Profiles, villages, and island life
Last appointed military governor of Guam. Governor Charles A. Pownall (1887-1975) served as naval Governor of Guam from 30 May 1946 to 27 September 1949. In the aftermath of World War II and the Japanese Occupation, he was the first postwar US governor and also the island’s last appointed naval governor.
Governor Charles Alan Pownall Read Post »
Paul Carano (1919-2020) was a teacher, researcher and one of the founders of the University of Guam’s Micronesian Area Research Center. Carano was the son of John “J.P.” and Mary (Ross) Carano, pioneer residents of Krebs, Tobucksy County, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. At an early age, he moved to Hanford, California. He was a graduate of Stanford University and pursued other studies at California’s College of the Sequoias at Visalia California State University at Fresno and the University of New Hampshire at Durham.
Rita Guevara Sablan (1926-2003) was a wife and mother of 10 children, an active member of her community, and businesswoman who left a legacy – Sablan Enterprises.
Rita Guevara Sablan Read Post »
Peter Charles Siguenza, Jr. (1951 – 2020) was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Guam established in 1996 by the Organic Act of Guam. Prior to his appointment as the first Chief Justice for Kotten Mas Takhelo Guåhan, Siguenza served for 12 years as a trial judge in the Superior Court of Guam.
Peter C. Siguenza, Jr. Read Post »
Founder and voice of Guam talk radio. Jon Alan Anderson (1942 – 2019) was best known as the host of The Breakfast Show on K-57 radio from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
Memories of the war are just a blur. The sun rose bright and brilliant, the same way it had every Monday before then. Airplane-shaped silhouettes flew across the blue sky, making shadows behind fluffy white clouds. The ocean water flowed deep and teal into the Hagåtña river, washing under Grace Sablan Viegas’s (1933 – 2020) house as it normally did during high tide. She loved to watch the water come in and out with the tide. As the sun rose and the tide flowed, this particular Monday morning turned into one of tragedy.
War Survivor: E. Grace Sablan Viegas Read Post »
Daughter of an American. Tired and hungry were the words Irene Perez Ploke Sgambelluri (1931 – ) used to describe how she felt every day during the war. She was only 10 years old at the onset of the war and instantly, her life was forever changed.
War Survivor: Irene Perez Ploke Sgambelluri Read Post »
The war brought her family closer together. Clad in a white dress and moccasins, Sylvia Iglesias San Nicolas Punzalan (1927 – ) was preparing to honor Santa Marian Kamalen on 8 December 1941 at the island’s annual procession around the capital village of Hagåtña. She was 14 years old, the sun was shining, and her family, along with the rest of the island, had readied themselves for a day of tradition and celebration.
War Survivor: Sylvia Iglesias San Nicolas Punzalan Read Post »
A young Malesso girl. Josefa Cruz Baza (1930 – 2021) is known as a quiet and gentle soul. But those who know her well knew that there is a lot of truth in the saying that “dynamite comes in small packages.”
War Survivor: Josefa Cruz Baza Read Post »
War is non-discriminatory. Sister Mary Bernard Unpingco (1935 – ) is a School Sister of Notre Dame and a survivor of war. She was born in San Ramon, Hagåtña, and named Rita Reyes Unpingco. Her parents were Eliza Guevara Reyes and Jose Aguon Unpingco. Unpingco was the middle child of seven children: Juan, Norbert (Bert), Gloria, Rita, Fe, Teresita and Antonio (Speaker Tony Unpingco). The family also reared (pokasi) Rosario Reyes, who was Eliza’s oldest brother’s child. Rosario’s mother had died at childbirth.
War Survivor: Sr. Bernard Unpingco Read Post »
