Community in Wonderland: Liberate Pagat!

Today is the day we celebrate Guam's liberation from the Japanese.  As a child, my grandmother would have our mothers get all of us together.  We'd go to the parade and watch as all the amazing floats rolled by.  The floats are always really amazing. It was so much fun for us kids, but for my Grandma it was deeper than just candy, music, and floats.  When she was our age they weren't marching in parades.  The marching they did was different.  My grandma is gone now, but I still respect today as her day.  I see today more as a memorial day for those who lived through and those who lost their lives, during the occupation and ending it.

Instead of going to the parade or even watching it on t.v., I decided to stay home and make posters for the rally on Friday.  We will be lining route 15 to show the military officials and the CEQ that we care about Pagat.  And really, it isn't just the ancient village that is being affected.  There are families who will be asked to give up their land.  The Raceway Park, that has helped to keep our roads safe from illegal drag racing, will have to relocate.  How long will it take for them to rebuild?  There is also an endangered species of Butterflies, the Marianas 8 Spot Butterfly, that calls Pagat home.  And then there is the noise pollution and environmental problems that the firing range can cause.  Not to mention, the military already has 1/3 of the island.  What will be left for us when they're done?  Will they ever be done?