WWII/Japanese Era

Fanhasso Antonelli Q. Salayon
Fanhasso: War for Guam
Fanhasso Antonelli Q. Salayon
Pacific World War II Timeline
A 6 M 2 Zeros Japanese empire during World War Two
WWII-Japanese Era Gallery
Marianas Operation, June 1944
WWII in the Marianas Books

Wartime on Guam

Guamanian Wake Memorial, 2011. Courtesy of Benita Gilbert.
WWII: 45 CHamorus/Chamorros Caught in Wake Invasion
Prisoners of war in Kobe (Japan) American civilians from Guam. Seated L to R: Author W. Jackson, Franklin Olive, William Payne, Albert Kerner, Father Alderbert Doblon, WM. Gautier Johnston, Marcelo Sgambelluri, Elmer L. Gay, and Carl C. Butler.
WWII: Prisoners of War Sent to Japan
CHamoru Navy men at Pearl Harbor. Seated to the right, Jose Torrez Ramirez, standing left to right are Vicente Sablan and Jesus Cepeda. Photo courtesy of MA Ramirez.
CHamorus Die in Pearl Harbor Bombing
July 24, 1944. Assault Engineer demolition squad of the 22nd Marine Regiment shown examining a Japanese pillbox before blasting it.(USMC 91382)
CHamorus/Chamorros Forced into War Effort
A child peers out of makeshift shelter in another rare photo of the Manenggon camp where Japanese forced Guamanian to stay prior to the Liberation. Photo courtesy of the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC).
CHamorus/Chamorros Yearn for Freedom
Peter Onedera's play, AI HAGÅ-HU was based on the real true-to-life experience of a CHamoru comfort woman during the dark days of World War II.
Comfort Women on Guam
In a rare photo of Manenggon in 1994, people are shown milling about the camp. The hardships of war and the occupation only served to intensify Guamanians' desire for a better future and for control of their own destiny. Photo courtesy of the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC).
WWII: From Occupation to Liberation
Sugarcane Farmers
WWII: Guam an Obstacle to Japan's Ocean Empire
Left photo: Guam Combat Patrol, Joaquin Aguon and Pedro San Nicholas from the Pacific Profile Collection courtesy of the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC). Right photo: Lon Bulgrin courtesy of Boyd Dixon.
WWII: Guam Combat Patrol Hunted Japanese Stragglers
Guam Insular Force Guard
Guam Insular Guard
War Survivor Maria Pablo receives her reparations check at the Governor’s Complex at Adelup on February 28, 2020. Eric Vincent Thomas/Guampedia.
Guam World War II War Claims: A Legislative History
CHamoru/Chamorro nurses worked during the Japanese occupation.
Health Services During WWII
Chamorro Patriots, 1944. Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) collection.
Impact of Japanese Military Occupation of Guam
Japanese Marine Barracks. Guam Occupation. WAP-038
Japanese Military Administration of Guam
Japanese Soldiers. Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC).
Japanese Occupation of Guam
Stragglers Featured Image
Japanese Stragglers on Guam
Land Payment, 1940s. Micronesian Seminar collection.
Låncho: Ranch
In the process of recapturing Guam, American bombardment devastated and completely altered the face of the island.
Land Ownership in Guam
Malesso' (Merizo) Memorial Services. Don Farrell's Liberation-1944.
Nightmare in Malesso' at War's End
After the war, the people of Guam recovered the body of Gather Duenas and buried him beneath the altar of Saint Joseph's Church in the village of Inarajan. Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC)/Don Farrell~Liberation-1944
WWII: War Atrocities on Guam
Dr. Isoda (left) and father Komatsu, prisoners in Guam stockade. November 1944.
WWII: Religious Life during the Japanese Occupation
Maria and Robert O'Brien with their eight children in 1956. The children are Patricia, Joseph, Henry, Robert, Catherine, Dorothy, Margaret and Ricarda. O'Brien Family, 1956
Robert O'Brien: US Prisoner of War
A sign of the Government Code stating English is the official language of Guam. Photo taken by Rene Mahone in the 1970s and courtesy of the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC).
Role of Education in the Preservation of Guam's Indigenous Language
CHamoru Band. Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC).
Song of Hope, Song of Faith
Lt. General Takeshi Takashina, Imperial Japanese Army. Don Farrell's Liberation-1944.
US Navy War Crimes Trials in Guam
In 1998 members of the Guam Legislature led by Speaker Antonio Unpingco, along with members of the Hågat/Agat-Sånta Rita-Sumai/Santa Rita communities, began holding an annual memorial service for the victims and survivors of the Fena Caves Massacre. David Castro/Guahan Magazine
War Atrocities: Fena Massacre
In a rare photo of Manenggon in 1994, people are shown milling about the camp. The hardships of war and the occupation only served to intensify Guamanians' desire for a better future and for control of their own destiny. Photo courtesy of the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC).
War Atrocities: Manenggon Concentration Camp
These three men from Malesso’/Merizo were found by the US Navy during the American invasion of Guam in 1944. They had escaped from the Japanese. Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC)
War Atrocities: Tinta and Faha Massacres, Malesso
Survivors
WWII List of CHamoru Deaths and Survivors in Guam
Memorial Wall, Asan Bay Overlook, 2019
WWII Monuments and Sites Map
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy. Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner, US Navy. Naval History and Heritage collection.
WWII Profiles of Officers in Command
Japanese Invasion
WWII: Oral War Histories of the CHamoru People
Prisoners of war in Kobe (Japan) American civilians from Guam. Seated L to R: Author W. Jackson, Franklin Olive, William Payne, Albert Kerner, Father Alderbert Doblon, WM. Gautier Johnston, Marcelo Sgambelluri, Elmer L. Gay, and Carl C. Butler.
WWII: Prisoners of War Sent to Japan

