The Tomlinson family started Home of the Brave in 1991 in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and Military installations on the island of Oahu. Janet's dad had his eardrums blown out while driving a tank in the battle of Luzon in the Philippines. Her mom was a “Rosie the Riveter” - bucking rivets in the nose cones of B-17’s at Boeing Aircraft, then worked for Firest
one tire making wheels for B-25’s. Glen’s uncle fought in a Special Forces unit, island hopping across the Pacific ending up with the Occupation Forces in Japan. His grandfather served in the Coast Guard and as a Merchant Marine in the Atlantic and Pacific Theater. These colorful tales came alive once again for Janet & Glen during the Commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor and surrounding Military Installations on the island of Oahu in December 1991. At that time, the Tomlinsons created a program that returned veterans back to the bases they were assigned to on 12/07/41 some 50 years later (hence the name Home of the Brave). Glen recalls, “We were regaled with unbelievable first hand accounts of that day of infamy by soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who took part in this historic and epic battle. Our veterans had such a great time on tour, they said they wanted to bring their families and grand kids back to share these memories and history with them.”
As popularity grew with the Home of the Brave Tour, the Tomlinsons opened a small visitor center where all attending WWII Veterans were honored. Polaroid photos were snapped of the GI’s and a bit of their military service was recorded. This eventually grew into the amazing Home of the Brave Museum with one of the largest and most unique private collections in the Pacific! It is a living-breathing museum showcasing America’s Greatest Generation’s contributions and equipment used during both the European and Pacific Theater of operations. Guests are encouraged to hop in and take photos in the 1945 Army issue Ford Jeep and on the WLA 1942 Harley Davidson motorcycle used in the epic Disney film Pearl Harbor. Everything has been donated by Veterans and their families. It’s been called “Grandpa’s attic on steroids” and Honolulu’s best-kept secret by Honolulu’s former mayor. Janet and Glen’s three kids grew up in the family business in Honolulu hearing stories from WWII veterans and their families and listening to the sacrifices and contributions made by these American heroes. Fast forward to the kid’s college days. All three made the jump to the mainland to attend school in Colorado. Duke the eldest, along with Brittany the youngest, attended CSU in Fort Collins. Bear our middle son, attended Ft Lewis in Durango. Colorado is one of the Craft Brew capitals of the world so both Duke and Bear fell in love with the craft and became home brewers. Bear worked for Ska Brewing Company and together with Duke, persuaded their Dad Glen to go into the Beer Business in Honolulu. The concept was simple; introduce our own great craft beer to Hawaii while honoring America’s Military. Cousin Peter Clarke, a former Marine, agreed to join in to create the packaging and branding of our brewing company through the company he founded called Product Ventures. Beer recipes were developed and fine-tuned by Home of the Brave’s brew master Jeff Doyle, a brewer for O’Dell’s Brewing Co in Ft Collins (Duke’s favorite beer). To validate our concept with our very limited funds, Maui Brewing agreed to brew HOTBBC’s draft beer, which we distributed under Home of the Brave Beverage Company to military clubs, exclusive restaurants, and our on-island military hotel. Sprechers in Wisconsin then agreed to brew and bottle our 70th Anniversary Remember Pearl Harbor Dark Lager and HOTBBC’s flagship Pilot Pale Ale six packs that our family distributed to local military exchanges, Whole Foods, select restaurants, and specialty stores. Our challenge has been the high cost of shipping from the mainland, especially across the Pacific. This unfortunately increased our beer pricing above what the major local distributors were charging for other craft beers and it has been hard to compete. We are presently in talks with a distributor to possibly carry our line and piggyback on shipping, thus reducing the final retail price. We always wanted to create a brewpub where guests could enjoy our hand crafted beers as well as feature other local and mainland micro brews while taking in a bit of American Military history. The Home of the Brave Brewseum concept was developed and lovingly hand built by our family and friends. The Brewseum, a nostalgic 1940’s style beer hall presently boasts number one billing on our local yelp reviews for new and upcoming bars. Guests can sit in the 1942 Willys Admiral Nimitz Jeep while watching a working railroad that chugs through the Brewseum. Model fighter aircraft fly in the air circling the ceiling, and six draft craft brews are on tap along with our own bottled Pilot Pale Ale. REMEMBER HONOR SALUTE is our mission statement at the Brewseum. Numerous successful events and military “hail farewells” have been held in the Brewseum. We recently hosted the 70th Anniversary of D-Day in the Museum and Brewseum, honoring Bill Paty, our local hero who led the 501st Parachute Regiment 101st Screaming Eagles into Normandy (depicted in the movie Band of Brothers). In attendance were Military dignitaries and our former Mayor and Governor for this historic event. Our family has created and built the Home of the Brave Tours, Museum, and Brewseum to REMEMBER HONOR and SALUTE the sacrifices and contributions that our brave men and women have made to defend our freedom and to keep America strong. We have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Morale Welfare and Recreation department of our armed services, supported our military clubs, along with the Wounded Warrior program. We don’t just wave the flag on Veterans and Memorial Day; we showcase America’s Finest every day, keeping their legacy and memories alive for their families and future generations. Our present goal is to expand and enhance our operation by building a microbrewery to brew OUR beer locally for our troops and patriotic Americans. We plan on offering our own gourmet sodas (R&R Sodaworks) as well. This will help solidify our position in the brewpub and local craft beer market and set the course for us to build on the concept for future franchise opportunities around the Continental United States. Our family is strong; we love what we do and believe in what we are doing. This is evident from the daily responses we get from our tour and Brewseum guests. We remain the number one rated Pearl Harbor tour on Trip Advisor and Yelp. Honor our Veterans. Salute our troops! Mahalo & Aloha,
VR
Glen F. Tomlinson
President and Dad
Home of the Brave
