attorney in Hawaii. He served as our Attorney General and First Deputy Attorney General of Hawaii. He has been the state's Chief Law Enforcement and Legal Officer in serving as chairman of the Governor's Crime Committee. After returning to private practice, Michael pushed for a number of issues that earned him the 1999 Outstanding Community Service Award from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Helen Kinnell Wilder Fellowship Award or Friendship Award from the Hawaiians Humane Society. Michael is currently a member of the State of the Hawaii Veterans Advisory Board, which recommends programs for veterans, their dependents, and or their survivors and provides advocacy on behalf of Hawaii's 120,000 veterans. Their objective is to inform veterans about state and federal programs and entitlements. He was a past president of the Navy League's Pacific Region and Honolulu Council, a national director of the Navy League, and president of the Naval Reserve Association's Pearl Harbor Chapter. He is also fundraising chair of Guide Dogs of Hawaii and has served on the boards of other charities, including Diamondhead Theater. He is currently vice-chair of the Honolulu City Ethics Commission. Aloha and welcome, Michael. Welcome to the program. Good to be here, Vic. Nice to be. How did you have time to breathe through all of these things? My grandmother always said the grass didn't grow under my feet, so I don't know, I just have a storehouse of energy. I find it interesting, your roots in Hawaii go back many generations. The time of this generation, keiki oka aina. And with relatives that had served in the royal government as well. And I was just kind of curious as to what made you join the Navy, why that branch as opposed to any of the others. Was there a family history? That's the easiest one of all. My dad was a retired Navy captain. So when I came into this world, I came into a Navy family and that was going to be my history. There was no question I was going to be in the Navy as did my brother. So that was destined for me. That's great. You went to school here, of course, and then I don't know if the term is barred or if you were licensed attorney prior to going into the service or after coming out? No, after college I didn't want to study anymore, so I decided that was the time to go in the Navy. And of course then when I went to Officer Candidate School, which is the Navy's officer boot camp, I never studied harder in my whole life. So I wound up studying harder and harder, but by the time that I had served in Vietnam and left active service, I really wanted to do something meaningful and the law called to me. And I went to law school after that. And then of course all my friends that became lawyers said, oh, you have to become a JAG officer. I said I'm not interested in being a lawyer on the weekends. I want to drive ships. So I stayed in the reserve so I could drive ships and be operational and not do law stuff. You went ahead and let's see, you did your OCS time and we were just talking about it. You put in for destroyer duty. The Greyhounds of the Ocean or the Greyhounds of the Sea? Off Vietnam. Off Vietnam. Being in a confining situation like that when you're on station, you're surrounded by your crew members all the time, it's unlike shore duty where at least you can get out and grab a bite to eat at a restaurant once in a while. What was it like going on the gunline and doing the active fire support? Enable ship is a city unto its own. Everybody works together to a common goal and keeping that ship alive and functioning. When you're doing that, you talk about the band of brothers, that's the way we were on that ship. We were all one cohesive unit. It was the most marvelous sense of fellowship and purpose that anyone could ever experience. Then in Vietnam, we were on the gunline and what we were doing there was supporting the troops ashore, the Marines and the Army. The most satisfying thing for me was when we were called up by Marine units or Army units at the top of a hill being overrun by Viet Cong surrounding them. We were able to be their mobile artillery and they would spot our rounds and many times we were able to save the lives of units by being their artillery, which was a very satisfying, obviously a very satisfying experience. So it was a very purposeful experience and it was one of tremendous fellowship. That's great. It's one of the things that I think we're missing in society today is that sense of duty and togetherness as far as working together. Well you're carrying the flag and you're carrying the honor of generations before you out there doing the country's business so it's a very satisfying, it was a very satisfying experience. After sea duty, you had a number of shore assignments, one of which was calm to have grew. Can you tell us a little bit about your shore duty? I was fortunate, my dad always said command, command, command. So I always aspired to have command so I was fortunate to have five reserve commands in my career, which to me was, other than being a board of ship that was the most satisfying thing for me as an officer but we were in a new world of the Naval Reserve. The Naval Reserve was transditing into supporting the active services and doing their jobs. So instead of drilling on the weekends in a classroom somewhere, we were actually at SinkPak Fleet or at SinkPak or ComNavSurfGrew, MidPak, doing the active duty work alongside of them or we would be on a ship and we would be doing everything that an active duty person would do on that ship or on that shore command, only we were helping them do their job. And so this was a new world for the Reserve. Instead of just being trainees, we were actually hands-on doing the work that was necessary so that those commands, whether it's highest command like SinkPak or one of the lower commands like ComNavSurfGrew, MidPak, we were helping them achieve