Biographies and Survivor Stories

Agnes Duenas Perez
War Survivor: Agnes Guzman Duenas Perez
Agueda Iglesias Johnston. Guam Museum collection.
Agueda Iglesias Johnston
Amanda Guzman Shelton
Amanda Guzman Shelton
Ana Atoigue Muna
War Survivor: Ana Atoigue Muna
Ana-Palomo
War Survivor: Ana Sablan Palomo
Ana San Nicolas Gogue
War Survivor: Ana San Nicolas Gogue
Antonio-Arriola
War Survivor: Antonio Adriano Arriola
War Survivor: Asuncion Camacho Lazaro Cruz
Taken in by relatives
Beatrice Peredo Flores Emsley stands in the debris left over from World War II battles to recapture Guam by US Marines, 1944. Emsley was an influential voice for fellow Chamorro World War II survivors because of her powerful testimonies for War Reparations in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Beatrice Flores Emsley
Cecilia Cruz Bamba was a community organizer, senator, businesswoman and mother of ten. She founded and participated in many community organizations. As a senator she joined a dozen committees as well as established the War Reparations Commission.
Cecilia Cruz Bamba
War Survivor: Cecilia Taitano Yanger
War Survivor: Cecilia Taitano Yanger
War Survivor: Cleotilde Mendiola Bamba
War Survivor: Cleotilde Mendiola Bamba
War Survivor: Concepcion Castro Camacho
War Survivor: Concepcion Castro Camacho
Congressman Vicente "Ben" Garrido Blaz
Congressman Vicente "Ben" Garrido Blaz
Cynthia Tenorio Terlaje Featured
War Survivor: Cynthia Tenorio Terlaje
E. Grace Sablan Viegas
War Survivor: E. Grace Sablan Viegas
Father Jesus Baza Duenas. Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC).
Father Jesus Baza Duenas
Fidel Toves Blas
War Survivor: Fidel Toves Blas
Pete and Nito Bautista. Forrest Harris/Humanities Guåhan collection.
Forrest Harris
Francisca Quintanilla Franquez Featured Image
War Survivor: Francisca Quintanilla Franquez
Navy man Tweed is the only American soldier who evaded capture and survived the Japanese occupation. National Archives/Micronesian Seminar
George Tweed
Helena Crisostomo Featured Image
War Survivor: Helena James Aflague Crisostomo
The young Ignacia Bordallo Butler was fluent in Chamorro, Spanish and English since childhood. She went to school in Hagåtña and was then sent to the Philippines for high school and to earn a teacher’s certificate.
Ignacia Bordallo Butler
Ignacio "Buck" Cruz
Ignacio "Buck" Cruz
War Survivor: Ignacio Reyes
War Survivor: Ignacio Mendiola Reyes
War Survivor: Irene Perez Ploke Sgambelluri
War Survivor: Irene Perez Ploke Sgambelluri
Jesus Babauta
War Survivor: Jesus Camacho Babauta
Joaquin F. Lujan Featured Image
Joaquin F. Lujan
War Survivor: Jose Rosario Alvarez
War Survivor: Jose Rosario Alvarez
War Survivor: Jose Santos Torres
War Survivor: Jose Santos Torres
War Survivor: Josefa Cruz Baza
War Survivor: Josefa Cruz Baza
War Survivor: Juan Quintanilla Guzman
War Survivor: Juan Quintanilla Guzman
War Survivor: Justo Leon Guerrero
War Survivor: Justo Leon Guerrero
War Survivor: Lillian Tenorio Dimla
War Survivor: Lillian Tenorio Dimla
War Survivor: Maria Meno Barcinas
War Survivor: Maria Meno Barcinas
War Survivor: Maria Rapolla Matanane
War Survivor: Maria Rapolla Matanane
War Survivor: Maria Taitague Escalera
War Survivor: Maria Taitague Escalera
War Survivor: Mary Taitano San Agustin Lujan
War Survivor: Mary Taitano San Agustin Lujan
Monsignor David Ignacio Arceo Quitugua
War Survivor: Monsignor David Ignacio Arceo Quitugua
Reverend Oscar Lujan Calvo. Capuchin Order, Guam
Monsignor Oscar Calvo
War Survivor: Patricia Taitano Guerrero
War Survivor: Patricia Taitano Guerrero
The Baptist congregation was led by Joaquin Flores Sablan in 1935 and through the Japanese occupation. Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC), UOG.
Joaquin Flores Sablan
Maria Santos Inouye and Robert O'Brien pose as a couple before World War II. O'Brien Family
Robert O'Brien: US Prisoner of War
War Survivor: Rosa Champaco Quitano
War Survivor: Rosa Champaco Quitano
War Survivor: Rosa Payne Murer
War Survivor: Rosa Payne Murer
War Survivor: Rosanne Santos Ada
War Survivor: Rosanne Santos Ada
War Survivor: Rosario Flores Leon Guerrero
War Survivor: Rosario Flores Leon Guerrero
War Survivor: Rosita Duenas Diaz
War Survivor: Rosita Duenas Diaz
Young Shoichi Yokoi. Guam Museum collection.
WWII: Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi, Last Straggler on Guam
War Survivor: Sylvia Iglesias San Nicolas Punzalan
Survivor
War Survivor: Sr. Bernard Unpingco
War Survivor: Sr. Bernard Unpingco
War Survivor: Vicente and Jesusa Arceo
War Survivor: Vicente and Jesusa Arceo
Return to the Historic Eras of Guam Category
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