We experienced atrocities at the hand of an desperate enemy, such as beheadings, and the massacres of whole groups of our people in places like Fena, Faha and Tinta. And display of loyalty to America was answered with a sword or a bullet. A veteran called me from Atlanta yesterday to thank us for holding this commemoration of the War in the Pacific. He was right, and this morning we are here to honor all veterans of the Pacific campaign, and to thank them in the most sincere gesture of gratitude by honoring their comrades who have fallen in battle. We join today with our fellow Pacific Americans from the Northern Marianas, to honor the sacrifice of those who died in the Marianas Campaign, the battles for Saipan, Tinian and Guam and the War in the Pacific.
Freedom is a system based on courage.
The exploits of the World War II veterans and the experiences of our island elders have been the courage which has made our freedom possible. The challenge for us is to be as courageous, not in battle, but in extending the meaning of this freedom into the next century and for future generations. This is our challenge, this is our responsibility, this will make us worthy of the blood that was spilled on our behalf on our shores. From this violent encounter, the native people of the Northern Marianas with whom I share a common culture and language had their very first contact with the American Nation. The result of this encounter, violent to the extreme and the resulting in enormous personal tragedies both for the heroic Americans and the people of the Northern Marianas was the beginning of a new political relationship.