On Friday morning, students with the New Britain High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps gathered together to clean up the National Iwo Jima Memorial.
New Britain High School cadets started their morning with brooms and rakes to clean up the National Iwo Jima Memorial ahead of spring events.
“It means a lot to me because I know I will be a part of this branch right after I graduate, so it is an honor to be here and help the community,” New Britain High School JROTC Commanding Sgt. Major Nayeli Rivera said.
Students with the New Britain High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps participate in the nationwide leadership program that aims to motivate young adults to be better members of the community.
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“There is young people that really are involved, they want to do things, they want to help the community out,” Senior Army Instructor John Hinrichs said. “I hope they remember there are people that come before them that have made huge sacrifices, so they could live their lives the way they chose to, in or out of uniform.”
“It has rocks from Mount Suribachi and sands from the beaches of Iwo Jima, where there were 6,821 American men that died in that battle within just a couple of months,” Iwo Jima Memorial Historical Foundation secretary Elaine Schieffer said.
It is the only memorial built by survivors of the battle, according to Schieffer.
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“One hundred of them were from Connecticut, and the names of those fallen from Connecticut are edged in the front of this monument,” Schieffer said.
The historical foundation is preparing for a Field of Flags event on Memorial Day. Flags can be purchased and the proceeds will benefit the Eternal Flame & Flag funds.
