The effort at the American Cemetery

Good morning everyone on this lovely Veterans Day on Tinian, especially to acting mayor Ann Marie San Nicolas, my former student.

Many of you will remember that on Memorial Day, May 31, 2021, Mayor Edwin P. Aldan sponsored a special event to congratulate the men of the 7th USMC Engineer Support Battalion’s Charlie Company for installing a memorial plaque to honor the men from the 8th Marine Regiment and the 18th Naval Construction Battalion who were killed or wounded during the Last Battle for Tinian at Kastiyu Plateau on Aug. 1, 1944, the day Tinian was declared secure.

The men who died at Kastiyu Plateau were subsequently buried at the American Cemetery, just south of the Tinian invasion beaches, one of the 20 sites within the Tinian, North Field, National Historic Landmark.

The first men buried at the American Cemetery were from the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions and the 18th and 121st Naval Construction Battalions who died during the battle for Tinian.

As the war progressed, Seabees who died while constructing the roads and runways on Tinian, from wounds inflicted by Japanese stragglers, as well as Marines from the 8th Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, who died from wounds received while “mopping up” those stragglers, were buried there.

When the air war against Japan commenced from North Field and West Field, airmen who died when their planes crashed on takeoff, or died during air combat operations, or died if they crashlanded back on Tinian, were buried at the American Cemetery.

Finally, Marines and soldiers who were wounded during the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa and evacuated to the 374th Army Hospital on Mt. Lasso, and subsequently died from their wounds, were buried at the Tinian American Cemetery.

In 1947, the bodies of 627 American servicemen who had died on Tinian during World War II and were buried in the American Cemetery were exhumed and their bodies shipped to their next of kin or to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at the Punchbowl, Oahu, Hawai’i. Since then, the Tinian American Cemetery has been overgrown by tangan-tangan and the typical jungle vines, hidden from the view.

This year, a small group of volunteers decided to begin clearing the World War II American Cemetery with the hope of having this year’s Veterans Day ceremony held there. Demonstrating his support for the project, Mayor of Tinian Edwin Aldan filed the paperwork for a One-Start permit that would allow the team to use a small payloader to clear tangan-tangan stumps from the proposed ceremony site, after the hand clearing was completed.

First into the field, searching for the American Cemetery, was Master Sgt. Dolores Kiyoshi, retired. She located the wall that gave us the location of the original entry road.

The volunteer group that followed up on Sgt. Kiyoshi’s discovery was led by Tinian archaeologist Dave Perzinski and his multi-talented companion, Skip Hall, with advice from veteran Tinian archeologist Dr. Boyd Dixon, who is with us today.

Other volunteers came from the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, Alpha Company, CTF Platoon, now known as the Tinian Marines, led by Sgt Aidan Graham, and his men:

• Cpl. Brock Boucher
• Cpl. Tyler Boden
• Cpl. Benjamin Runck
• Cpl. Marcos Munoz
• Cpl. Bryan Verduzcoarmenta
• Lance Cpl. Jonathan Atwood
• LCpl. Justin Sledge
• LCpl. Anthony Colon
• LCpl. Tristin Gibbins
• LCpl. Isaias Gonzalez
• LCpl. Axel Lemoine Munch
• LCpl. Orlando Morales, and
• LCpl. Marco Palomo

From the Tinian ROTC Stallion Battalion came volunteers: battalion commander C/LTC Edward Tirona, the battalion XO, C/MAJ Lenteja, C/Cpl. LeTrisha Palacios, C/Cpl. Serenity Guzman, and Paolo Roldan, guided by ROTC instructors Capt. Joseph Santos and 1st Sgt. Jose King.

I would also thank Naomi Brandenfels from the Navy on Guam who also lent us her support.

Unfortunately, although the hand clearing was completed on time, the One-Start permit requested by Mayor Aldan was not issued. Therefore, the project could not be completed in time for today’s event. However, the work of these volunteers will not have been in vain. Mayor Aldan is committed to holding the event at the American Cemetery next Memorial Day, if the One-Start permit is issued.

Working in the field has been a learning experience for everyone involved. We have learned the Japanese War Dead Cemetery is only a couple hundred yards south of the American Cemetery. Although they must be treated separately and cleared separately, many of us believe that having a joint ceremony for both the American and Japanese war dead—at some time in the future—is appropriate and will bring visitors from not only from the United States but also Japan to pay their respects to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country – particularly since the U.S.-Japanese Alliance is more important now than ever.

Lastly, one of the biggest problems we had in clearing the American Cemetery site was dodging the potholes on 86th Street on the way to and from the site. This problem has been resolved. It is my honor to thank Capt. Matthew C. Jacobs, USAF, OIC, Expeditionary Red Horse squadron, now stationed on Tinian. Capt. Jacobs and his team have already patched the potholes on 86th Street, making it not only safer and easier for employees at the U.S. Agency for Global Media to drive back and forth to work, but also for tourists who wish to visit North Field, Tinian, including a stop at the American Cemetery. We look forward to their upcoming effort to resurface the runways at North Field, as well as the paved roads on the military leased lands. Good news for Tinian.

Thank you to Mayor Aldan for the opportunity to inform the public about our joint effort to re-open the American Cemetery, a very Happy Veterans Day to everyone, and I hope to see you all at the American Cemetery next Memorial Day.

The following is the text of the remarks the author gave at the Veterans Day ceremony on Tinian last week.