The latest (below) from KOA-AM morning host Steffan Tubbs on the response to his report of the "Hawaii Five-O" production team "disrespecting" Pearl Harbor/WWII veterans visiting the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific last week -- during the 70th anniversary observances of Pearl Harbor Day.
KOA/Denver host Steffan Tubbs accompanied a group of World War II veterans who traveled to Honolulu to mark the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor in 1941. That’s Tubbs on the left with 96-year old Pearl Harbor survivor Archie Gregory of Huntington Beach, CA. “He was on the deck of the USS Arizona when the attack began,” Tubbs said. “He was blown into the water. A really amazing man.”
UPDATE ON DISSED VETS AND CBS HAWAII FIVE-O
by Steffan Tubbs on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 8:21am
Morning, friends:
All of our vets are either home or on their way as I write this. I appreciate the outrage you have shared with me regarding the incident at Punchbowl on Friday. Please know via a friend, actor Daniel Dae-Kim apparently got word of this to the show's executive producer. Please see the EP's response to me via email last night:
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Steffan,
I'm appalled by this account of events, and you can be certain I will be questioning my crew about what happened. I fly to Hawaii tomorrow and will get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, please accept my apology for any mistreatment.
Warmest regards,
Peter M. Lenkov
Executive Producer
Hawaii Five-0
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TWENTY FIVE MINUTES LATER...
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I'm being told that our crew did stop for your ceremony, at least for the time we told you needed, then proceeded with shooting.
Sent from my iPad
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And then this morning... the accusations to me:
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From Lenkov:
After my email to you, I spoke to approx 30 folks who were there, including reps from Punchbowl. All say the same thing: they paid respect during the anthem, then called lunch to give the vets the privacy and respect they deserve. Now I know it might be fun to trash a TV show, but I can't understand why you would make these claims. Everyone knows how much we respect our military. We couldn't do our show without them. And since 80% of our crew is made up of locals with deep ties to the military, I can't imagine any one of them doing the things you said in your blog.
Also know, we were not told there was a ceremony until we arrived at Punchbowl. If you know anything about production, you would agree that we had to proceed. And we did, with great respect. Albeit you did not see it that way.
Unfortunately the damage is done. Your blog has spread quickly amongst our fan base. I have a meeting with CBS tomorrow to discuss further.
Wish you would have contacted us first so we could discuss your claims before trashing us so aggressively in a blog.
Peter M. Lenkov
Executive Producer
Hawaii Five-0
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to which I responded:
There is nothing made up here. If from my location I could not see your crew stop for the anthem, I apologize. I do know during Taps there were people walking around.
What about the assistant in the backpack walking through hushing vets placing roses? How do you explain the caterer?
Yes, at some point the show had to go on. And it did.
I am a newsman, not some gossip columnist. I recounted exactly what happened and this isn't "fun." These "claims" are fact. The attached picture says a lot, even if it is standard procedure for your crew on location.
Most certainly the few individuals did not represent the view of you, your entire crew, H5O or CBS. But this happened and unfortunately its a reflection of all of you.
I wish you all success and I told this like it was.
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And the drama goes on.
Folks, if you are friends of mine or not, please know this was told the way it happened. Period. To those members of the crew who stopped to show their respect, I salute you. It is extremely troubling the vets never saw it.
SEE ATTACHED PICTURE TO GET A FEEL OF HOW IT WAS FOR A TIME...
That's a production assistant's hand trying to block the photographer...
