| The Armed Forces Committee of the Guam Chamber of Commerce held a farewell party on Sept. 14 2002 for Maj. Gen. Theodore W. Lay II (left) commander of the 13th Air Force at Andersen Air Force Base at the Tumon home of James L. Adkins president of East West Rental Center. In the pool with Lay were (from left) Carl Peterson president of Money Resources Inc. and chairman of the board of the chamber; and Thomas P. Michels president of InterPacific Investments and Resources Inc. and chairman of the Armed Forces Committee. |
The photo above is just one of hundreds our staff have taken over the years of local officials and members of the military in the Marianas taking well-deserved time out from the pressures of life.
It epitomizes the good work of the Armed Forces Committees of the Guam Chamber of Commerce and the willingness of the military section of our population to mix and mingle.
In August the board of the Guam Armed Forces committee decided to ban media from taking photos at Armed Forces receptions.
The Armed Forces Committee chairman of the board passing the ban is Lee P. Webber publisher of the Pacific Daily News. He is also immediate past president of the chamber.
While the Pacific Daily News has until now maintained (sole) access to photos of such occasions as official visits of Guam chamber delegations to Washington D.C. — supplied by Webber — the Marianas Business Journal and its sister publication Guam Business were the only media organizations that sent a photographer to Armed Forces committee parties. Our photographer was turned away at the door of a recent event before the new policy was announced.
A picture tells a thousand words and bringing you such endearing shots of our military friends is a positive contribution. Until we can again bring you pictures of the business community and the military brass getting along swimmingly perhaps the chamber should hire a public relations firm to impress on the rest of the business community that the Armed Forces Committee has done a great job.
Otherwise you will have to take our word for it — until the ban on our bringing you photos is lifted.
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