After netting 2,580 lbs of trash at our Beautify CNMI! cleanup of San Antonio Beach, I went to the airport to show my respect for the CNMI's latest casualty in Iraq, Adam Quitugua Emul, as his remains arrived on Saipan.I am just estimating, but it looked like there were over 500 cars lining airport road. There were probably about 2000 people.
A lot of the people lining the roads were families. Cinta Kaipat's family was one of them. Parents loaded up their kids and lined their cars up along the road so that the headlights were facing the road. There were also some community groups and businesses. I recognized the local VFW guys, the Reserves, Saipan Grand Hotel, and I think, Bank of Hawaii. There was even a little league team out there. I also saw several of our lawmakers lining the road. There were others, but it is kind of hard to remember them all.
The hearse carrying Adam's body finally came out of the airport around 4:00 PM. Everybody along the street stepped up to the edge of the pavement and watched as his body drove by. A lot of people were crying.The title of this post is "A sad story gets sadder." That is because the CNMI lost yet another soldier in Iraq this week.
