Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister Yamaguchi Attends 2012 Reunion of Honor Commemorating Battle of Iwo Jima
March 14, 2012
- On March 14, 2012, Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi attended the 2012 Reunion of Honor Ceremony on Iwo Jima. The ceremony, organized jointly by Japan and the United States, is held annually at the island’s Reunion of Honor Monument to remember all those who gave their lives in the 1945 battle and to pray for enduring peace between the two nations. On the same day, Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister Yamaguchi also attended a separate memorial service for Japanese soldiers held at the island’s Tenzan Memorial Monument.
- This year’s Reunion of Honor Ceremony commemorated the 67th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima. Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister Yamaguchi was one of about 140 Japanese participants, including Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Yataro Tsuda, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense Hideo Jinpu, and other government officials, national lawmakers, and members of the Association of Iwo Jima of Japan, made up of Japanese veterans and the families of those who fought on the island. The United States was represented by a contingent of about 250 people, including Lt. Gen. Burton Field, Commander of U.S. Forces-Japan, Congressmen Ed Perlmutter and Bruce Braley, and members of the Iwo Jima Association of America. A total of about 140 people participated in the separate memorial service at the Tenzan Memorial Monument, including Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister Yamaguchi and Parliamentary Vice-Ministers Tsuda and Jinpu.
- Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister Yamaguchi represented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Reunion of Honor Ceremony and delivered a eulogy paying tribute to the heroism of all those who fell in battle. He expressed his deepest condolences to the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and noted that the post-war alliance forged by Japan and the United States had contributed to peace and prosperity not only in the Asia-Pacific region but also throughout the world. While recalling the ferocity of the battle, he stressed that both nations shared the conviction that the bonds of friendship that link them today are built in part on the heroic sacrifices of those who gave their lives at Iwo Jima. He also emphasized that the veterans and other Japanese and Americans who gathered for the ceremony had come together with a single purpose: to mourn the fallen and pray for peace. He closed by expressing his resolve to redouble efforts to strengthen the ties of friendship between the two countries.
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