their mission, their active duty mission as a Reservist. That's a bit different from just giving some of the other services as far as in the Air Force, there are aircraft dedicated to the Reserves, Air Guard, there are assets that are dedicated to those particular units as opposed to being active duty. We had some of those in the Navy but primarily when I got off active duty they were doing our training in classrooms. We've got a Pearl Harbor's full of ships and commands and we were in a classroom. Fortunately that changed pretty quickly and the idea of the Reserve being able to not only do work alongside the active duty but to help them do their jobs was very satisfactory and very successful. Something just occurred to me, you were in the service of probably active duty and Reserves at a transition time not only from active duty to Reserves but also from more time to peacetime and I know I was part of that in the mid-70s when we were transitioning from being warfighters into garrison. And you remember how you were treated when you came back? Oh my goodness, yes. Rocks thrown at us, cars very badly. Sure, we were treated very poorly. Did you have that similar experience here? Very much so. Really? I had a lot of negative experiences especially on weekends when I put on my uniform and if I happen to be in the civilian world I got some very negative reactions to that and it's kind of an interesting experience. And when I first went to work at the Attorney General's office in the 70s I was a deputy. And I would I would be invited to give a speech or a rotary or business club or wherever and I always put down in my resume Vietnam veteran we are combat veteran and no one ever would introduce me as having anything to do with the military or having been a Vietnam vet. Never happened. It was just bizarre like it wasn't there on my resume. And then in the early 80s when I became first deputy attorney general and I got to do a lot of more speeches in those days. This was when Reagan came in and it was like things changed. There's a whole feeling about it changed and suddenly I would be introduced not only as you know this is my job but he's a Vietnam combat veteran off the coast all that stuff. So suddenly it was not shameful to be a Vietnam vet and we were actually being recognized for that. Today it's so much even more different. Today they thank you for your service and that was unheard of in our day right that anyone would thank you for we you we may not you may not agree with why we were there but we were there serving our country we're doing our duty we saluted and and carried it out the best of our ability but we weren't making the decision where to go we were just doing our job. Today if you disagree with us being in other war zones in Afghanistan the general feeling is thank you for your service and that's wonderful. I think it's a real change. Yes it is a change and I think it's a it's a feeling of togetherness. I wish we could can and sell. Yes but have more of it. Let's have more of it. We're gonna take a break here and for some messages and we'll be right back. I'm good. I'm good. But I have a story and I don't know where to start. I still have night prayers. I feel overwhelmed. I can't live like this anymore. I'm really not so good but are you ready to listen? Research says reading from birth accelerates the baby's brain development. And you're doing that now? Oh yeah. This is the starting line. Posh. This is over. You're dead. Read a loud 15 minutes. Every child. Every parent. Every day. Michael Lilly and we're discussing his experiences in Vietnam and post Vietnam and I kind of like to get right into that Michael and that is right now just as of today there are an awful lot of homeless veterans. I'd kind of like to know can you explain to me what the state is doing? I know that we're building some communities out there using temporary sea vans and putting them on pads but I think it's angered an awful lot of veterans who feel that some of these folks haven't really done their duty. They're being given something for nothing. Basically a lot of them I don't want to broad brush the whole community but perhaps maybe through their life's choices they ended up here whereas an awful lot of veterans seem to have been kind of pushed out of the way. Falling through the crack. Is there anything that the state's doing as far as screening people or finding those folks and trying to do something for them? I think that's a good news story. As you know I'm on the Hawaii Governor's Advisory Board to Veteran Services and at the state level we work with the Veterans Administration on all programs both state and federal for veterans and the homeless area we're in Hawaii we're among the lowest and we've had a good news getting veterans off the streets and into homes into temporary facilities getting the treatment they need. The difficulty a lot of times is is an outreach finding them but we're out there working on that. They come and get get serviced by the Veterans Administration that's one way we get get the word and we can we can help them. We help them with counseling. Sometimes they just they need a hand out they need a friend a friendly face they have somebody they can talk to and somebody can help them with what programs there are out there both state and federal levels that can help these folks because by and large as you know a veteran is someone who's done the job demonstrated they can do it they're hard-working some of them have had difficulty financially or with drugs or sometimes PSPT and things like post-traumatic stress. So we're out there working in that area and I just say that the number of homeless among veterans in Hawaii is among the lowest in the nation and going in the right direction we're getting fewer veterans out there on the streets. That's great I know that retired colonel Ron Han who's the director of the veteran services here