{"id":237,"date":"2026-05-24T10:35:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237"},"modified":"2026-05-24T10:35:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:35:37","slug":"from-milolii-to-around-the-globe-w-hawaii-man-retires-after-impressive-coast-guard-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237","title":{"rendered":"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>When Ron Freitas was 17, he wanted to join the Air Force. His mother said no, so he joined the U.S. Coast Guard instead.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=235\">Knicks push Cavs to the brink of elimination with comfortable Game 3 victory<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>When Ron Freitas was 17, he wanted to join the Air Force. His mother said no, so he joined the U.S. Coast Guard instead.<\/p>\n<p>Now, 30 years later, the West Hawaii native is retiring after a career of flying in helicopters, intercepting trafficked drugs, and executing search and rescue missions. It is a job that has taken him around the globe.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cRight out of boot camp, I flew from San Francisco to New York, New York to London, London to Bahrain,\u201d he recalled. \u201cFrom there, I jumped on a Navy helicopter, flew to a Navy destroyer, flew to another Navy destroyer, and then the Coast Guard helicopter picked me up, took us to our ship, and we spent six months in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a big first step for someone coming out of Konawaena High School,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>In the years since, he has spent time in Port Angeles, Wash., as a flight mechanic, Kodiak, Alaska, doing fishery patrols in the Bering Sea, a couple of years in Puerto Rico, and then back to Washington where he made the rank of chief.<\/p>\n<p>He then served as command master chief \u2014 one of the highest possible enlisted ranks \u2014 at Air Station San Francisco for five years before being restationed to Cape Cod, Mass., where he has spent the past five years.<\/p>\n<p>Freitas, who is Native Hawaiian, grew up near Miloli\u2018i and feels his upbringing contributed to his success in the Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere we grew up, there was no running water. We had one electrical outlet in the house \u2026 so at a very young age, we grew up resilient, learned how to adapt, how to survive. We actually went fishing for food. That\u2019s how we provided for ourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so, just those basics that my mom, who was a single mom at the time, raising three kids, just how to adapt and survive, really helped me in the Coast Guard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Freitas said it wasn\u2019t an easy career, there were highlights \u2014 including getting to salute on the field at a San Francisco 49ers game \u2014 and people he met and worked with along the way that will stick with him.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=233\">Nene goslings take flight after surviving in Hilo park<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the thing that comes to mind is just the people and the camaraderie in the military itself,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, you depend on one another, you depend on each other \u2026 .\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said his desire to support his family was a driving force throughout his career. He has been with his wife, Cathy, who is also from the Big Island, since before he joined the Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only thing that kept me going was I wanted to provide for my wife, and then kids came along, and then I wanted to provide for them. And 20 years, 30 years, went by very quick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Freitas said he has witnessed many changes in the Coast Guard and the military more broadly over the years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe military that I joined is very different then today\u2019s military,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, it\u2019s harder to serve in today\u2019s military, specifically with the government shutdowns and an uncertainty that our military members face, it seems like, every other month. So, that part is getting tough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His final tour ended May 15, and he is now driving across the country with his family to move back to Washington state, where he plans to spend his time in retirement. <\/p>\n<p>While he\u2019s not sure exactly what is next, he has plans to enroll in an education program for military members to help transition to civilian life and develop skills to pursue new opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll see where that takes us,\u201d he said. \u201cI change my mind every other week. One week I want to be a sushi chef, one week I want to build stone walls. I just don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=231\">Roundup: William Contreras, Brewers jump all over Dodgers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Whatever it ends up being, he\u2019s looking forward to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe great part is I\u2019m free to choose what I want to do right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Email Grace Inez Adams at grace.adams@hawaiitribune-herald.com.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career &#8211; Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-24T10:35:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"headline\":\"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-24T10:35:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237\"},\"wordCount\":752,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237\",\"name\":\"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-24T10:35:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp\",\"width\":760,\"height\":608},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=237#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Moving to Hawaii Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Moving to Hawaii Guide","og_description":"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald","og_url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237","og_site_name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","article_published_time":"2026-05-24T10:35:37+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"headline":"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career","datePublished":"2026-05-24T10:35:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237"},"wordCount":752,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237","name":"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career - Moving to Hawaii Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-24T10:35:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c1d32cb5746428f3a9d4641e68643459.webp","width":760,"height":608},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=237#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Miloli\u2018i to around the globe: W. Hawaii man retires after impressive Coast Guard career"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/","name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}