PHOTOS: Dozens of firefighters, police officers, and island residents participated in the 2025 Freedom Walk on Monday in Garapan. The annual event takes place in September across the nation. The Freedom Walk commemorates the Sept. 11 terror attacks and also honors firefighters, police officers, emergency personnel, and first responders. Locally, the event is organized by Tan Holdings Corp. and its charitable arm, Tan Siu Lin Foundation.
On Monday, marchers began at the Carolinian Utt and walked north to American Memorial Parkโs flag circle, where Tan Holdings and the Tan Siu Lin Foundation hosted a commemorative ceremony. En route, marchers paused to watch the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services perform a water cannon salute. They arrived at the flag circle by passing through the mall at American Memorial Park, where dozens of U.S. flags had been staked into the ground as a โField of Heroesโ in honor of first responders.
In a keynote address, NMI Red Cross Board Chairman Joshua Wise honored both civilian and first responder victims of 9/11. โWe gather on this Field of Heroes, the garden of flags that we began in 2016 as a simple, powerful idea to create a space where our community can see its protectors, remember their sacrifices, and begin to heal,โ Wise said. โYear after year, this field has stood as a promise that within the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands โ from Saipan to Tinian to Rota โ we will show up for one another.โ He reflected on the resilience first responders must show in their work, saying it is โthe courage to answer the call at 2 a.m., the discipline to do the right thing when no one is watching, the humility to ask for help when the weight gets heavy, and the love to keep serving people you may never meet.โ
