War in the Pacific National Historical Park

The Pacific Theater of World War II encompassed one-third of the earth's surface, but only 1/145th of its overall land mass. The Pacific War involved vast distances and new strategy, tactics, equipment, and weapons of war. It involved not just Japan and the United States but Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada, China, France, and the Soviet Union as well. Caught in the middle of the conflict were the people of the Pacific islands - such as Guam's native Chamorros - upon whose homelands and in whose waters the battles were fought.

The U.S. had acquired Guam in 1898 after the Spanish-American War, and administered it undisturbed for more than 40 years. Thjat ended with the first Battle of Guam, which took place Dec. 8-10, 1941. This was one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the attack that brought the U.S. into World War II. The Japanese quickly captured Guam, starting 31 months of Japanese occupation of the island.

The Chamorros bore the brunt of this occupation. Japan wanted to Japanize the island, and Southeast Asia in general. They tried to do this especially through schooling. They were required to learn Japanese language and customs, and English was forbidden. However, by 1944, the schools were closed and harsher methods of social change were enacted. The methods were typical of Japanese policy during the war, but bore little fruit because of how entrenched American influence had been.

The eventual American seizure of Guam and the Mariana Islands hastened the end of the war, but came at a price of thousands of casualties on both sides. This battle took place from July 21-Aug. 10, 1944. An estimated 3,000 U.S. soldiers and native Chamorro soldiers were killed, as were about 18,500 Japanese soldiers, but the island was liberated from the Japanese. People in Guam still celebrate July 21 as Liberation Day to this day.

The national park was established in 1978. It sees an average of 480,000 visitors a year.

War in the Pacific National Historical Park, National Park Service. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://www.nps.gov/wapa/index.htm.

Gailey, Harry. The Liberation of Guam 21 July – 10 August. Novato, California. Presidio Press, 1988.

Higuchi, Wakako. The Japanisation policy for the Chamorros of Guam, 1941–1944, The Journal of Pacific History. August 4th 2010. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713682851.

McMillin, George. "Surrender of Guam to the Japanese" - Guam Recorder, Guampedia. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://www.guampedia.com/guam-recorder-1972-april-september/.