[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12] [House] [Pages 17360-17364] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]GUAM'S EXPERIENCE IN WORLD WAR II The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 6, 1999, the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, this evening I would like to do a World War II commemorative speech about the experiences of the people of Guam that I had intended to do last night. Yesterday, July 21st, is a very special day in Guam's history. It is the day that the Third Marine Division, United States Marine Corps, and First Provisional Brigade of the U.S. Marine Corps and elements of the 77th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army landed on Guam to begin the liberation of Guam from the Japanese occupation. Annually on Guam, and certainly for the past few weeks, we celebrate this event with parades and solemn speeches, a carnival and commemorative festivities which honor both the veterans who came to Guam's shores to liberate the people of Guam and for the people of Guam themselves, my people, the people who endured a brutal enemy occupation for over 2\1/2\ years. Now, World War II, of course, is a very seminal event of this century, and Guam plays a very unique part in that. I want to talk a little bit about that this evening. On December 8, 1941, the Japanese began bombing Guam and they landed about 5,000 army troops on December 10 of 1941. This attack was carried out simultaneously with attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. Of course, Guam being on the other side of the date line, the attack which was carried out at the same time as Pearl Harbor actually was on December 8 and not December 7. The Japanese occupation featured a serious time of deprivation, suffering and brutality which the people of Guam, who are ethnically referred to as the Chamorro people, who were at that time not U.S. citizens but occupied a political category called U.S. nationals, endured and survived. My purpose this evening is to give an historical perspective to those events which occurred some 55 years ago, in July of 1944, on a distant U.S. territory, to enhance the understanding of the Members of this body and the American people in general about the wartime experience of Guam and the postwar period which helped shape the relationship between Guam and the Federal Government. Guam's experience is not unique if measured against the general experience of occupied peoples during a time of war, whether it was in Europe or China or the Philippines. Guam, after all, did not have a monopoly on human suffering. But it is a unique and special story about dignity in the midst of political and wartime machinations of large powers over small peoples and of a demonstrated loyalty to America, the kind of loyalty which was tested, the kind of loyalty that has not been asked of any civilian American community under the flag at any time during the 20th century. {time} 1845 In earlier years it may not have been necessary to give this kind of speech in Congress. Two or 3 decades ago the Members of this body were themselves, the majority of Members of this body were themselves World War II veterans who understood what the Battle of Guam was and who probably remembered it personally, if not directly from war time experience, but certainly just being part of World War II. Today unfortunately, most people know very little about Guam. Most Members know very little about the Battle of Guam, and perhaps think of Guam only occasionally, probably more for exaggerated stories about snakes than for the historical experience of a great and loyal people. When the Japanese landed in December of 1941, the 5,000 Japanese soldiers faced 153 Marines, 271 naval personnel, 134 Pan American workers and some 20,000 natives that I referred to earlier who were commonly called Chamorros. All of the Americans, meaning U.S. citizen civilians, had been evacuated on October 17, 1941, in full expectation a few months before Pearl Harbor, that something was going to happen in the Pacific. In the Aleutian Islands in Alaska all of the islanders were evacuated with the full understanding that the Japanese may occupy those islands; and so, therefore, all of the civilians were removed. But the people of Guam remained the only American civilian community open to and eventually experiencing enemy occupation during World War II. At the time the only units that attempted to engage the Japanese in a very brief, but symbolic, and several people died, was a unit known as the Guam Insular Guard and Insular Force which were really people who had joined the U.S. Navy. It was kind of a Navy auxiliary force composed primarily of, well entirely of, men from Guam, and they were the only ones who willingly engaged the Japanese, and several of them died. [[Page 17361]] During the time of the occupation, the people of Guam stood steadfastly loyal to America and its ideals despite the best efforts of the Japanese occupiers to propagandize the people that it was better for them to be under and be part of the Far East Greater Co-prosperity Sphere, and the people of Guam were loyal to America at the risk of their lives and certainly their livelihoods. Symbolic of the loyalty of the people of Guam were several songs written during the course of the Japanese occupation, some mocking the Japanese emperor and occupiers