The 4th of July 2013 Meet & Greet held at Mauna Kea State Park kicked off the introduction of this patriotic-themed cache. Like most other traditional caches, it contained a log book and a "First to Find" prize, but the swag was something special: Patriotic tattoos. On event day, all cache finders who showed up at the Meet sporting one of the Stars & Stripes tattoos was awarded a prize.
Across the highway from Mauna Kea State Park lies Pohakuloa military training area. Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) was first used during World War II as a Marine Corps artillery live-fire training area. U.S. Marines from the 2nd Marine Division and the 5th Marine Division trained at PTA and on the western side of the Big Island in preparation for the Iwo Jima and Saipan campaigns. During World War II, few permanent structures existed; when the Marines trained at PTA, they slept in tents. After the war, PTA fell under the control of the Hawaii Territorial Guard, and in the mid-1950s, the Army took over PTA. From 1955-58, Soldiers from the 65th Engineer Company built the distinctive Quonset huts, which are still in use. PTA's 133,000 acres include an 80-acre cantonment area with a fuel yard, fire and police departments and an airfield with a 3,700-foot runway. The cantonment area also provides units with task-force headquarters, dining facilities, a troop medical clinic, a theater and the only Quonset-hut chapel in the Army. The installation can support up to 2,300 military personnel with rations, ice, fuel and transportation. The military presence is a reminder of our country's constant vigilance against those who threaten the freedoms our forefathers set forth on Independence Day 1776.