A Memorial Day call of duty to seek more than memories of people serving who were lost

Lingering questions about the history of a Southeast Alaska soldier killed during Vietnam War a reminder of purpose, brigadier general says during annual Juneau gathering

Wendall Bishop, Brent Fischer and Evelyn Fischer bow while a prayer is offered during a Memorial Day ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery on Monday, May 25, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Matthew Komatsu says he wants to go beyond remembering Hoonah resident Ronald Greenwald was killed in combat during the Vietnam War on Feb. 12, 1968. Komatsu wants to probe further to ensure the historical narrative is fully accurate. 

Komatsu, a brigadier general who is the assistant to the commander of the Alaska Air National Guard, provided a detailed narrative of Greenwald during a keynote speech at one of Juneau’s three traditional Memorial Day events Monday. Dozens of people at each shared collective tributes to military members who died while serving, plus memories of people from Juneau and elsewhere in Southeast Alaska.

While much of Greenwald’s life is documented history, Komatsu said he learned additional details that raised questions while visiting the soldier’s family in Hoonah on Sunday. Doing further research, he found a declassified CIA report describing a massive attack on Feb. 11 at the camp where Greenwald as a helicopter gunner for the U.S. Army.

“It happens in the middle of the night,” Komatsu said. “It's also during the monsoon season and it's freezing cold, and the entire camp had been turned into like cement mud. So as the mortar start falling and people are running around, and trying to save lives and save helicopters and things like that, they're running through like knee-deep muck, or they have no place to go but throw themselves flat in a ditch and hopefully escape fragmentation from the mortar rounds.”

Brig. Gen. Matthew Komatsu of the Alaska Air National Guard shares the history of Hoonah resident Ronald Greenwald, a U.S. Army helicopter gunner killed during the Vietnam War, at a Memorial Day gathering hosted by Southeast Alaska Native Veterans at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Monday, May 25, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

As a result, Komatsu said he’s wondering if Greenwald actually was killed on Feb. 11 and his body not found until the next day, when his death is officially recorded.

“There are a lot of different ways that that could have happened and so for me I feel like I kind of owe Ronald this,” Komatsu said. “I want to do some additional research.”

Komatsu spoke at the memorial gathering organized annually by Southeast Alaska Native Veterans at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. The event started outside at 11 a.m. with a wreath placement at the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans Memorial Park, a reading of the 13 Southeast Alaska residents killed in the line of duty, and presentation of colors and hoisting of the U.S. flag.

Komatsu, stationed in Alaska since 2011, said he grew up in Minnesota without a lot of military connections “so Memorial Day for me was really just a long weekend.” He also noted a distinguishing aspect of serving in Alaska is the rate of enlistees is higher than elsewhere in the U.S. and “once you come into Southeast Alaska or a place like Hoonah those numbers just skyrocket.”

A color guard presents flags during a Memorial Day ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery on Monday, May 25, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

Similar outdoor gatherings began at the same time at Evergreen Cemetery downtown and Alaska Memorial Park in the Mendenhall Valley. Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District, also noted Alaska’s high enlistee rate during a keynote speech at Evergreen Cemetery, which is “nearly double the national average, including and especially among the Indigenous people of Alaska.”

“Service to a higher purpose is woven into the very fabric of who we are up here, but today is not about those of us who wear or wore the uniform and have the privilege of coming home,” he said. “Today is Memorial Day. Today is about the empty chair at the dinner table. It is about the boots that were never unlaced, the voices that faded too soon, the futures that were surrendered so that ours could continue.”

The gathering at Alaska Memorial Park was followed by a lunch gathering at the American Legion Auke Bay Alaska Post 25. At the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans’ gathering, Komatsu’s speech was followed by a lunch where youths in the audience brought plates of food to the elders and veterans in the hall.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.

More photos of Memorial Day 2026 in Juneau. (All photos by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)