Blood Is Thicker Than Water: Guam Secured... finale

Marines manning a 37 mm gun watch us tanks roll past in the final offensive drive against Japanese organized resistance.



GUAM SECURED: 10 AUGUST 1944

Moving quickly up the west coast, by mid-afternoon on the 8th, the 22d Marines reached Ritidian Point including sending a patrol down the cliff to the beach. That night, the 3d Marines encountered five enemy tanks. Then on 9 August, the 9th Marines reached Pati Point. On 10 August, General Geiger announced that organized resistance on Guam had ended.

"Japan's grip on the Marianas was broken and the end of the war was now just slightly over a year away." ... War in the Pacific Park Brochure

THE LAST STAND

However, General Obata's command post in Mataguac, Yigo was not destroyed until the 11th by the 306th Infantry. Obata's final message to Japan: "I have accepted the important post of the army commander and although I exerted all-out effort, the fortune of war has not been with me. The fighting has not been in our favor since the loss of Saipan. We are continuing a desperate battle on Guam."

"Officers and men have been lost, weapons have been destroyed, and ammunition has been expended. We have only our bare hands to fight with. The holding of Guam has become hopeless. I will engage the enemy in the last battle with the remaining strength at Mount Mataguac tomorrow, the 11th. My only fear is that report of death with honor (annihilation) at Guam might shock the Japanese people at home. Our souls will defend the island to the very end; we pray for the security of the Empire."

"I am overwhelmed with sorrow for the families of the many fallen officers and men."

The search for the remaining Japanese soldiers would continue for over a year. Numerous stragglers would survive in Guam's jungles only to slowly starve and or be killed.

"It was our experience that the Japanese, remaining Japanese troops, the stragglers, were very strongly motivated not to surrender. I had an experience where, during one of these patrols, I was given a Japanese officer to help us and he had a speaker with him and his function was to speak out at the edge of the jungle for these people to come out. ... they were not all willing to do that." ... "I thought they were very motivated, highly motivated ... in keeping honor to their country as soldiers of Japan." ... Lt. Pete Siquenza, 3rd Marine Division

In the Liberation, U.S. forces suffered over 7,000 casualties. More than 17,500 Japanese defenders died. In the 1970s, the Chamorro War Reparations Commission listed over 700 Chamorro people who died as a result of World War II.

"Perhaps, the blackest days of Guam's long and chaotic history were those endless months between spring and summer of 1944 when the population suffered the extreme miseries of occupation while awaiting the return of their American protectors. ... Many stories of heroism and brutality have come out of the Japanese occupation of Guam, ... The Guamanian people suffered every possible kind of humiliation and many of them the most unspeakable and degrading death at the hands of the enemy." ... Charles Beardsley, Guam Past and Present

After the Liberation, Guam was forever changed.

The Island Command's Civil Affairs Section took to the task of caring for over 18,000 homeless Chamorros. Refugee camps were set up in Anigua, Agat and Yona. Some people were allowed to return to their villages, as patrols declared the areas secure. However, some would never return to their original villages.

As the military build-up continued, lands were taken for "airfields, combat firing ranges, training areas, camp sites, and supply depots." Navy Seabees and Army engineers bulldozed the destroyed Agana, and constructed new roads and water pipelines. Orote, Agana, Harmon, North and Northwest airfields were built.

Over 200,000 military personnel were sent to Guam. Virtually, in a few short months, Apra Harbor Naval Operating Base was built and Guam became a major forward command base. Supplies, equipment, and ammunition were stored in immense facilities. Guam became known as the "Pacific Supermarket," one of the largest military supply points in history. All to further the end of the war with Japan. By 1945, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was directing the war from Nimitz Hill. From the Mariana Islands, specifically Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, B-29s flew bombing runs to Japan.

"To the average American participant in the Marianas campaign, the war was on a minute-to-minute basis. Big picture strategy had no place in his personal struggle to survive, and even today his picture of the operation is a compound of individual memories that probably missed this history and many others. Yet no matter how small a part an individual took in capturing these islands, he is justified in feeling he helped shorten the war. For it was from the Marianas that ships, planes, and men struck out to bring defeat to Japan." ... Maj. O.R. Lodge, Recapture of Guam

In August 1945, the "Enola Gay" took off from Tinian. On board the bomber was the world's first Atomic Bomb, destined for Japan, for Hiroshima. A few days later another atomic bomb, dropped from the bomber Bock's Car, would would hit Nagasaki.

In Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, on board the battleship, the USS Missouri, surrender documents were signed. The two military leaders who oversaw the two-pronged Allied offensive in the Pacific led the officials accepting Japan's surrender. Representing the Allied powers as Supreme Commander was General Douglas MacArthur and representing the United States was Admiral Nimitz.

