{"id":345265,"date":"2021-06-01T06:05:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T20:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=345265"},"modified":"2021-06-01T06:05:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T20:05:30","slug":"cnmi-joins-nation-in-honoring-the-fallen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/cnmi-joins-nation-in-honoring-the-fallen\/","title":{"rendered":"CNMI joins nation in honoring the fallen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Many families pay their respects to fallen loved ones during the Memorial Day event at the CNMI Veterans Cemetery yesterday morning. (JOSHUA SANTOS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Office of the Governor and the Office of Veterans Affairs held a CNMI Memorial Day event at the CNMI Veterans Cemetery yesterday morning. The event featured a memorial tribute, a 21-gun salute, a KC 135 flyby, a commemorative wreath laying, and many speeches from distinguished guests. Rep. Angel A. Demapan (R-Saipan) was the event\u2019s master of ceremony. Saipan Southern High School\u2019s Junior Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps Color Guard were present to conduct the posting and retiring of colors, and the Saipan Pacific Winds Concert Band provided ceremonial music throughout the event.<\/p>\n

In his welcoming remarks, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres thanked the families honoring loved ones for coming and extended his gratitude toward those who gave up their lives to keep the country and the CNMI safe. \u201cThe islands thank you, and we remember our heroes,\u201d said Torres.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios echoed the governor and gave everybody present a reminder that remembrance goes beyond just Memorial Day. \u201c[We] remember their sacrifices every day, every week, and every year,\u201d said Palacios.<\/p>\n

Joe W. McDoulett, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3457, which is based on Saipan, was the event\u2019s keynote speaker. In his speech, he acknowledged that Memorial Day is a day of mourning and remembrance, but also added that it is a day of sharing memories and experiences with others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of Memorial Day is to share. What we share on Memorial Day are the memories of our loved ones. The memories of the joyful times, the things that they\u2019ve done, and the contributions they\u2019ve made to our community. We are gathered today to share with each other,\u201d said McDoulett.<\/p>\n

After the event, Brad Ruszala\u2014who is the District VI commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Pacific Areas\u2014spoke of the importance of Memorial Day. \u201c[Memorial Day]\u2019s an opportunity for us to give thanks to the folks who passed away and gave their lives in service to our nation. \u2026Their service will never be forgotten,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In an interview after the event, Office of Veterans Affairs executive officer Stanley Iakopo put into perspective what Memorial Day means as a surviving veteran. \u201cOur families here have loved ones buried in this hallowed ground, and there\u2019s nothing that you can compare to the emotions that they go through. My heart goes out to them. [Surviving veterans] are here to honor them and thank them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This story was updated on June 1, 2021, at 9:09am to correct the type of plane that made the flyby. It was a KC 135 and not a B-52.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Office of the Governor and the Office of Veterans Affairs held a CNMI Memorial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":345266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-345265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-cnmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345265","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\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}