Missing ‘60th Anniversary’ video

In June of 2004, the government and people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the dozens of American Armed Service veterans who attended the 60th anniversary of the liberation of your islands from Japanese military rule and oppression. The generous outpouring of appreciation by your people, on both Saipan and Tinian, was, I believe, extremely moving and appreciated by every visitor who attended the ceremonies and other observances: the veterans themselves; their families; surviving family and relatives of deceased veterans; and many other “mainlanders” such as myself (a Korean war veteran).

The CNMI’s careful planning for the 2004 commemoration was abundantly evident in the quality, coordination, and spirit of the events that took place during its several days, now almost five years ago. Soon, the 65th anniversary will occur and I hope many veterans and other visitors who attended the 60th will return and again feel the warmth and friendliness of your islands’ people. I also hope many other veterans, and other visitors, will attend, and that they, too, will form a lasting positive impression of your islands, as did I and all other members of the large, stateside group (Valor Tours) with which I traveled.

For the veterans and others, one of the 60th anniversary’s most memorable and poignant events was the “Campfire Chat” that took place on the evening of June 14, at the American Memorial Park. It was attended by an estimated 200 CNMI citizens, including several local, Commonwealth, and other officials, and by dozens or score of visiting mainlanders. They listened intently as numerous U.S. veterans of the Mariana campaign spoke extemporaneously—each in turn, usually for a few minutes, and from the heart—about their personal experiences during those horrendous and tragic days and nights of fighting in 1944. Many also described their present feelings about World War II, about its overall struggle for Saipan, Tinian, and Guam in particular, and about what their experiences during that struggle came to mean in their lives. In several cases it clearly took a good deal for them to express what they did, and to even speak at all. At least one spouse of a then-recently deceased campaign veteran spoke well, about what her husband’s feelings and hopes had been. In addition, two now-elderly Saipanese women—Vickie Vaughan being one—gave heartrending accounts of what they, their families, and many others personally endured in June/July of 1944. Even a Japanese soldier who had survived the campaign traveled from his country for the event, and spoke via a translator.

In all, the Campfire Chat was an extraordinary and moving event. Fortunately, the 60th anniversary’s planners had the foresight to arrange for it and other events to be captured in ways that could become permanent records. The record of this event would provide a perspective on the Marianas’ ultimately victorious struggle, as described in public by numerous individuals who had personally experienced its intensity. Like the records of various other “60th” events, it would also be made available for the benefit of persons who might wish to obtain it.

Specifically, either the entire, two-hour Campfire Chat or large portions of it would be recorded live, on film, and this film would then be made into either a DVD or VHS. (To simplify, I’ll usually just use “video.”) I was present throughout the event and watched the filming (which was made possible by bright, directional lighting) from the front row of the grandstand benches. It was from the first few rows that the Mariana campaign veterans and others spoke, using handheld microphones. The documentary/ archival purpose of the filming stated at the outset; it was also then mentioned, I believe, that the filming would be done by students from the Northern Mariana College media (film) department; and the audience was given the impression that a resulting video would eventually become available. During the next few days several veterans, their relatives, and other visitors with whom I and others spoke expressed a definite interest in eventually obtaining, that is, purchasing, a copy of what had been filmed—obtaining it for personal use and for sharing with family and friends, including other veterans.

I provided such detail because nearly five years have passed since the 60th anniversary commemoration, yet no one that I and others know seems to have any idea as to whether a video of the Campfire Chat exists anywhere but remains unavailable for some reasons—or was ever even compiled and otherwise prepared in the first place. Nor has any footage of this event been seen elsewhere, for instance as a segment within some other video of “60th” events. Chief among the “no one that I…know,” either directly or via the “mainlander” mentioned next, are three long-time residents of Saipan and one of Tinian. Three of these four were integrally involved in either the planning and implementation of the 60th or in direct presentations during it, and each one has long been active in CNMI events and civic matters.

I and a mainlander, Gary Boothe—who resides in South Dakota and attended the Campfire Chat, and who spent several of his boyhood years living on Saipan—asked those four individuals to help us locate a video of the intended documentary material, and to determine if one ever even existed. Toward those ends, and for well over the past year, Mr. Boothe has exchanged numerous e-mails with each individuals and I have communicated with some of them via phone and letter. We also directly contacted the American Memorial Museum, on Saipan and the CNMI Division of Historical Preservation (Department of Community and Cultural Affairs). Both of them told us they neither possess nor have ever seen any video of the event in question, and do not know if one exists.

Ted Palmer, Ph.D.[/B] Sacramento, Calif., USA[/I]