and others praising things American over those things that were Japanese, and the most well-known song was ``Uncle Sam, Sam, My Dear Old Uncle Sam, Won't You Please Come Back to Guam?'' It is a song that was certainly in my upbringing, and I was born after World War II. Those people of my generation and even the later generation were all taught this song in one form or another. The most visible symbol were the seven American sailors, and there were seven who refused to surrender to the Japanese forces and decided to take their chances, hiding in the jungle until the return of U.S. forces which sadly many of them expected to be a couple of months at the most. One by one each of those sailors were hunted down and executed by the Japanese except for one lonely sailor who survived the entire occupation assisted, greatly assisted, by the Artero family. This man's name was George Tweed, and his heroic saga was eventually made into a movie in the 1960s called No Man Is An Island, and for all those 32 months the people of Guam suffered. Now in July of 1944 Admiral Ainsworth, actually in June of 1944, Admiral Ainsworth began his pre-invasion bombardment of Guam for the anticipated landings in Guam which were expected to take place in June. After about 2 hours he was called back, and he was called back and they re-routed all of his vessels to help with the battle in Saipan. The general plan was that of the three islands in the Marianas Islands, which were heavily fortified Saipan, Guam and Tinian, Saipan was to be invaded first by U.S. forces because it was acknowledged that that would be the most heavily fortified since those Marianas Islands had been under a Japanese mandate since the end of World War I and were heavily populated not only by Japanese military forces, but indeed by Japanese civilians. The battle for Saipan proved much more difficult than anticipated, so the invasion of Guam was postponed, and instead Admiral Ainsworth and his naval forces were turned northward to deal with a couple of battles, one the Battle of Saipan and the other a naval air battle called, commonly called, the Marianas Turkey Shoot. The invasion of Guam was therefore called off for 5 weeks, and during that intervening time the most brutal time of the Japanese occupation was endured by the people of Guam as they suffered forced labor and forced marches, and the whole population was marched all over the island, countless beheadings and civilian massacres largely for unknown reasons. The increased brutality was over and above the forced labor for the construction of defense fortifications for the construction of air strips in places called Orote and Tiyan. Japanese army units, several divisions had landed, had arrived from Manchuria in April of 1944 to defend Guam from the anticipated American invasion. In July of 1944 Operation Forager began, and this was the whole operation meant for the invasion of Guam and 13 days of sustained bombardment on Guam, an island of some 212 square miles, was given by the Navy partially as a result of their experience in the Battle of Saipan and even the Normandy experience, so that the bombing on Guam, which of course is a much smaller area than the invasion of the coast of Normandy, actually endured more pre-invasion bombardment. This extensive pre-invasion bombardment even acted more as a stimulus for even more acts by the Japanese military against the civilian population. Army Air Force planes, B-24s from recently taken islands in the Marshall Islands and Navy carrier base planes had been bombing Guam periodically for several weeks. Underwater demolition teams spent 4 days sweeping the shoreline. In a way the Navy took great pride in these underwater demolition teams, and on Guam they planted a sign, welcome U.S. Marines from the U.S. Navy, before the Marines actually landed on Guam. And the Marines did, and they landed on July 21, 1944, and they landed on narrow beaches on Asan and Agat, and Asan, the people who assaulted the beach of Asan had to face cliffs once they landed, and those who landed in Agat faced the only Japanese counterattack of the day. One of the heroes of that day was Senator, former Senator Howell Heflin who was wounded and has repeatedly over the years that I have known Senator Howell Heflin has repeatedly told me that the Guam experience was the most important 6 hours of his life. And the battle for Guam raged for nearly 3 weeks, and the island was declared secured on August 10, 1944. Nearly 18,500 Japanese soldiers were killed and some 1,900 American servicemen were killed, and although no specific statistics were kept about the civilian population, hundreds of Chamorros died during the battle or were executed, and hundreds more died for reasons related directly to the war but not combat. And even after the island was secured, Japanese stragglers continued to be a serious threat to security and a Guam combat patrol, organized by the U.S. Marine Corps and soldiered by men from Guam, was established to find Japanese stragglers who refused to surrender. Incredibly, the last straggler was discovered in 1972 after spending some 28 years in the jungle by himself. Battles sometimes bring out the worst in human beings, but they also bring out the inner strength in people of courage. Extraordinary heroism was common in the battles which occurred in the Marianas and in Guam, and two medals of