A retired Navy commander has returned to Guam to mark America's 250th anniversary, five decades after he last set foot on the island. The U.S. Department of Defense reported that Allan Riggs, who holds the rank of retired Navy commander, made the trip for the U.S. semiquincentennial celebration.
Guam is a U.S. island territory in the western Pacific Ocean. According to the Department of Defense, Riggs's previous visit to the island came 50 years ago, during the U.S. bicentennial, when he raised the American flag there as part of that celebration.
This time, the Department of Defense said, Riggs marked the occasion alongside a newer generation of submariners. The semiquincentennial commemorates 250 years of American independence.
Riggs's return closed a 50-year gap between his two visits to Guam, with the flag-raising he performed during the bicentennial now serving as the thread connecting both milestones, the Department of Defense reported.