Palm trees and their reflections upon a river's tranquil surface are captured in this tropical scene (top, left). Members of the Marine barracks fire a cannon during a ceremony at the Plaza de Espana (top, right). Guam residents enjoy a parade along the streets of Agana. In the float, note the little girls making up the flower bouquet, much to the delight of the spectators (bottom).
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Men build the framework of a house and prepare its roof for sections of woven palm leaves. In spite of the American presence since 1898 when the Spanish-American War ended, little had changed in the pre-war society of Guam.
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Because Guam was merely looked upon by the Navy as a coaling station for its ships as they sailed the Pacific, the island changed little, although the military did add to the economy by buying from farmers and fishermen and employing people.
Naval administrators of the island did initiate and sustain typical government departments such as schools, a hospital, courts and police, but overall the island's lifestyle changed little.
Chamorros had gained in terms of democratic government; a House of Assembly served as a legislative body but it was merely advisory. Chamorro self-determination was non-existent. The naval governor still possessed absolute authority - he was legislator, chief executive, judge, all under one hat.
Japan, though, was much more active in its efforts around the Pacific islands. When the opportunity arose in World War I as Germany was reeling from its defeats in Europe, the Japanese were unfurling the flag of the Rising Sun in German-held islands above the equator. Their presence in the central and western Pacific was vast, as vast as the area of the continental United States: from the Marshall Islands in the east, to the Carolines, to the Marianas and anchoring the line of Japanese-occupied islands was the Palau archipelago. In the Treaty of Versailles which ended World War I, Japan's occupation of these islands was formalized under a mandate of the League of Nations.
Japan wasted little time in solidifying its claim to these islands. The Japanese, who had a strong economic presence in the islands even before World War I, was now sowing its influence upon the islands through schools, agricultural programs, and, what would later prove deadly to American Marines and soldiers, the fortification and buildup of the islands as military installations.
With little political or financial support coming from Congress to fortify Guam, the United States signed an agreement with Japan in 1921 at the Washington Naval Conference. The two nations along with other world powers agreed not to fortify their possessions in the Pacific.
However, Japan's designs on the islands began taking on a militaristic tone, and by 1935, the country refused inspection of the islands under the mandate and walked out of the League of Nations. The action was typical of Japan in those times as the nation, causing worry and concern for all those in Asia and in the Pacific, was growing more and more committed to a policy of aggression.
Only then did the United States begin thinking of fortifying Guam, and in 1938 a Navy study did recommend that the island's naval facilities be improved to the point where they could support a fully-equipped and operational fleet to help in the defense of the Philippines. But the price tag - possibly tens of millions of dollars - needed for such a buildup was considered too high.
It was in this atmosphere that in December 1941 the people of the United States and Guam began paying - in blood - for a war that suddenly swept the nation and the island into years of struggle, years of sadness, years of tragedy.
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