honor were awarded. One was to a Captain Lewis Wilson who was commanding officer of Company F Second Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, fought off repeated Japanese counteroffensives on the Fonte Plateau. Had the lines been breached, it would have spelled disaster for the Marines in the rear. Captain Wilson later on became commandant of the Marine Corps. Another was granted to Private First Class Frank Witek, who distinguished himself in hand-to-hand combat, provided cover for the withdrawal of wounded comrades and single-handedly put out an enemy machine gun position. Over the Internet and because of the fact that many of the veterans who fought on Guam have a very special relationship to Guam, over the Internet I received the story of a Private First Class Jack Walker and Staff Sergeant Harry Kolata who landed in Agat as members of the 306th Infantry 77th Army Division. They volunteered to go behind enemy lines to make contact with the villagers of Merizo; and they did so, and they brought, successfully brought back 1,500 people into the American lines. And these are just a few of the stories of the heroism exhibited by the Marines and the soldiers who liberated Guam, and on behalf of the people of Guam I say: Si yu'os ma'ase. And the veterans of the battle for Guam continued to have an excellent relationship with the people of Guam and return to Guam every year, although obviously in decreasing numbers every year; and during this year's celebration some 60 veterans have returned to Guam to visit Guam and to see the progress that they have helped make possible. Earlier this month, on July 9, I laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, as I have done so every year that I have been in office, in order to commemorate the Battle of Guam and to express the gratitude of the people of Guam to the veterans, the servicemen. This year I did so along with Commonwealth of [[Page 17362]] the Northern Marianas, which includes the island of Saipan and Tinian. Representative Juan Babauta, together we laid a wreath in order to express the gratitude felt by the people of our respective islands for the sacrifices of every Marine, sailor, airman, and soldier who helped in the liberation of Guam. And as I said repeatedly, there was something very special about the Battle for Guam which was not present in any other Pacific battle, indeed any battle during World War II. Guam was a U.S. territory inhabited by civilians who were U.S. nationals at the outbreak of the war. It was in fact the first time that a foreign power had invaded U.S. soil since the War of 1812. This special relationship is demonstrated in this painting based on a picture of two young Chamorro boys who waved hand-made American flags. The stars are all wrong, the stripes are all wrong, but these two young boys that we think were aged maybe 8 and 6 at the time made flags which were imperfect in their design yet perfectly clear in their representation, and their faces reflect the difficult times that they had had experiencing battle, not as grown men in uniform with weapons, but as young boys confused by all that was going on around them. But despite the fact that their faces reflected the difficult times, they also had their hope for their future and their gratitude for their deliverance from enemy hands. It was reported that service men who bore witness to the display and to the spectacle of Chamorros who made their way down from the hills and the camps which the Japanese placed them in broke down and wept at the sight of the people, broke down and wept at the sight of these two young boys, and seeing the people and their condition and their displays of red, white, and blue. I know that we cannot ever recapture that moment in time, but we must make every effort to do so because it has established a bond which has lasted for generations between those in uniform and the people of Guam. The people of Guam came down from the mountains to tell the stories of brutality and the tales of suffering which they endured during the last few months of the occupation. The Japanese authorities had herded them into camps in Maimai and Talofofo, Malojloj and especially Manenggon, a name which today continues to stand for suffering. Thousands of people were placed into a valley without food and only a stream from which to drink; and they found a way to survive, and they found the will to survive, and they expressed their gratitude of their deliverance with laughter and tears, with hugs and screams, all reportedly at the same time. {time} 1900 Some experienced horrific events, massacres at Malesso', Tinta, and Faha' where Japanese soldiers herded families into caves and threw hand grenades and delivered small arms fire until dozens were killed. A similar event occurred at Fena cave and for the first time in many years, Speaker Tony Unpingco of the Guam legislature led a commemoration of this event. This event took place in what is now referred to as ``naval magazine,'' a highly secured area where lots of weaponry is stored. And this is very special for the people of Guam, and I certainly congratulate Speaker Unpingco for making this possible. This tragedy was most manifested by an enormously brave woman I would like to tell you about who passed away a few years ago. She was Beatrice Flores Emsley. Beatrice was a woman who, as a 13-year-old, was told to