Posted on: Sunday, April 20, 2003

State legislator 'honored' to serve country

By Zenaida Serrano Espanol

Advertiser Staff Writer

State Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo knows what it's like to serve the state. Now she'll serve the country.

State Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, right, takes the oath of enlistment into the Hawai'i Army National Guard. She was sworn in by Col. Lon Paresa, left, as her parents, Mike and Carol Gabbard, looked on in the state House chambers Friday. Bruce Asato  The Honolulu Advertiser Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), took the oath of enlistment into the Hawai'i Army National Guard on the House floor Friday.

"In history, some generations have been given everything, and now in this generation where there's a war on terrorism, I'm honored to have the opportunity to give something. ... I promise my constituents that my service to the military will not in any way get in the way of my serving them," said Gabbard Tamayo, 22.

Gabbard Tamayo will undergo nine weeks of basic training in Texas beginning June 2, a month after the Legislature adjourns.

Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), is also in the National Guard and has been serving for four years.

Gabbard Tamayo said she will have an administrative position with the medical command, where Takai, a captain, serves as a preventive medical officer.

Both representatives are the only legislators serving in the Hawai'i National Guard, Takai said.

"I think it's even more so important that people in the Legislature and people close to state government have an opportunity to do this because it provides a perspective much wider than the role we serve as state lawmakers," Takai said.