Go For Broke National Education Center Takes a Ride on the
Spirit of Go For Broke
The Hawaii Air National Guard (HiANG) welcomed the Go For Broke National Education Center's board of directors to ride their new C-17, named the Spirit of Go For Broke in September 2008. Joining the board on this momentous flight were veterans from the 442nd Veterans Club and the MIS Club of Hawaii, invited guests and National Education Center staff. After a security briefing by the 204th Airlift Squadron, General Eric Shinseki led the group onto the plane for the morning flight. Veterans Hiroshi Arisumi and Manabi Hirasaki sat behind the pilots in the cockpit for the take-off.
Other passengers were strapped into the jump seats that lined the walls of the cargo hold. Crewmen handed out ear plugs and motion sickness bags before explaining the safety procedures. Piloting the plane were Lieutenant Commander Stephen Su'afilo and First Lieutenant Blythe-Jean Itoman. Itoman is a former All-Western Athletic Conference guard for the University of Hawaii's women's basketball team. She now flies the C-17 as her full-time job.
The Spirit of Go For Broke took off from Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu and traveled over Lanai, Molokai and Maui before turning around over the north end of the big island of Hawaii for the return home. While there were only a few windows in the cargo hold where most of the passengers were seated, everyone got a chance to spend some time in the cockpit with the crew to take in the spectacular view from the pilot's seat. Passengers explored the airplane and had a chance to talk to the crew about their experiences in flying the plane to the Middle East and across the United States
After the one-and-a-half hour flight, the Spirit of Go For Broke landed back at Hickam and the passengers disembarked onto the tarmac to take a bus ride to the Officer's Mess Hall. Before boarding the bus, General Shinseki and the veterans posed for photos in front of the C-17 and did a film shoot for the 50 Voices of Statehood program, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of statehood for Hawaii. At the Officer's Mess Hall the group was treated to a lunch hosted by board member Doug Goto and served by members of the HiANG.
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