80th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan commemoration kicks off June 15

The kickoff for the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan commemoration this Saturday will include a reenactment of the U.S. invasion on the beach in Susupe as well as a flyby conducted by U.S. Air Force.

Members of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan Committee, led by chair Gordon Marciano, shared some details of the celebrations yesterday at the Saipan Mayor’s Office. Marciano was joined by KKMP’s Gary Sword, Saipan Mayor Ramon B. Camacho, and Camacho’s chief of staff Priscilla Iakopo.

“The goal of the celebration is to educate children about what occurred 80 years ago. The lineup this coming Saturday, beginning 8:30am is there will be a reenactment at the military memorial at the Civic Center Beach next to the da’ok tree. Then by 9 o’clock or 9:30am, we should get down to the American Memorial Park. Just north of the Garapan Fire Station, we’re going to march down to the Court of Honor at that time. By 10 o’clock, there’s going to be a flyby before the [singing of the] national anthems,” said Camacho.

He added that we should be expecting a lot of top rank military personnel to come in and that the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan ceremony will have about six speakers who will talk about World War II.

“We are inviting all those local veterans that joined the military for four, eight, or 20 years to revisit their uniform and wear their uniform. We also want to let our young generation know that they were in the military for all those years. It’s good to entice them, you know about the military,” added Camacho.

A medal was also presented by the committee to Gordon that will be given to VIPs in the U.S. military that will attend this coming Saturday’s 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan commemoration.

“On that day, what’s going to happen is several veterans are coming in. We have Steven McLeod, who has two other veterans’ sons that are coming in. Their fathers landed on Blue Beach right next to Townhouse, and then they’re here to do to the reenactment and share stories of their fathers,” he said.

The final program of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan commemoration will be announced in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.

Part of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Saipan commemoration is Ride Into History, which are in collaboration with the American Memorial Park. Participants of Ride Into History will be able to learn more about the battles that took place on Saipan and participants will be able to go through World War II sites. The tours will take place on June 6, 8, and 22.