On January 16, 2013, United States Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll (USAG-KA) will host a ceremony to dedicate and rename the current USAG-KA dining facility as the Captain Louis S. Zamperini Dining Facility. Commanding General of the Space and Missile Defense Command, Lieutenant General Richard Formica, will conduct the distinguished ceremony. Invited guests include the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Christopher Loeak: U.S. Ambassador to the RMI, Thomas Armbruster; RMI Minister in Assistance to the President, Minister Tony deBrum; and RMI Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister Philip Muller.
Mr. Zamperini is a former Olympian and a WWII Bombardier who was imprisoned on Kwajalein for a short period of time after his plane crashed in the RMI area in 1943. Mr. Zamperini was subsequently sent to a prisoner of war camp in Japan, where he endured great hardship in order to survive the war. USAG-KA and SMDC decided to name the new facility in order to honor Mr. Zamperini’s heroic service during the war.