kneel by Japanese soldiers and then struck by a sword across the back of her neck. This attempt to behead the young lady was unsuccessful for reasons we do not know, but we can only guess at. The soldiers buried her in a shallow grave and miraculously, she emerged from that grave and wandered for several days before she was treated, lived to a ripe old age, had children and grandchildren. For years, I remember this, Mrs. Emsley was a curiosity for many people. Understandably, she did not like to talk about the war because the experience was so very painful. So very few people asked her, but eventually she started to speak out about her experience in order to bring honor and dignity to the experiences of the people of Guam, and she came to testify in Congress on several occasions. She was a remarkably gifted woman, devoid of bitterness, who never spoke harshly about her captors or the people who tried to behead her, but only spoke compellingly about how her experience and how she hoped that the people of the United States would understand what Guam went through. As always, Mrs. Emsley was dignified as we asked her to recount her painful experiences, recounting that we knew caused her so much pain, and she came to symbolize what the people of Guam went through. Several years ago, at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Guam, the half century mark, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt referred to the veterans who landed on Guam as the liberators from without, and the people of Guam as the liberators from within. It is their interaction that we bring honor to today, and it is their struggle in the beaches and in the concentration camps; it is their common fear and their common bravery; it is their common love for freedom, and it is their common bond that we bring honor to today. In light of this, I will enter into the Record two newspaper articles, one on the Fena cave massacre which was commemorated recently in Guam, and the other is about Darryl Dass, one of the Marine liberators from Iowa who was a parade grand marshal in our recent Liberation Day festivities in Guam. [From the Pacific Daily News] Guam Remembers Lessons of 1944 (By Hirashi Hiyama) As the 55th anniversary of the island's liberation draws near, American soldiers and local residents who went through the war will meet once again on the island this week. Washed away by time, Guam's memories of World War II are starting to be overwhelmed by development and comfort of the modern lifestyle, say those who experienced the war. But they remember the original Liberation Day and remind others of the harsh island life little more than two generations ago. Darryl Dass, 75, of Iowa will join local residents on Wednesday as one of four grand marshals for the Liberation Day parade. The former Marine landed on Agat on July 21, 1944, helping to free Guam from the Japanese occupational forces. He is among some 42 World War II veterans, who helped liberate Guam from Japanese occupational forces, who plan to return to Guam this week to join local residents in celebrating the island's holiday. ``I thought so much about (local) people when we first arrived (on Guam in 1944),'' Dass said, during a phone interview from Iowa. ``They were so pitiful. Their clothes were ragged. They were hungry. They didn't know it they were supposed to give us a hug or to bow. ``All the people, they were so thankful. It was the way they were pleased with their freedom--these things leave a mark on you,'' he said. ``When you have so much respect for the people--it's just like a magnet--it draws me back.'' The arrival of American soldiers is remembered clearly by local residents who lived through the war. Amalia G. Arceo, 88, of Sinajana was in a concentration camp in Manengon, where she lived in a cave, drank river water and treated her sickly son. Her family members risked their lives and hid in the surrounding jungles, and from the eyes of Japanese soldiers, to supply food for captured family members, Arceo said. The joyous news of the arrival of American soldiers on the island seeped through the camp. ``We heard that American people were coming in,'' she said. ``So we said `the Americans are coming. The Americans are coming.' We were so happy. They brought eggs, ham, cookies, candies, coffee--it was all in boxes.'' Freed local residents were so hungry that they ``stuffed themselves in a hurry.'' Arceo said. But their bodies were so weak that many people initially were sickened by food rations eaten after they were freed, she said. At about the same time in Guam's's history, similar things were happening at a concentration camp in Tai, Mangilao, where Carmen A. Perez, now 66, also of Sinsjana, was staying with her family. The camp was located near the Fatimer Duerms Memorial School, she said. She also recalled a rumor about the arrival of American soldiers spreading quickly among those who were captured at the camp. ``We were still careful not to be noticed by the Japanese,'' she said, of the elation detainees felt when hearing the rumor. Her brother was captured by Japanese soldiers in a jungle, but American soldiers [[Page 17363]] found the Japanese soldiers just in time to rescue Perez's brother, she said. Memories of the war have been difficult to share for those who experienced it. Dass said he remained quiet about his war-time experiences for decades. But he now