After 1,364 days, the War in the Pacific ended.

Source

This wraps up the Guam series ... shortly, we will travel to Iwo Jima.

Corpsman

Corpsman renders aid to an injured Marine in Guam

Blood Is Thicker Than Water: Liberating Guam *9

In the middle of a banana patch badly mauled by shelling, bombs and gunfire, Marines dig in and establish their position.

###

THE FINAL BEACHLINE

On the 28th, the 9th Marines moving south fought their way to the top of Mount Chachao.

"It had become increasingly evident that the principal Japanese battle position now lay along the Fonte-Chachao-Tenjo Ridgeline..." . . . Maj. O.R. Lodge, Recapture of Guam

"On Mt. Chachao, the Japanese had constructed a concrete emplacement in the center of the summit, with a series of foxholes and machine-gun positions nested in the surrounding cliffs to protect it. Circular gun pits at either end of the crest guarded the trail running across the ridge and leading down the slope. Manned by a company of troops, the Mt. Chachao fortification was formidable." ... Maj. O.R. Lodge, Recapture of Guam

With artillery fire, American tanks, and hand grenades, the crest was taken. The 9th Marines made contact with the soldiers of the 77th Division on top of Mount Tenjo. After eight days of fighting, the two beachheads were firmly linked up.

The positions on the Mount Tenjo ridge were then held until the 31st of July while Orote Peninsula was secured and the American line was organized to swing east across the island. Concurrently, reconnaissance patrols were made of southern Guam by the 77th Infantry Division from 28 July to 2 August.

"Five patrols of about five men each, with native guides, would penetrate six miles each way south and east of Alifan into unknown territory." ... Guam Operations of the 77th Division

These patrols determined that there was no organized Japanese resistance in the south and that the Japanese had withdrawn to the north.

"Approaching Ylig the scouts met a small group of Chamorros, who greeted them joyfully and reported that many Japanese troops were to the north but that only small groups of 10 or 15 were still in the southern area." ... Guam Operations of the 77th Division

After the defeat at Fonte, Japanese General Takashina ordered a general retreat to established positions along a Dededo to Barrigada line. Upon the death of Takashina, General Obata assumed command of the remaining Japanese forces and continued to follow the defensive plan of Takashina.

source

cont'd in post below

War Dogs

Marines file from the front lines after successfully taking Mount Taene, in the background, an objective after the beachhead in Agat was secured (top).

An Agat house became a surgical ward, courtesy of the personnel of the Army's 95th Portable Surgical Hospital, attached to the 302nd Medical Battalion (middle).


Marines and their "devil dogs" go toward the front during the siege on Orote Peninsula. In Guam, the dogs saved many a Marine's life by sniffing out enemy soldiers hiding in the island's caves or dense jungles. The War Dog Memorial on Naval Station honors the 25 "devil dogs" who gave their lives in the line of duty in the recapture of Guam (bottom).

Source

Guam WWII

Soldiers of the Army's 77th Infantry Division take cover as they use a cannon to blast away at a Japanese pillbox in the drive to take Orote Peninsula.

Members of A Company 22nd Marines take a break on the slope of a knoll about 1,000 yards north of Agat in this photo taken on July 23, 1944

Source

Blood Is Thicker Than Water: #5 in Guam during WWII

As landing craft stream toward the Asan shore, other amphibious tractors have already reached the beach. At top of photo, on right, destroyers are maneuvering offshore to provide covering fire for the men of the 3rd Marine Division.

###

STALLED AT CHORITO CLIFF
To the east at Asan, Japanese troops emerged from their caves to take gun positions on Chorito (misnamed Chonito in 1944) Cliff. From their positions they fired down on the 3d Marines as they landed ashore. They waited and watched as American troops advanced on the steep, difficult terrain below Chorito.

"Nearly half my old company lies dead on the barren slopes of Chonito Cliff. Four times they tried to reach the top. Four times they were thrown back. They had to break out of a 20-yard beach head to make way for later landing waves. They attacked up a 60-degree slope, protected only by sword grass, and were met by a storm of grenades and heavy rifle, machine-gun and mortar fire.

"The physical act of forward motion required the use of both hands. As a consequence they were unable to return the enemy fire effectively. Most of the casualties were at the bottom of the slope. They had been hit as they left cover." . . . Sgt. Cyril O'Brien, 3rd Marine Division

source

Blood Is Thicker Than Water: #6 of Guam in WWII

Minesweepers clear the way to the Agat shoreline while smaller craft carry the first Marines to assault the beach. A burning minesweeper shows that the battle has already begun in this aerial view of the beachhead.

