Our Guamazing Adventure

Yesterday was one of my favorite Guam days. Chris and I and our neighbors, the Pikes, took advantage of a tour offered on base of the island. Bright and early for a Saturday, we did the WWII- Guam Cultural tour. We met our tour guide and the other "tourists" at the Outdoor Rec on base at 7:45a, and returned home a little before 5:00p. What a day!

Guam was originally controlled by the Spanish, but acquired by the Americans through victory in the Spanish American War. Turns out that Guam was so far removed from communication, that when the U.S. showed up in Guam to claim her, the Guam leaders thought that the cannons they were firing were part of a 21 cannon salute, and they were simply unexpected dignitaries. Oops. The Spaniards rolled out the red carpet, only to discover they were actually being conquered. It was a totally bloodless battle.

On December 10, 1941, Guam was attacked by the Japanese. At the time, most of the U.S. assets had been off-loaded, and Guam only had 400 marines on island to defend her from the ruthless attacks of a Japanese air attack and sea force. The Japanese military occupation lasted from 1941 to 1944 and was a brutal experience for the Chamorro people, whose loyalty to the United States became a point of contention with the Japanese. Some American servicemen were still on the island and were hidden and helped by the Chamorro people. The Battle of Guam started on July 21, 1944 with American troops landing on the island on the northern and southern beaches. The intent was for the northern troops to push their way south, the southern troops to push their way north, and to meet in the middle and advance. Good idea in theory, but of course no plan survives first contact. The battle was absolutely brutal. On the southern beaches, the Americans landed on shore, and tried to make their way up the steep cliffs. However, the Japanese had an incredible vantage point, and would often just roll grenades down the cliff to keep Americans from advancing. After the first day of battle, the Americans only advanced some 200 yards and the death toll was in the hundreds.

Using infiltration tactics, Japanese counter-attacks were made throughout the first few days of the battle, mostly at night. On 28 July, Lieutenant General Takeshi Takashima, commander of the 18,500 defenders, was killed and Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata assumed control.
Supply was very difficult for the Americans in the first days of the battle. Landing ships could not come closer than the reef, several hundred metres from the beach, and amphibious vehicles were scarce. However, the two beachheads were joined up on 28 July and the Orote airfield and Apra harbor were captured by 30 July.

The counterattacks around the American beachheads had exhausted the Japanese. At the start of August they were running out of food and ammunition, and had only a handful of tanks left. Obata withdrew his troops from the south of Guam, planning to make a stand in the mountainous central part of the island. But with resupply and reinforcement impossible because of American control of the sea and air around Guam, he could hope to do no more than delay the inevitable defeat for a few days.

Rain and thick jungle made conditions difficult for the Americans, but after an engagement at Mount Barrigada from August 2 to August 4 the Japanese line collapsed and the rest of the battle was a pursuit to the north. As in other battles of the Pacific War, the Japanese refused to surrender, and almost all were killed.

A few Japanese soldiers held out in the jungle. On 8 December 1945 three U.S. marines were ambushed and killed. On 24 January 1972 Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi was discovered by hunters. He had lived alone in a cave for 27 years.

In the end, the Americans reclaimed Guam for the United States. Japanese casualties were some 18,000 killed and 485 POWs. The American forces suffered some 3000 killed and 7122 wounded.


Part of the WWII US/Guam memorial



View from the memorial, where many of the Japanese committed suicide from the cliffs once they realized they were going to lose.



The formidable cliffs the US troops had to scale to secure their positions.



Beautiful view, but can you imagine hiking up this??



Japanese grave that was developed in part of the memorial for the Japanese soldiers that were killed. The troops that remained following the war mostly starved to death, so it is customary to leave bottles of water, beer and snacks on the graves and near the caves.



Another Japanese grave.