[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 26 (Monday, July 4, 1994)]
[Pages 1388-1389]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6705--50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Guam

June 30, 1994

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Fifty years ago, on July 21, 1944, after two and a half years of 
occupation, 55,000 United States Marines and soldiers stormed the small 
Pacific Island of Guam in an effort to bring about the liberation of a 
people oppressed by tyranny.
    The conquest of Guam by Imperial Japanese forces had begun shortly 
after the attack on Pearl Harbor when Saipan-based Japanese bombers 
launched the first in a series of raids on the island. The small 
defending

[[Page 1389]]

force consisted of a handful of military and civilian construction 
workers, as well as the local Guam Insular Guard and the Guam Militia. 
Hopes of defending the island ended in the early morning hours of 
December 10, 1941, when the island's governor surrendered his post and 
the island, thus making Guam the only American community to be occupied 
during World War II.
    The Chamorros, the indigenous people of Guam, endured great 
hardships during the occupation as their captors forced them to work 
long hours in the fields, repair or build airfields and defense 
installations, and dig hundreds of Japanese shelter caves. But 
liberation was close at hand. Guam offered an ideal strategic position 
for the Allied forces, as it would provide a centralized location 
between the Japanese homeland and the Philippine Islands to launch long-
range bomber attacks. By taking the Marianas Islands back, we would also 
be able to sever vital enemy supply lines, thus cutting off thousands of 
enemy soldiers and ending their effectiveness in the war.
    The battle for Guam was fierce. Enemy forces continued to launch 
counterattacks despite their lack of supplies or hope of winning. But 
the Americans were just as determined and went to great lengths to 
complete their mission.
    Chief of Staff General Dwight D. Eisenhower stated it best when he 
said:
    ``In a nation at war, teamwork by the whole people is necessary for 
      victory. But the issue is decided on the battlefield, toward which 
      all national effort leads. The country's fate lies in the hands of 
      its soldier citizens; in the clash of battle is found the final 
      test of plans, training, equipment, and--above all--the fighting 
      spirit of units and individuals.''
    And it was the spirit of the Americans fighting on Guam that brought 
a quick end to organized resistance on the island as it was secured by 
the American forces on August 10, 1944.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 21, 
1994, as the ``50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Guam.'' I call upon 
all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs and 
activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day 
of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
eighteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:20 p.m., June 30, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
July 5.