[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1142-E1143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN TRIBUTE TO THE LATE CAPTAIN PETER CHARLES SIGUENZA, USMC (RET)

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 23, 2007

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and 
service of Captain Peter Charles Siguenza, United States Marine Corps 
(Retired), who passed away on May 17, 2007, just two days after his 
87th birthday. He was the first Chamorro to be commissioned as an 
officer in the Marine Corps. Peter was also a well known public figure 
on Guam, and a genuinely fine and honest man who consistently gave of 
himself in service to his community and his fellow Marines. The 
outpouring of public condolences and accolades in my home district 
following the news of Peter's passing is indicative of the respect, 
admiration, and affection the people of Guam had for Peter and his 
service to his country.
  A person's record of military and community service can be extensive 
and very impressive, but records do not convey the admiration or depth 
of emotion of the recipients of the service. Peter C. Siguenza was born 
on May 15, 1920, the second of nine children born to the late Jose and 
Consolacion Mendiola Siguenza. He attended Seaton Schroeder Junior High 
School in Hagatna and graduated from Coronado High School in Coronado, 
California. He attended San Diego State College for 2 years, from 1940-
1942. After the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into 
war, Peter, like thousands of young men, enlisted in the Armed Forces. 
Peter volunteered for the Marine Corps. After completing boot camp, he 
was assigned to the Third Marine Division. He saw action in New 
Zealand, Guadacanal, and Bougainville. The division was then ordered to 
the Marianas to recapture Guam.
  Peter was on board the USS Dupage, where he and his fellow Marines 
watched the intense pre-invasion bombardment of the island. He often 
spoke about how difficult it was to witness the bombing knowing his 
family was somewhere on the island, but not knowing whether they were 
safe.
  Peter was among those destined to hit the beach at Asan, Guam, and 
begin the retaking of the island from the Imperial Army of Japan. But 
he was ordered away from the battle to attend Officer Candidate School 
before the landing occurred. Peter returned to Guam as a second 
lieutenant and participated in post-invasion operations to secure the 
island. He remained on Guam at the end of the war and was assigned to 
Island Command in 1946.

[[Page E1143]]

  Peter joined the Marine Corps Reserves and was assigned to the 12th 
Reserve District in San Francisco after his discharge from active duty. 
Upon returning to civilian life, Peter returned and completed college, 
earning a bachelor's degree from St. Mary's College in Moraga, 
California, in 1949. He then earned a Master of Science degree in 
Public Administration from the University of Southern California at Los 
Angeles in 1955. In 2005, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the 
University of Guam.

  On September 2, 1950, Peter married his sweetheart, Barbara Bordallo. 
They had three children: Peter, Monica, and Donna.
  After retiring as a captain from the Marine Corps Reserves, Peter 
went to work for the Government of Guam, serving as director of Labor 
and Personnel under Governors Carlton S. Skinner, Ford Q. Elvidge and 
Richard B. Lowe. He then entered into federal service and worked at 
posts throughout the United States. He also served as a personnel 
management specialist and appeals and grievance examiner with the 
Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe and the Pacific, and 
as a personnel management and labor relations specialist on the 
director's staff. After retiring from federal service, Peter went to 
work as personnel director for Jones and Guerrero Company, Inc., from 
1980-1986.
  In addition to his military, government, and private sector careers, 
Peter always found time to serve his community. He served as chairman 
of the University of Guam's Board of Regents; was on the Board of 
Trustees of the Guam Community College; was a member and past president 
of the Guam Chapter of the Third Marine Division Association, the 
National Association of Federal Employees, the Guam Territorial Society 
of Washington, D.C., a member and past vice president of the Young 
Men's League of Guam, and member of the St. Jude Assembly of the 
Knights of Columbus.
  Peter C. Siguenza passed away just 5 days after the passing of former 
Senator Paul J. Bordallo on May 12, 2007. Both men were my brothers-in-
law. The entire Bordallo family mourns the passing of two of its finest 
members. Peter was a proud and life long Marine, a war hero, a diligent 
public servant at both the federal and local government levels, a 
valued professional in the private sector, a devoted Catholic, and an 
upstanding citizen.
  My prayers and condolences are with his wife, Bobbie; his son, Peter 
C. Siguenza, Jr., the retired chief justice of the Supreme Court of 
Guam; his daughters and sons-in-law, Monica and Michael Sphar and Donna 
and Joel Rigler; his grandchildren, Dawn, David, Isaac, and Nathaniel; 
his siblings, Olivia S. Guerrero, Eduardo C. Siguenza, and Antonio C. 
Siguenza, and with his other Bordallo brothers- and sisters-in-law.

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