REPRESENTATIVE-Elect Vincent Seman Aldan said after completing his second year in Northern Marianas College, he decided to enlist in the U.S. armed forces.
It was the early 1990s and “I wanted something more in life,” he recalled. “I couldn’t see myself just working here. I wanted to be somebody.”
After going through Boot Camp in Illinois, he joined the U.S. Navy.
He said it was not easy and the experience changed him completely by making him stronger mentally, emotionally, and physically.
He said his experiences and the things he saw while serving in the Navy made him realize that the people of the CNMI were blessed.
He said he was able to travel around the world as part of his duties with the Navy, and he had seen so many things that broke his heart.
In Africa, for example, he saw children living in abject poverty as well as actual slaves who were being sold.
“We are so blessed that our children can play freely here without fear of being stoned to death,” he said. “When you go to a country that doesn’t have what we have, our opportunities and the benefits we receive as well as the freedom we enjoy, you will realize how blessed we are,” Aldan said.
As a U.S. Navy sailor, he participated in relief operations and other humanitarian services, which included constructing schools.
He said he will continue to fight for the freedom that his children and everyone in the U.S. are enjoying right now.
“Freedom is not free,” he added.
He believes that the greatest sacrifice he had given to his country is his time. “We can never get time back,” he said.
For 20 years, Aldan spent most of his time away from his children and his wife.
Now that he has been elected as a House member representing Precinct 1, Aldan said, “I will give my very best to serve the community and that is my promise until the day I die.”
Aldan said he will focus on issues involving the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and skills training for individuals.
Asked about his “wish list” for veterans like him, he said: “We don’t want much, we just want what was promised to us.”
For example, “we go through a lot of traumas, but sometimes when we seek help [from government agencies] it takes too long and it costs too much,” he said.
In the CNMI, he said veterans do not have a registered group or organization that can provide support.
Healthcare access is often substandard and clinics that offer medical services to veterans and their families are few, he added.
“We live a simple life, but we need what was promised to us,” he said.
Vincent S. Aldan, left, with local radio talk show host Glenn Hocog.