talks about the harsh memories of the war ``because they don't teach too much of the history to (school) kids.'' ``Memories: friends are killed and blown into pieces and you don't recognize them. You are killed. You are crippled. These are things you don't forget. You don't want to talk about it,'' he said. ``If we don't tell (young people) what we have done, they won't know. It's over 50 years ago. That's like ancient history to those kids.'' Liberation Day has become a joyous occasion, celebrating the island's freedom from the Japanese military. But it also brings sorrow to those who lost loved ones during the war, Perez said. ``I want,'' Perez said, ``the people of Guam to be educated (in Guam's history).'' Dass said he hopes Guam residents will continue to pass on the island's history for generations to come. ``Old men create the war and young men die, fighting it,'' Dass said. ``War is hell. It brings out the worst in people.'' [From the Pacific Daily News] Fena Survivors Tell Tales (By Joseph E. Duenes) Nearly 400 people attended a memorial service at Fena Cave yesterday to pay homage to the 35 victims, and their families of one of Guam's worst recorded World War II massacres. Yesterday's ceremony was only the second to take place at the cave since the massacre occurred. The site has been U.S. Navy property since the war, and access to the area was forbidden until last year's memorial ceremony. In July 1944, shortly before U.S. troops liberated Guam, about 85 Chamorros--men, women, and children--were marched to the Fena area by Japanese soldiers. The Chamorros were lured into caves with promises of food and rest after a long hard day of building military fortifications. Without warning, soldiers began flinging grenades into the cave after the Chamorros entered. The soldiers apparently wanted no survivors of the incident, and systematically plunged bayonets into those who were not killed by the explosions. At the same time, a dozen women were raped and killed in a nearby cave. Nearly 35 men and women were killed in the massacre. Maria ``Chong'' Alerta, one of a handful of survivors still living, was very young when the massacre took place. According to Alerta, the soldiers insisted children enter the cave first, in what she thinks was an attempt to help them survive. As the Japanese walked through the carnage of the grenade blasts, bayonetting moving bodies, Alerta and her family remained still and were passed over by soldiers. Her father was the only one in her family hurt during the onslaught, suffering a non-fatal bayonet wound. Alerta, the only surviving member of her family, said the event was a blur to her and she does not remember most of it. ``Right now if I think about it, I can still feel it, even though I don't remember the most exciting moments of the event.'' Alerta said, as tears welled up in her eyes. ``I feel kind of lonely.'' Maria Nauta was 17 years old when the massacre took place. She, her father, and her sister were already at the caves the day of the massacre. ``I was here that morning, because we were lined up to be killed. The American planes came early that morning, and everybody scattered.'' Nauta said. ``I ran and I ran, but my father and my sister were, caught and put over here (at the caves). I was able to get away,'' Nauta tearfully said her father was later killed during the massacre. She said her sister was able to escape, but not before being stabbed in the back with a bayonet. ``That was a very sad day, and it is very hard for me to remember,'' Nauta said. Leroy Delos Santos said he had relatives killed in the massacre. He and his family came to the ceremony to honor them, and the others who died. ``From my perspective, (I came) to memorialize, to pay tribute to our ancestors that were killed,'' he said. Survivors and their families were not the only ones honoring the victims of the attack. Many came to learn, firsthand, some of Guam's tragic World War II history. For this reason, Delos Santos brought his niece, and all four of his children, to the memorial service. ``I want them to experience this and to know. I feel that its very important that the kids, even at a very young age, get exposed to stuff like this,'' Delos Santos said. Paul Mafnas, a University of Guam student from Barrigada, came to the ceremony with his Chamorro class. Mafnas said the greatest lesson we can learn from the massacre is forgiveness. ``Of course it's going to touch a nerve, because it was our people that they did this to. But on the same token, we should also practice forgiveness, because everybody needs forgiveness these days.'' Mafnas said ``We should remember what they went through, but at the same time, use that to prevent those mistakes from happening again in the future.'' Pat San Nicolas, of Talofofo, spent a lot of time explaining to her son Chris and her daughter Amanda the events that led up to the massacre, and some of the reasons why it may have happened. She was saddened that the same type of events still take place in other parts of the world. ``You think about Kosovo and the tragedy there, and you think, `It's still going on after all these years.' People just haven't learned,'' she said. Though the Navy has already agreed to allow next year's ceremony to be held at the site, Speaker Antonio Unpingco, R- Santa Rita, said the construction of a monument honoring the Fena massacre victims