HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Liberation Day festivities kick off Friday morning with a solemn CHamoru Mass at 9 a.m. at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña, which will be followed by an 11 a.m. memorial ceremony at the nearby Guam Museum.
Typically, different villages host memorial ceremonies at World War II massacre sites on Guam, but because of typhoon recovery efforts and the number of resources it takes to hold a ceremony, Guam mayors decided it would be best to host a unified ceremony for Liberation Day this year, according to Piti Mayor Jesse Alig, president of the Mayors’ Council of Guam.
“We would involve all of the villages and all of the war survivors from around the island in one ceremony. … And at the ceremony, we will present wreaths to remember all the different massacre sites around the island, as we would do individually,” Alig said.
“As we celebrate Liberation, we also commemorate the atrocities of war. So it is important that we have this ceremony so that we can continue to teach our people and the younger generation about Guam history and what our greatest generation endured,” Alig added, referring to the island’s World War II survivors.
Alig said it’s good there are war survivors still alive today to partake in these activities and all are invited to join the Mass and memorial ceremony. Former Sen. Carmen Kasperbauer, a war survivor, will be the guest speaker at the memorial.
While this year will deviate from what typically has been done for World War II memorial ceremonies, Alig pointed out another aspect to consider, noting that “many, many years ago,” only one ceremony was held for Liberation Day.
“And that one brought everybody together. And I feel like, you know, there’s always a reason for everything and perhaps this might be a good reason to just get everyone together. … It just kind of goes along with our theme, you know, ‘Journey Towards Peace.’ And we can’t work toward peace if we’re not working together,” Alig said.
After the memorial, the Liberation Block Party and tribute to front-liners will kick off at 2 p.m. at the Chamorro Village festival huts, an alternative celebration to the traditional parade and weekslong carnival that were made impractical in the aftermath of Typhoon Mawar.
From left, Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and first gentleman Jeff Cook are joined by representatives of the military to lay a wreath and pay their respects during the Sumay Memorial Ceremony at the Sumay Cemetery on Thursday, July 20, 2022, on Naval Base Guam.
