The outbreak of the Pacific War began with Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on 8 December (7 December in Hawai’i) 1941 with a subsequent air attack on US military facilities on Guam. In the early hours before dawn on 10 December 370 land combat unit members of the Japanese Navy and 2,700 soldiers of the Army’s South Seas Detachment landed on Guam at five bays: Ylig, Malesso’, Humåtak, Tumon, and Hagåtña.
Japanese Occupation of Guam Read Post »
The Japanese Navy was responsible for the administration of Guam after the occupation of the island on 10 December 1941. Japan’s basic military administration policies for its other occupied areas were also applied to Guam:
Japanese Military Administration of Guam Read Post »
The Japanese military occupation of Guam, from December 1941 through July 1944, resulted in a variety of political, economic and social impacts on the people of Guam that emerged for the most part during the post-war period.
Impact of Japanese Military Occupation of Guam Read Post »
Robert O’Brien (1908 – 1988), born in New York, came to Guam in the 1930s with the US Navy. He married Marie Santos Inouye, a woman of CHamoru and Japanese descent, and they had four children, Patricia, Joseph, Henry and Robert. He participated in the short-lived defense of Guam and became a prisoner of war. O’Brien survived four years in a prisoner of war camp in Zentsuji, Japan.
Robert O’Brien: US Prisoner of War Read Post »
George R. Tweed (1902 – 1989) – was an American Navy man who was able to escape capture from the Japanese during their occupation of Guam in World War II, and the only American to survive the entire occupation in hiding.
Father Jesus Baza Duenas (1911 – 1944) was the second CHamoru to be ordained a priest. He led the Catholic Church during the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II and was later killed by the Japanese in July of 1944.
Father Jesus Baza Duenas Read Post »
From a religious perspective, World War II in Guam, or I Tiempon Chapoñes as Chamorros/CHamorus referred to it, was traumatic for a number of reasons. The Japanese invasion and occupation of the island was the most jarring and traumatic event in recent Guam history.
WWII: Religious Life during the Japanese Occupation Read Post »
No official records of health activities during the Japanese occupation are known to have survived World War II. Although health services were offered free-of-charge to civilians who came to the hospital, many were reluctant to do so except in dire emergency.
Health Services During WWII Read Post »
Ramon Manalisay Sablan (1902-1970) was the first CHamoru medical doctor. He is also remembered as an influential educator, politician, activist, linguist, and musician.
Dr. Ramon Manalisay Sablan Read Post »
Since the claim by Spain over the Mariana Islands in 1565 and the settlement of Jesuit missionaries and conquest of the CHamoru people in the 17th century, the control and ultimate political fate of Guam has been the subject of war and political controversy.
Guam’s Political Status Read Post »
