Capt. Hirae sits in the cockpit of an American Eagle plane. He worked for the airline for 25 years.
The spirit of “talk story’’ (preserving and sharing memories) permeate the Hawai’ian Islands and the souls of those who’ve lived there.
Retired airline Capt. Clement Hirae’s saga of his time with Civil Air Patrol’s Ka’u Composite Squadron and subsequent journey from the Big Island’s sugar plantations to Rocky Mountain ski slopes to the windswept plains of the Midwest and ultimately to the skies and ski slopes of the Northeast, is quite a tale — and one made possible through Civil Air Patrol (CAP).
Establishing the Ka’u Memorial Fund
“I’m glad l can do something for cadets who are passionate about CAP,” Clement, a third-generation Hawaiian currently living in Walpole, Massachusetts, said about establishing the Ka’u Memorial Fund. The fund will annually award a $1,400 flight academy or national cadet activity scholarship to a cadet from Hilo’s Lyman Field Composite Squadron or the Kona Composite Squadron. Although the Ka’u squadron is no longer active, Clement hopes this will keep its memory alive. “I wanted to do something for future generations to live their dreams,” he said.
Ka’u sits amid sugar cane plantations near Volcanoes National Park — the same ones his grandparents, who emigrated from Japan, came to find work in. As a child, Clement was fascinated by the Stearman biplanes crop-dusting the fields and vowed that he too would one day fly. He received the opportunity when Capt. Robert Brooks, a U.S. Air Force officer who had just been assigned to an Air Force station nearby, established the CAP Ka’u Composite Squadron. “He had this vision … and, as I look back, I feel so grateful and thankful to him. He planted the seed for my future.”
Clement talks proudly of his CAP journey: he earned his Gen. Billy Mitchell Award, became a squadron commander, and has continued serving as an adult member wherever he has landed. He continues to credit his life’s success to the tenets learned as a cadet. “I am what I am today because of Capt. Brooks and Civil Air Patrol.”
“May Civil Air Patrol be a foundation for their quest in living their dreams.”
This newspaper clipping shows then-Cadet Hirae in the simulator at Williams Air Force Base as part of the CAP career exploration tour of the base. His mother saved the clipping for him, and he has kept it all this time.
Cadet Experiences Influence His Path
Two CAP experiences dramatically changed his life’s trajectory. As a cadet, he attended an encampment at Oahu’s Hickam Air Force Base. “Sleeping in the barracks near Hickam’s flight line and hearing the constant sounds of aircraft cemented my dream to become a pilot,” he said.
The second was a visit to Colorado Springs’ U.S. Air Force Academy as part of a CAP career exploration tour of Air Force bases. On a horseback riding tour of the academy grounds, he saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time — and that’s when he knew where his flight training had to be. “I recall that memory like it happened yesterday. I was just in awe,” he said of the mountains.
When he returned home, he researched aviation degrees in Colorado, ultimately finding Northwestern Community College in Rangely and Metro State College in Denver. “Going to schools so far from my rural Hawai’ian roots was something I would never have attempted without the self-confidence learned as a cadet.”
Ski Instructor Turned Corporate Pilot
However, when he graduated in the mid-1970s, airlines weren’t hiring so he fell back on his new-found love of skiing and became a ski instructor at Keystone for the next eight years.
He “talks story” about how that experience led to his first flying job — but it wasn’t in an airplane. He had become friends with a ski student who was heir to a Kansas City large-scale office park development firm. They needed a quick way to ferry clients from the airport to their Overland Park headquarters and on to potential sites.
They offered Clement the chief pilot job, put in a helipad, bought a helicopter, and sent him off to flight school. When the company purchased a King Air, Clement spent several more years as its corporate pilot. During that time, he also became an adult CAP member and instructor pilot for the nearby Shawnee Composite Squadron.
Finally, a Long Career as an Airline Pilot
Missing Hawai’i and family, he sought employment back home two separate times. Unfortunately, both inter-island passenger airlines which hired him declared bankruptcy soon after he entered their ground schools.
“I was devastated,” he said of returning to the mainland each time. But the resiliency he learned in Civil Air Patrol shone through and, over the next several years, he flew a variety of aircraft for courier, cargo, and people carriers, eventually moving to the Northeast flying for Business Express Airlines. When that company, which operated commuter jets for Northwest, Delta, and American, eventually became American Eagle, he flew for them for over 25 years before retiring, remaining in the Northeast with his wife Arleen, whom he had met in Kansas City, and their daughter.
Capt. Clement Hirae with the Hawai’ian leis traditionally given to those in the Island State at notable events in their lives. A family member brought the lei over from Hawai’i to present to him during his retirement ceremony from American Eagle.
Captain Still Active in Civil Air Patrol
Although he’s a long way from his beloved Hawai’i, he has combined two of his greatest loves — soaring down the mountains and through the skies thanks to Capt. Brooks and Civil Air Patrol. Currently, Clement spends his time serving as a captain in the Mansfield Composite Squadron and competing in area and national slalom and giant slalom ski competitions.
A vision, begun so long ago in Hawai’i’s sugar cane fields, has ensured memories of the Ka’u squadron will help other teenagers pursue their dreams and create their own memories to share and “talk story.”
Your Legacy. Shaping Futures.
Stories like that of Clement Hirae highlight the lasting impact Civil Air Patrol makes in the lives of young cadets. We are shaping futures, one cadet at a time.
If you are interested in seeing how you can create a Legacy at CAP, to help prepare the next generation of leaders, contact us at [email protected].