is up in the E wing of Tripler and actively working towards these projects. But we report to him he's the he's the state side of our board so we meet with him every month and go over these very issues because we are the state advocates we on the board governor put us there to add be the advocates for the 120,000 veterans in Hawaii and their families so it's more than just the veterans it's their it's their wives their husbands their children their relatives all the services were their advocates in the state. Curiously I know the state of California has what's called CalVets and they offer low interest housing loans various other programs if you're a California veteran or that was your home of registry or home of record does Hawaii have anything similar? We have similar programs you can you can get funds for example to remodel your house if you're a disabled vet so that it's you can use your house you're disabled to be able to use it so there are a variety of programs like that out there and a lot of times veterans don't even know what they are in fact when I became a member of the advisory board I found out about programs I didn't even know about and here you know this is something that we're trying to get the word out to the vets and outreach is a major part of our task. I know that from the the VA side where the rubber meets the road they're very dependent upon the vet centers and the mobile vet center and I don't I don't know if the state has budgeted anything like that or something similar to that I would think that in order to get out there as far as the outreach just walking around sometimes might do it going through some of these homeless parks that we have and start talking to people yeah some of that's going on yeah so it's it's a difficult task it's an enormous task. One of the things that I discovered and I ran into a vet one time a homeless vet I offered to take him to the vet center and let's go get in the car let's go down there so we can see what we can do for you he said no I've got a bad conduct discharge. There are an awful lot of these veterans who got into situations where third tour, fourth tour from Afghanistan or Iraq got involved in a DUI or got into some article 15 problems or disciplinary issues subsequently getting a bad conduct discharge. Is the state doing anything as far as helping some of these guys? Some advocacy for them? Yes we do. Super. How do they get a hold of them? How does well that's well there there's a lot of ways in which they can get a hold of us either on the internet or by phone or through these vet centers the difficult task is us to go out and find these people you know so that's and you know budgeting and personnel those are difficult issues but they're ones that we're challenged by and we're working Super. Wow. And you know the whole array of VA benefits is also open to all vets and getting the word out to them in a way you know the the new choice program is making it simpler for a vet to be able to get medical services whereas before it was very difficult to be able to get a medical service and now it's a little more seamless and so we think all the trajectories are in the right direction. That's super. Excuse me I don't know it's given your life's example and what you've done and what you've accomplished not only in service but also service to community in government and in private sector I kind of feel that you offer up one heck of an example to the population. Thank you for that but it's it's amazing that you've put these goals in front of you do you think that that's part of what we need to instill in people? Well I think the the military provides you with the kind of values in discipline and attention to detail that can be and help drive you in whatever direction you want to go. So a lot of what I've done I attribute to my time in the military which I always say my going into the Navy and going to Vietnam was transformational in a hugely positive way. I was not the same person going in that I came out when I left Vietnam I was light years and what I was as a college graduate going to Vietnam and I mean in a very positive way and my life everything I say everything that I have been able to do I traced back to that transformational experience and I always get a little bit of chicken skin right now. I get so much more reward being able to do things for others and for as many people as I can than I ever get as a lawyer making money so you know you make money fine but there's there's it's that's transitory that's really illusory. What really motivates me and what I feel is my own reward is the things that I've been able to do for others whether as a reserve captain as a captain reserve unit I was mentoring my subordinate enlisted personnel and officers so that they could advance and excel in their lives or now on the advisory board trying to help the homeless veterans and other veterans out there that don't even know what programs are out there available for them to deal with their issues I tell you those are more rewarding than anything else in life other than my kids and my wife. It's funny because before my son went into the service I told him I said you'll never have another job that's satisfying yeah and it's I don't know if he agrees with me still but I bet he will. I bet he will. I hope so I hope so. We would love to have some feedback and we were also looking for people to interview if you have some comments or would like to appear on the program please send us an email at 808VietnamVets at gmail.com I'm especially looking forward to speaking with pilots particularly Huey pilots if I can find some their view on the war would be something to take a look at I would like to thank the staff here at Think Tech Hawaii for all their support and assistance truly without them this program would not be possible please come back again next week for another issue of it never got quiet. Mahalo.