{"id":241397,"date":"2016-11-28T06:06:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T20:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=241397"},"modified":"2016-11-28T06:06:09","modified_gmt":"2016-11-27T20:06:09","slug":"vietnam-war-vet-chargualaf-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/vietnam-war-vet-chargualaf-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam War vet Chargualaf dies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mac<\/a>
Mac Chargualaf<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Veterans of Foreign Wars senior vice commander Mac Chargualaf passed away early Sunday morning due to complications from liver cancer. He was an ardent supporter of war veterans and pushed their issues, having served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

Chargualaf is the VFW Post 3457 senior commander. He has been sick for quite awhile and the cancer had already metastasized. Around midnight, his liver shut down, soon followed by his other organs. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.<\/p>\n

Chargualaf, known as Uncle Mac in the community, was the safety officer of the Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office. He joined the office a few months after David M. Apatang, also a Vietnam War veteran, was sworn is as the mayor of Saipan.<\/p>\n

SMO special assistant Henry Hofschneider told Saipan Tribune in a phone interview that they had already informed Apatang, who was really saddened by Chargualaf\u2019s passing. \u201cThe mayor already got the message. He asked us to visit the family and provide whatever assistance they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really saddened by his passing because he was an integral part of our community. He was a hardworking and dedicated person, and he\u2019s always been looking around for opportunities on how the Saipan mayor\u2019s crew would complete their work in the safest way possible,\u201d said Hofschneider.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very fun to be with him and you can learn a lot from him. He has served the nation being a war veteran, and served our community to the fullest of his capabilities. We join his family at this hour of need and we hope for them to stay strong. All the memories that he spent with his wife and family will live forever,\u201d said Hofschneider.<\/p>\n

VFW Post 3457 junior commander Brad Ruszala said their Post commander Mike O\u2019Kelly was with the family when Chargualaf died early Sunday morning. He added that the CNMI lost a dedicated, friendly, and honest man.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply saddened to lose a dear friend and comrade. You can\u2019t replace somebody like him. He is the reason why I joined the VFW Post. He was a former post commander,\u201d said Ruszala, who added that Chargualaf would be buried at the Veterans Cemetery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky to have known him. His dedication to our post and the community will not be forgotten. He is very passionate about veterans\u2019 issues and worked for the mayor as the person in charge of upkeep at the Veterans Cemetery. His final resting place will be with his fellow veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veterans of Foreign Wars senior vice commander Mac Chargualaf passed away early Sunday morning due…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":241399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[9964,14458,14459,4426],"class_list":["post-241397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-mac-chargualaf","tag-uncle-mac","tag-veterans-cemetery","tag-vietnam-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241397","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\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}