and their families is already in the works. The monument will be located on a hillside near the navy's access gate, and will cost an estimated $500,000 to construct, Unpingco said. ``Since last year, we had several suggestions from the (memorial) committee to put up a memorial for the victims, and we decided to put it near the actual site.'' Unpingco said. ``It will not only be open to locals, but to visitors from all over.'' Unpingco said plans for the memorial have already been donated by the Filipino American Society of Architects and Engineers. The committee is relying on private donations for funding, however, which means it may be two to three years before construction begins, he said. Unpingco added that as soon as the monument is completed, it will be used for the annual memorial services. The meaning of the battles of Guam and Saipan. The taking of the Marianas was another in a series of critical turning points in the Pacific war. The defeat of Japanese forces in the Marianas enabled America to bring the war to the Japanese homelands which was not previously possible. The Tojo government resigned as a result of the Japanese debacle in the Marianas Islands and Admiral Asami Nagano, supreme naval advisor to the Japanese emperor stated, hell is upon us, and the words were very true as Army Air Force bombers took off from airfields recently built on Guam and Saipan and Tinian, the airfields of Harmon Anderson, North, Northwest, Isley, Kobler, became familiar to the Army Air Force station on these islands. And the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the Chairman of the Committee on International Relations, was stationed in Guam during this time period and participated in 35 missions to Japan, taking off from Guam. And in addition to the air war, Guam became the jumping off point for later landings in the Philippines in Iwo Jima and Okinawa as Guam became, in the Victory at Sea documentary, Guam became the military supermarket in the western Pacific. Guam became the forward naval base. Basically, Pearl Harbor was effectively moved 3,500 miles west and Admiral Nimitz set up his headquarters in Guam. But we have other issues to bring up as well, and it certainly is something that we do not like to draw too much attention to, but we must, and that is that as we bring honor and recognition to the experiences of the people of Guam, I have to bring up an issue which basically cries out for justice. And this is the issue of how best to recognize this loyalty and their sacrifices. At the conclusion of World War II, the U.S. Congress passed a bill called the Guam Meritorious Claims Act. This act basically said that people of Guam could submit claims for property damage up to $5,000. In submitting those claims, if one had a claim for more than $5,000, one had to physically come to Washington, D.C., to present one's claim. And this Guam Meritorious Claims Act was in existence for one full year, at a time when the people of Guam were still recovering from World War II, and even the notion of travel to Washington, D.C., was almost as remote as the notion of travel is to Antarctica for most of us today. Yet, that was legitimate legislation, because it was an attempt to deal with the battle damage. In 1948, the U.S. Congress passed what is known as the War Claims Act. The War Claims Act provided a basis upon which American citizens and American nationals who were working for the Federal Government, who were subject to enemy occupation or forced labor or internment or death or injury could make a claim. Incredibly, Guam was not included in that legislation. [[Page 17364]] When that legislation was amended in 1962, Guam again was not included in that legislation. And so let me express the anomaly in terms of my family. My name is Robert Underwood. My grandfather is from North Carolina. He came to Guam in the year 1902 as a Marine. He mustered out in Guam, and he married a Chamorro woman and he thereby established a line of Underwoods in Guam who fully considered themselves, as I do, indigenous inhabitants of Guam. My grandfather was taken by the Japanese and put in a prison camp for civilians in, Kobe, Japan. As a result of the War Claims Act of 1948, my grandfather was compensated for his time of internment in Japan. His family, his wife, my grandmother, his children, my father and my aunts and my uncles, could not submit any claim, even though it could be argued and certainly, my grandfather felt this way before he died, they suffered more than he did. But because the War Claims Act only recognized the activities of U.S. citizens who were subsequently taken to Japan, the people of Guam were not included. There were some people of Guam who worked for Pan American Airlines who worked in Wake Island. These people were drafted, in a sense, by the U.S. Marine Corps to help defend the island against Japanese invaders. These people from Guam were taken, captured by the Japanese, some were killed, eventually recognized as World War II veterans, went to prison camp in China. As a result of the War Claims Act of 1948, they were given a certain level of compensation for their forced labor and for their internment. Their families, which were back in Guam, who suffered a similar fate, were not allowed to submit the same claim. So, in a sense, we have a situation that cries out for justice. And outlining that history only