Jorge Cristobal, a Marine veteran from Guam who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and took part in the retaking of Guam, concludes his speech with a prayer Monday at the dedication of the Baza Gardens Trimble Baseball Field in Yona. (Frank Whitman / Special to S&S)
GUAM — A congressional delegation stopped in Guam on its way back to Washington from the Iwo Jima ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. While in Guam they honored veterans and listened to their concerns.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., accompanied Del. Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, to her home district Saturday evening and left Monday morning. Evans is the House Committee on Veterans Affairs’ senior member.
Before they left Monday, the members of Congress took part in a morning wreath-laying ceremony at the Guam War Memorial. During the ceremony at the Asan Bay Overlook in the War in the Pacific National Historical Park, the delegation presented Gov. Felix Camacho with a House resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of Guam’s liberation, which was celebrated July 21.
Sunday, the legislators toured U.S. Naval Hospital Guam and the Veterans Clinic. They met with the hospital command to discuss recently announced plans for a new hospital, which is to include an expanded section to serve local veterans.
“We’re very optimistic that come 2008, when the new facility’s finished, it’s going to be the best of both worlds,” said Issa of the hospital’s projected dual role in serving both veterans and active-duty personnel. In addition to expanded veterans facilities, the hospital is to include separate base access for the veterans, particularly welcome in the wake of heightened base-entry security measures during the war on terrorism.
After the hospital tour, Bordallo hosted a forum to permit representatives of local veterans’ groups to voice their concerns. Although complaints have been voiced about the hospital’s veterans clinic being perennially short-staffed — it lacks a full-time physician — the discussion focused primarily on health care benefits.
“We’re out here mainly for the health care situation,” Bordallo said. “Since I’ve been elected, this has been the main concern of the veterans. They’re just not pleased with the services at the Naval Hospital clinic.”
Cathy Illarmo of the Guam Veterans Center said she hopes to see a staffing increase, particularly the addition of a family therapist, to improve services to children and families. The center, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, does readjustment counseling for combat veterans. “Right now we are a staff of three,” she said. “Myself as the team leader, I’m a clinical social worker doing administrative activities. We have one counselor and one office manager.”
The delegation also attended the dedication of a village baseball field named to honor the memory of a Washington, D.C., Marine who served in Guam from August 1944 until February 1945 and was killed during the battle at Iwo Jima. A high school standout, Jimmy Trimble had been invited to play professional baseball and while in Guam pitched for the 3rd Marine Division baseball team.
The ceremony at the Baza Gardens Trimble Baseball Field also was attended by local officials, Guam veterans, members of the armed forces stationed in Guam and about a dozen veterans who were returning from Iwo Jima, including one Marine who had served with Trimble and another who said he built the field in Yona Village on which the Marines played.
