[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E39]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E39]]



              RECOGNIZING THE DUTY OF THE MARIANAS SCOUTS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 31, 2000

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, on January 31, 2000, a ceremony will take 
place in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands honoring and 
recognizing the service of a small group of civilian men who, during 
WWII on the island of Saipan, willingly put themselves in harm's way to 
ensure that American soldiers could defeat the occupying Japanese 
military forces. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Resident 
Representative, the Honorable Juan Babauta, has been key in making sure 
the sacrifice and service of these men are recognized by the United 
States. I commend Mr. Babauta for his persistence and wish to submit 
his statement honoring the ``Marianas Scouts'' for the Record.

               At Last America Remembers Marianas Scouts

       They helped American Marines find their way on unfamiliar 
     ground during one of World War II's fiercest battles. And 
     once the Japanese-held island of Saipan was ``secure'' they 
     continued to help: rooting out the hundreds of enemy soldiers 
     who remained a menace, lurking in the dense jungle and hidden 
     deep in limestone caves.
       But when the fighting was finally over, the fifty Chamorro 
     and Carolinian men who had volunteered to join the US 
     military after the invasion of Saipan were forgotten by the 
     US. They received no discharges, no campaign ribbons, none of 
     the benefits accorded other US veterans. Only their families 
     and friends remembered the valor of these ``Marine Scouts.''
       On Monday, January 31, at least America will remember.
       In a ceremony to be attended by Brigadier General R.E. 
     Parker, Commanding General of the US Marine Corps Base in 
     Hawaii and personal representative of Marine Corps Commandant 
     General James L. Jones, the twenty-one surviving Scouts and 
     the memory of those who have already passed on will finally 
     receive the recognition they deserve.
       General Parker will present the Scouts or their survivors 
     with the ribbons and medals acknowledging service in the 
     Asiatic-Pacific Campaign and commemorating Victory in the 
     World War II. The men will also receive their official 
     discharges at the rank of corporal.
       The Marianas Campaign of 1944 was critical to the outcome 
     of World War II. The fall of the Marianas led directly to the 
     fall of the government in Tokyo, because now America was 
     within bomber range of the Japanese home islands. That 
     strategic significance was reflected in the ferocity of the 
     fighting here and the tenacity of the Japanese defenders.
       Even after the battle of Saipan was official over and the 
     Japanese military command had surrendered, still there were 
     hundreds of Japanese soldiers hidden in the dense jungle, 
     squeezed into pockets of limestone in the hillsides. At night 
     they materialized to harass; by day their sniper shots struck 
     without warning. Americans continued to die.
       The US Commander of the Military Government decided that 
     local men, who best knew the local terrain and spoke 
     Japanese, could best track down these holdouts.
       Fifty Chamorros and Carolinians were selected and put under 
     the command of the 6th Provisional Military Police Battalion. 
     They were issued Marine Corps uniforms, trained to use rifles 
     and grenades, and instructed in hand-to-hand fighting.
       Once on duty, platoons of these local Marine Scouts, as 
     they were known, combed Mt. Tapotchau, the hills of Laulau 
     and Kagman, and the ridges of Marpi, exposing and capturing 
     Japanese. The Scouts also took part in the American 
     expeditions to round up the hundreds of Japanese troops on 
     the islands of Pagan and Maug.
       The service of these men of the Marianas saved American 
     lives. But their service was never fully acknowledged.
       It took six years of work, beginning with exhaustive 
     research in military archives at the National Archives, the 
     Marine Corps Historical Center, and the Naval Archives, 
     through some 50,000 pages of war records and diaries, to 
     uncover the few sentences attesting to the Scouts' service. 
     For the men themselves had no paper record, only their 
     memories.
       Then, the materials had to be presented to the Department 
     of Defense Civilian/Military Service Review Board for its 
     scrutiny. On September 30, 1999, two years after the original 
     submission, the decision came down:
       ``In accordance with the provisions of Public Law 95-202 
     and upon the recommendation of the Department of Defense 
     Civilian/Military Service Review Board, the Secretary of the 
     Air Force, acting as the Executive Agent of the Secretary of 
     Defense, determines . . . the service of . . . three scouts/
     guides, Miguel Tenorio, Benedicto Taisacan, and Cristino Dela 
     Cruz, who assisted the U.S. Marines in the offensive 
     operations against the Japanese on the Northern Mariana 
     Islands from `June 19, 1994, through September 2, 1945,' 
     shall be considered `active duty' for purposes of all laws 
     administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
       ``Additionally, the service of a group described as `the 
     approximately 50 Chamorro and Carolinian former, native 
     policemen who received military training in the Donnay area 
     of central Saipan and were placed under the command of Lt. 
     Casino of the 6th Provisional Military Police Battalion to 
     accompany United States Marines on active, combat-patrol 
     activity from August 19, 1945, to September 2, 1945,' shall 
     be considered `active duty' for purposes of all laws 
     administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.''
       Now, on Janaury 31, the Scouts will receive their 
     discharges, medals, and ribbons.
       Among those who should be recognized for their efforts to 
     make this day possible are: Mr. Joseph C. Reyes, President of 
     the US Armed Forces Veterans Association in the Northern 
     Marianas, who was tireless in pursuit of this goal; former 
     members of the Northern Marianas Legislature Crispin I. 
     Deleon Guerrero and Vicente C. Guerrero, who would not let 
     our men be forgotten; both Joseph Palacios, the former 
     Director of the CNMI Veterans Office, and Jesus C. Muna, the 
     present Director, who have been most supportive; Mr. Pete 
     Callahan, Commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3457, 
     who helped mobilize national recognition; Senator Daniel 
     Akaka of Hawaii, a vet himself, who weighed in with the 
     Pentagon when we needed him; and the Northern Marianas 
     Legislature, under the leadership of Speaker Diego T. 
     Benavente and President Paul A. Manglona, which passed two 
     resolutions on behalf of our World War II veterans, spurred 
     to act by Representatives Frank G. Cepeda and David M. 
     Apatang. Major Harry Blanco, should also be recognized; he 
     extended PX privileges to the Scouts, even before they were 
     declared to be vets; a much appreciated act of faith.