helps make the case. But there is more to it than that. In 1950, the people of Guam were made United States citizens by a congressional act called the Organic Act of Guam. In 1951, the United States signed a peace treaty with Japan, officially ending the Pacific War. In that treaty, the United States forgave or foreclosed or made impossible any claim for any war action by the Japanese by any American citizen or American national. So the peace treaty, in effect, foreclosed the opportunity for the people of Guam to be allowed the opportunity to make a war claim to Japan. So what we have today is that the people of Guam cannot make a war claim against Japan, nor are they included in the war claims legislation that has been passed by Congress. So what we have today is a situation that is intolerable, that is unconscionable, and cries out for some justice. Fortunately, with the collaboration of Senator Danny Inouye over in the Senate, he and I have introduced legislation to grant the people of Guam the opportunity to submit war claims for death and injury and for forced march and forced labor. In order to validate these claims, we are proposing that in the future, we will establish a commission to validate the existence of these claims and certainly to review the tortured history of the claims situation in regards to the people of Guam. The one other irony is that, as I mentioned earlier in this speech, is that in anticipation of a Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands, the civilians who lived in the Aleutian Islands were evacuated. In anticipation of Japanese war action in Guam, the only civilians that were evacuated were U.S. citizens. The people of Guam who were not citizens obviously were not evacuated. Legislation was granted to compensate those for property damages and for damages claimed as a result of the Japanese occupation to illusion islanders, but no such similar legislation has been passed for the people of Guam. It is painful sometimes to talk about such issues because sometimes people think that we are talking about money issues. In one sense, we are. But we are not asking for what we do not deserve, and we are only asking for the same treatment as other American citizens and nationals who experienced exactly the same kind of condition. In trying to bring honor and closure to the World War II experience, we have done many things in this country. We are establishing a World War II memorial on the mall. The original design of that World War II memorial called for 50 columns to commemorate each of the 50 States and one more for the District of Columbia. Incredibly, a place like Guam was left out of the memorial. Fortunately, through a lot of conversation and personal appearances and letters and everything else, we have been able to rectify that so that Guam will be given the same kind of prominence in that memorial as any other State or territory, because, based on what I have told my colleagues this evening, its contribution to the war effort was not only great in terms of winning the war against Japan, but enormous in terms of the suffering of individuals and their families. So it is in their name, it is in the name of the people of Guam that we ask that consideration be given to this legislation, that it be widely supported. It is in their name that I ask that we bring some closure to this war experience for those who have survived to this age. Certainly, most people have passed on. Most of the people who experienced World War II as mature adults have passed on from Guam, and it is a way, it is a tragic circumstance because so many of them that suffered during the Japanese occupation will never see any kind of compensation or recognition for their efforts. Every single family in Guam has some connection to the war experience. I always do not like to talk about it in those terms, but sometimes those are the terms that most people understand. {time} 1915 My parents have 11 children. I am the only one that was born after World War II, and all the rest were born either during the war or prior to the war. Three of them died during the war. For my parents, for my father while he was still alive, and for my mother who still lives today as a very energetic 85-year-old woman, there is no concern and there was never any concern about war restitution or the legislation or seeking any legislative initiative. In fact, I will have to say that for most of the people who experience it, they barely mention it. It is really part of our attempt, for those of us who come from the generation who profited from their experience, it is our attempt to help make whole what must have been a horrific experience and to try to bring some closure and honor to their experience. So today, even though we are one day late and actually in Guam time we are two days late, I want to again congratulate all the Marines and sailors and airmen and soldiers who participated in the battle for Guam. There are so many out there. I am in strong communication with several of them. If they have not gone back to Guam, they should go back to Guam and see what they helped make possible. For those people who came down from the hills, the Chamorro people of Guam, who endured the Japanese occupation, let us never forget that they made their contribution to liberty and they made their contribution to American ideals as well. ____________________