\n\t\t\t\tLocal leaders laid a large wreath of flowers at the center of the memorial last Thursday. From left, Diego L. Kaipat of the Saipan and Northern Island Municipal council; Jose T. Limes, executive assistant of the Carolinian Affairs Office; Ramon B. Camacho, chairman of the council; and Antonia M. Tudela, vice chair of the council. (DENNIS B. CHAN)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\u201cEven in this tiny paradise that God gave us\u2026we must value the life that was given,\u201d he said to the crowd gathered under tents at the memorial courtyard of the American Memorial Park.<\/p>\n
He was recalling the 70 years of peace and liberty in the region after the war in 1944 where innocents fell \u201cunder a war forced upon them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind him were the 10 granite panels holding the names of the thousands of Chamorro and Carolinian who died during the war and closing of Camp Susupe in 1946.<\/p>\n
He said the memorial also serves as a reminder of the many whose final resting places remain untraceable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are a lasting reminder that they are forever rooted in our home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Marianas High School band filled the occasion with their harmonies, Frances Sablan sang in Chamorro and Carolinian, and the Saipan Southern High School JROTC led the posting of colors.<\/p>\n
Fr. Jesse Reyes led the invocation, while Rev. Ray Kinsella led the benediction. Kinsella led a \u201cprayer for peace\u201d for soldiers fallen, or fighting now, and the families suffering all over the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cLord, we pray and we ask\u2026 You have blessed us with peace, we ask that you also bless them with peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Candles representing the parishes of the community were placed at the center of the memorial. A large blue and white-flowered wreath was placed there soon after by Jose T. Limes of the Carolinian Affairs Office, and Ramon Camacho, Antonio M. Tudela, and Diego Kaipat of the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council.<\/p>\n
The Marianas Memorial was first commemorated in 2004. Ten years later, the council decided to organize the event in order to establish a tradition of remembrance for the departed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Somber skies marked Thursday evening\u2019s Marianas Memorial Blessing and Remembrance ceremony at the American Memorial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":183732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[268,709,21,50],"class_list":["post-183728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-american-memorial-park","tag-carolinian-affairs-office","tag-life","tag-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}