PRESQUE ISLE – For one local man, part of observing this Veterans Day included reflecting on an international event that took place this summer.

Anderson Giles, an art professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, helped organize a week’s worth of events held on the island of Tinian this summer to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific.

Tinian, part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is the island that served as a base for the atomic bomb missions to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945.

The event was the result of more than a year of planning by a committee of which Giles was a member and assembled by Tinian Mayor Frank Borja, headed by his special assistant Phillip Long.

Giles said Friday that the purpose of the weeklong event was to bring both U.S. and Japanese veterans to Tinian, hold simultaneous commemorative activities, and allow both groups to meet each other and participate in each other’s events. “That was an issue for a lot of people,” Giles said. “The Navy didn’t want to get involved, they were so sure there would be confrontation.”

But according to Giles, that did not happen. Giles – who has done research and documentary film work on the island for years and is known in the area as an expert on Tinian World War II history – served in several capacities during the commemorative events.

One of the most important roles was his work conducting interviews with people on both sides of the original conflict: survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, those who helped build and drop the bomb, and Japanese veterans as well as survivors of the USS Indianapolis.

“It was very tricky to navigate those situations,” he remembered. “Some people thought it was an opportunity for a big, big scene where Japanese survivors and the men who dropped the bombs would be put in a situation where there could be an ugly scene.”

Instead, he said, the interviewees spoke frankly about the subject and shared their experiences and reflections. Giles said organizers had hoped for such an outcome. “We all felt that after 60 years, it was time to begin to open the next chapter … so there could be healing,” he said.

Giles said the week’s events, which included historical forums, a tree planting, and peace memorial services, helped both sides eliminate some misconceptions they had about each other.

During the week, Giles also oversaw several cameramen who shot 130 hours of documentary footage. Organizers expect to use the film to teach schoolchildren about Tinian’s history. Giles said the event helped remind him how important it is to remember veterans.

“When you experience something like that – see people from Nagasaki and American soldiers – you get a perspective on what’s really important in life,” the professor said.

“If everyone could see it first hand,” he said, “I think it would cause you to re-evaluate what’s really important in life.”

And the way Giles sees it, that’s exactly what Veterans Day is for.