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Road renamed to honor fallen hero
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Posted on Oct 26 2006
Acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez yesterday signed a bill renaming a street in honor of another CNMI soldier who died while fighting in Iraq last year.
House Local Bill 15-33, which renamed Orchid Street in Garapan to “CPL Derence Jack Road,” is now Saipan Local Law 15-15.
Jack’s family members witnessed the bill signing at the Governor’s Office. The acting governor began his brief speech by extending his condolences to the family, who also recently lost the fallen soldier’s mother Carmina Jack. “We appreciate your willingness to come and share this time with us today, and we hold the memory of Derence and his mother close as we gather for this occasion,” he said.
“As acting governor and as a citizen of the Commonwealth, I would much rather have Corporal Jack alive and well and back in the CNMI, reunited with all of his friends and family members. But he made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country, and I think it is only fitting and proper that we rename Orchid Street in his honor. In this way, we reflect the important values of our community, including the enormous value we place on every one of our soldiers,” he added.
Derence W. Jack enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in March 2000, and was subsequently promoted to the rank of corporal.
On July 2004, Jack’s Company E, 100th Batallion, 442nd Infantry was activated, and later deployed to Iraq as part of the United States’ Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On Oct. 31, 2005, Jack was killed while patrolling an area in Balad, Iraq. He was 31 years old.
Another soldier from Saipan, Staff Sergeant Wilgene Lieto, died with Jack.
Last Tuesday, Villagomez signed Saipan Local Law 15-14, renaming Apinomw Avenue in Tanapag to “SSG Wilgene Lieto Road.”
