European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 15, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday june 15, 1994 world the stars and stripes Page 9pacific Island marking own a Day Saipan honouring invasion by . Marines in 44 by Eric Talmadge the associated press Saipan Northern Mariana islands a president Clinton wont be there. Nor will any other Heads of state or lines of satellite dishes and to trucks. But for the 50th anniversary of a Day in Saipan a a fierce three week Battle that helped end the War in the Pacific a there will finally be a fitting memorial. Quot the Trees will have to come later a Froilan c. Ten Orio governor of this . Commonwealth in the Northern Mariana islands said As he spread a stack of blueprints out on a table in his office Quot but after All these years i think that we Are finally going to have  that something is american memorial Park a $4.5 million project Saipan a leaders have mulled Over for years but never got around to building until Tenorio gave the plan a push after he took office in january. Construction workers have been working around the clock for three weeks to prepare for today a anniversary pouring Concrete for the Parks Amphitheater setting up Fairgrounds and erecting a Wall listing the names of thousands of americans who died in the assault. The Island of Saipan is the seat of government of the Northern Marianas Chain about 3,800 Miles West of Honolulu and 1,600 Miles South of Tokyo. It was at the fringe of the japanese Empire during world War ii but is under . Jurisdiction today. A Day on Saipan came Early on june 15, 1944, when caned teen plans to return to . Singapore up a american teen Ager Michael Fay with one week left in his jail term is preparing to move Back to the United states from Singapore where last month he was caned for vandalism his Mother said tuesday. Fay who received four strokes of the Cane As part of his punishment for vandalism in Singapore will not be deported but has opted to return to Dayton Ohio to live with his natural father a i believe Michael will stay one night in Singapore after being released Quot said Fay smother Randy Chan. Quot after that he a going Back to the United  although prison officials would not allow Chan to see Fay a wounds during a prison visit tuesday she said he was in Good health and High spirits. A a he a very Good a Chan said. Fay 18, became the Center of International attention when the Singapore government sentenced him to re chive several lashes against his Bare buttocks with a Rattan Cane. The sentence prompted . President Clinton to ask the Singapore government for leniency Singapore in an Effort to smooth relations with Washington reduced Fay a original sentence of Sis lashes to four. Fay was also sentenced to four months in prison which will end tuesday. Chan said there would be no delay in her songs release since his behaviour in prison was  Fay had been living with his Mother and Stepfather in Singapore since 1992 and was attending the Singapore american school. P Japan Pacific Ocean Japan \ Hawaii a 0 Philippines a Guam a Wake ap/s8.s the marines 2nd and 4th divisions landed on its southwestern beaches under heavy fire from japanese artillery and anti boat guns. By Nightfall More than 1,500 americans had died. Before the Island was secured on july % 71,034 . Troops had come ashore and 3,100 had died along with 300 Chamorro natives and almost All of the 30,000 japanese defenders. A it was a crucial Victory for the United states putting Japan a main islands within reach of . B-29 bombers. Saipan became the take off Point for devastating firebomb raids on Tokyo and other major japanese cities. It was from the neighbouring Island of Tinian that the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were launched. A we like to think that it was those bombs that ended the War Quot said Tenorio. Saipan which was virtually denuded by the fighting is once again covered with a Lush Blanket of Sweet smelling Plumeri Palm and mangrove and aglow with the Bright Orange blossoms from indigenous Trees. The government plans to Mark the a Day anniversary with nearly a month of celebrations including Marine bands a Fly by featuring . Fighters based in Japan and a Parade by . Veterans. About 250 american and japanese veterans Are expected to return Over the next month. Memorial organizer Nancy Weil said she was disappointed that considering All the pomp and ceremony afforded to Normandy France last week Saipan a 50lh is going virtually unnoticed by Many americans. A americans Are so biased toward Europe a she said. A this was a horrible horrible Battle. The japanese have come Back and buried their dead. They have memorials All Over the Island. But the Park is our first real memorial for the marines.�?�. Each Day buses filled with japanese tourists a most of whom have come to the Island to play Golf dive or sunbathe a wind their Way to the Island s Northern slopes. The mountains arc cluttered with reminders of the brutal Fate that met the japanese soldiers and civilians in the battlers closing Days. Many Light incense at mass memorials on Quot Banzai Cliffy and in the a last command Post a a Shell Ridden Bunker. Others peer silently off the Cliff where hundreds of japanese jumped to their death rather than surrender to the americans. Quot its just so terrible Quot said Nobuyuki Koike a Middle aged business executive from Tokyo who offered his prayers at Banzai Cliff. A but we re already forgetting the lessons we should have Learned a he added Quot we forget it could happen  Back to the Border a a visitor scans the Fence and barbed wire Border at an open air museum in the town of add Treuth on the former East West German Border. The tiny Village which was divided for decades has re created the former Border so visitors can experience what the Iron curtain looked like before it crumbled in 1989. The museum which officially opens today is on the Border of the states of Bavaria and  defense chief slashing military by the los Angeles times Moscow rebuffed by the president and parliament in an Appeal for a bigger budget russians defense minister says he will Cut russians armed forces from 2.2 million to 1.9 million personnel by oct. 1. The planned retrenchment would mean an army with 200,000 fewer members than the Force that minister Pavel Grachev defined six months ago As the minimum Russia needed to guarantee its Security. Grachev reported the planned cuts in Brief remarks monday to the russian news Agency inter fax. He said that the cuts would hit officers As Well As enlisted soldiers and that 270 out of 2,050 positions on the armed forces general staff would be eliminated. The minister an army general suffered two setbacks last week in his Public Campaign to raise the 1994 military budget from $19 billion 37 trillion rubles to what he called a a subsistence level of $28.2 billion. As it stands he said the budget can cover Only the salaries of service members and other personnel leaving nothing for maintaining or buying equipment. In response to the intense lobbying the Duma or lower House of parliament voted last wednesday to raise spending on the armed forces to $20.5 billion a a defeat for Grachev. Two Days later president Boris Yeltsin sided with the Duma and rebuked his minister in Public. A the army should be More Active in cutting the number of servicemen a Yeltsin said in a nationally televised news conference. Quot i cannot understand their hesitation. Second it is necessary to Cut orders for military  Yeltsin offered the military an extra $512 million in off budget funds such As Revenue from the Sale of fighter jets abroad. But he rejected a wholesale increase. Spending on the armed forces accounts for about 20 or cent of the budget but critics of the military said hidden defense outlays bring the total to More than half of All government spending