Morning again in America

Time it was,
oh, what a time it was –
a time of innocence,
a time of confidences.
Long ago, it must be
I have a photograph –
preserved your memories,
they’re all that’s left you . . .

—Simon & Garfunkel, Old Friends/Bookends

Today, Wednesday in Washington D.C., the United State’s 40th President Ronald Reagan, in a horse-drawn caisson, will be marched past the White House and the Washington Monument to the Capitol Rotunda where a State funeral ceremony will be conducted. Ronald Reagan will lie in state for a day. On Friday, a National Funeral Service will be held at the Washington National Cathedral.

President Reagan is remembered for many things. He was the great communicator who made us all believe that it was ‘Morning again in America.’ Dubbed an optimist, he radiated hope; he exuded a general air of well-being.

We remember him as ‘the ‘Peacemaker’ who ended the Cold War without wasting a shot. He just shouted to the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, a friend he “trusted but verified,” to tear the Berlin Wall down. His goodwill was infectious. The Germans pulled the Wall down and Gorbachev acquiesced.

Twenty years ago, on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, he exhorted his audience to remember the great sacrifices of the heroes who laid their lives for freedom rather than glorify the conduct of war! We might want to hear the same message even as we prepare to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Saipan and Tinian during which many heroes from both sides of the conflict perished.

The Marianas have weathered many foreign incursions. We fought the Spanish and were almost decimated but we outlasted them. We honed our administrative skills with the Germans. We apprenticed with the merchants of the Land of the Rising Sun, and along with citizens of the Land of the Morning Calm, have welcomed them back as investors. We negotiated with the Americans and a kindly convivial President, with the stroke of a pen, took us into the Federal Union of the United States of America. With the ethnic and cultural diversity that now populates the Commonwealth, let us be the peaceful ‘Morning in the new America.’

We have generally been a peaceful people, so we have a special place for the Peacemaker in our hearts. Thank you, President Reagan. Peace.