                          The Roster of Scouts

       Ignacio Reyes Ada, Antonio M. Aguon, Antonio Angailen, 
     Pedro SN. Attao, Santiago Miyasaki Babauta, Antonio Manahane 
     Benavente, Juan V. Benavente, Daniel T. Borja, Gregorio 
     Flores Borja, Gregorio Camacho Cabrera, Juan Camacho Cabrera, 
     Albert S. Camacho, Lorenzo Tudela Camacho, Cristino S. Dela 
     Cruz, Joaquin Duenas Dela Cruz, Bernardo C. Deleon Guerrero, 
     Joaquin C. Deleon Guerrero, Jose S. Deleon Guerrero, Lorenzo 
     Diaz Deleon Guerrero, Serafin Borja Kaipat, Juan Limes, 
     Rafael C. Mafnas, Jose Blas Magofna, Miguel Blaz Magofna, 
     Pedro Mettao, Nicolas Quidachai Muna, Francisco Nekai, Juan 
     Quitugua Norita, Isidro Limes Ogarto, Francisco C. Palacios, 
     Joaquin B. Pangelian, Juan San Nicolas Pangelian, Edward M. 
     Peter, Jose Roberto Quitano, Benigno A. Rabauliman, Antonio 
     T. Rogolofoi, Isidro R. Rogopes, Vicente T. Rosario, Ignacio 
     Mangarero Sablan, Segundo Tudela Sablan, Herberto San 
     Nicolas, Pedro F. Sakisat, Felipe Agulto Salas, Gofredo Aguon 
     Sanchez, Juan A. Sanchez, Guillermo P. Saures, Felipe 
     Mazinnis Seman, Juan Malus Tagabuel, Benedicto Satur 
     Taisacan, Antonio Camacho Tenorio, Antonio P. Tenorio, 
     Vicente Olaitiman Taman, Miguel Pangelinan Tenorio, Pedro 
     Peter Teregeyo, and Manuel Seman Villagomez.

     

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