Marines from the 3rd Marine Division churn toward the Asan shore on invasion day. These Marines, possibly from the 3rd Regiment, were given the task of rushing inland to capture cliffs and high ground, and prepare for further action to the east and southeast. A Marine takes cover upon hitting the beach; in foreground are what appears to be the legs of a comrade, perhaps wounded. Note the proximity to the shoreline of the destroyer in background (left). In Agat, Marine Captains Paul O'Neal and Milton Thompson plant the Stars and Stripes just eight minutes after U.S. forces land and attack the beachhead (right).

In Asan, Chorito Cliff and the beach below are engulfed in smoke from artillery, bombs, mortars; Marines rushing ashore at Red Beach 1, about center of photo, are met with intense fire from the hills and the cliff above.

###

After intense fighting, the guns on Chorito Cliff were finally silenced by a destroyer and American tanks. And by the night of the first day in Asan, the beach was secured.

"Casualties here in one day exceeded the entire division casualties at Bougainville." . . The 3rd Marine Division

During the first night at Asan, the Marines encountered only light shelling and occasional patrols by the Japanese.

to be continued...

Source

Destruction on Orote Peninsula-Guam in WWII

Smoke from explosions mar the airfield on Orote Peninsula after an attack by Navy planes prior to the July 21 invasion. The airfield's destruction was a priority for Admiral Nimitz and Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher, who is shown at right, in order to disable the ability of the Japanese to challenge the invasion force by air. Mitscher commanded the task force that defeated an Imperial Navy fleet in the Battle off the Philippine Sea, a battle that effectively nullified the Japanese navy and its aircraft fro the rest of the war. Above, Avenger torpedo bombers, launched from carriers of Task Force 53, fly support on Liberation Day, soaring high above landing craft maneuvering to rush ashore.

Source

The Pennsylvania in Guam WWII

The battleship Pennsylvania unleashes the thunder of its 14-inch guns as it shells shore fortifications south of Orote Point. By invasion day, July 21, 1944, a total of six battleships - the New Mexico, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California and the Tennessee - nine cruisers and their destroyer escorts were pulverizing Japanese defense positions. Pre-invasion bombardment lasted for 13 days, not including July 21, the longest such action in the war.

WWII Troops sail for Guam

Troop ships sail for Guam, carrying more than 50,000 Marines and Army infantry for the operation to recapture the island (top). Marines aboard amphibious tractors head for the beachhead (bottom, left). Two Marines say "Thanks" to the men of the Coast Guard for their contribution to the invasion of Guam (bottom, right). The Coast Guard was responsible for the ferrying and transfer of troops from ship to shore, the helmsmen and crew of the landing craft undergoing the same intense fire as their Marine passengers.

Source

Blood Is Thicker Than Water: WWII Liberating Guam cont'd *4

Explosions on the coast spout water and toss debris high in the air in this photo taken from the battleship New Mexico.



THE NORTHERN BEACHHEAD

At Asan, the 3rd Marine Division landed between Asan Point on the west and Adelup Point on the east. Nearly 2,500 yards of beach rested between these two points, known as the "devil's horns." From the west to the east, the 9th Marine Regiment landed on Blue Beach, the 21st Marine Regiment on Green Beach, and the 3d Marine Regiment on Red Beaches 1 and 2. The Marine division's goal was to capture the rugged cliffs and high grounds inland.

The Japanese 320th Independent Infantry Battalion, along with Naval personnel hid in complex caves and bunkers, ready to man coastal defense guns as the Americans landed on the shores below.

THE SOUTHERN BEACHHEAD

At Agat, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade landed between Bangi Point to the south and the village of Agat to the north. The 4th Marines landed to the south on White Beaches 1 and 2 to establish the beachhead and protect the right flank. The 22nd Marines to the north landed in Yellow Beaches 1 and 2 to occupy Agat and drive north to seal off Orote Peninsula. The 305th Regimental Combat Team of the Army's 77th Infantry Division would later land to protect the southern sector of the beachhead.

As wave after wave of LVTs crossed the reef, the Japanese 38th Infantry Regiment fired heavy mortar and artillery shells on the approaching Marines.

Source

to be continued in future posts

WWII Liberating Guam...Agana in ruins

This aerial photo shows Agana in ruins, the result of naval bombardment and strikes from carrier aircraft.

Blood Is Thicker Than Water: Explosions

As a 40 mm crew aboard the cruiser Honolulu waits on alert, Asan Point is rocked when a storage dump explodes after taking a direct hit. Smoke on the shore is from bombs from attacking planes and naval gunfire. Seen above left are a variety of vessels — a gunboat, a transport vessel; tougher to discern are planes flying over the beach (at left).

Blood Is Thicker Than Water: Narrow Miss

Shot down by anti-aircraft fire, a Japanese warplane crashes into the ocean, narrowly missing the USS Cabot. With Japanese air capabilities destroyed, U.S. pilots ruled the skies above Guam prior to and through the battle for the island.