Cole Denham, a junior at Apache Junction High School who won “Audience Favorite” in the recent AJ Kid’s Idol talent competition, gave a stirring rendition of the national anthem at the recent State of the City.
The color guard in the video is also made up of Apache Junction High School students, from the Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.
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I recently attended an out-of-state conference hosted by civilian ex-POWs --- people who as youngsters endured atrocities while being interned in the Philippines by the Japanese as prisoners of World War II.
What brought them together for the Feb. 7-9 conference was the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camps.
It was a chance to retell how U.S. armed forces parachuted behind enemy lines or pushed through with tank columns and infantry to free them.
Survivors described what happened at the camps, such as at Santo Tomas, where more than 3,000 men, women and children were imprisoned January 1942-February 1945.
Those who didn’t die from starvation, beatings or illness --- and who have lived to 2020 --- were joined at the conference by their descendants, from children and spouses to grandchildren.
Nearly as heart-breaking as the stories of survival and loss were reports that Americans --- young and old --- were either never told that civilians were imprisoned in the Philippines or that they had forgotten what they learned in school about World War II.
We must never forget the sacrifices made by the U.S. and its allies, whether as members of the armed forces or as civilians.
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We have a new e-mail address for news and opinions for the newspaper. Please send your content to aznews@newszap.com.
Richard Dyer
Editor
Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent
rdyer@newszap.com.
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia, Inc.. USA, since 1987.
Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
He also is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows
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