Previous Story
Groundbreaking for veterans’ cemetery tomorrow
|
Posted on Sep 20 2005
The Office of Military and Veterans Affairs is inviting all servicemen, veterans, their families, and the public for tomorrow’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new veterans cemetery in Marpi.
The ceremony will begin at 10am and will be held at the area adjacent to Banzai Cliff.
MVAO executive officer Ruth Coleman said the MVAO received a grant of nearly $1.7 million last month from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the realization of the “long overdue” veterans cemetery on Saipan.
U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson said the grant is a way of partnering with the CNMI for a project to honor the commitments and the sacrifices of the men and women who served in uniform for the country.
“This partnership provides a final resting place for Commonwealth veterans that meets high standards of a national shrine,” Nicholson said.
Coleman said the grant would be able to pay all the permissible costs for creating a cemetery of about 4.6 acres, including 1,200 gravesites, a committal shelter, roads, drainage, and an irrigation system.
“It’s about time,” Coleman said, adding that CNMI veterans would be able to receive military honors in their home state—the very state they defended while serving the country.
“This is a tribute to the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to defend freedom,” she said.
In April, the local veterans office was given the go-signal to build a veterans cemetery on Saipan and Coleman said the governor received word giving the cemetery project the go ahead from the Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
