Liberation Day

On July 21, Guam celebrated the 64th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese. On December 10, 1941, Japan invaded the American territory of Guam and began a harsh two and a half year occupation. The first two years were not particularly harsh compared to the last few months. By 1944, Guam, along with the other Marianna Islands of Saipan and Tinian became Japan's last line of defense. During the last few months of occupation, the Chamorro people, who remained loyal to America despite not being American citizens, endured forced labor, scarce food, execution, and removal to concentration camps. Over 16,000 Chamorros were killed or endured atrocities. Once Japan lost the Marianas, America began strategic bombing that devastated Japan. Over 86 Japanese cities were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians were killed. On the night of March 8, the firebombing of Tokyo left over 100,000 dead (more than either of the atomic bombs). All this was before the Enola Gay took off from Tinian with the world's first atomic bomb. The capture of the Marianas directly led to Japan's defeat. In 1950, the Chamorro people were finally given American citizenship. Today, Guam has the highest per capita enlistment in the military in the U.S.

July 21, 1944 - 1st American Flag on Guam in two and a half years

June 15, 1944 - Marines landing on Saipan

Men of the 77th Army Infantry Division landing on Guam

Battleship USS Tennessee bombarding Guam

Marines landing on Guam

March 8, 1945 - Tokyo Burning

For 64 years, Guam has celebrated the day that American forces returned to Guam. It is the largest most important holiday on the island. The biggest event is the Liberation Day Parade. People take Liberation Day very seriously. Everyone takes off work, all the stores are closed, and people camp out along the parade route partying for days in preparation. I was off work, so I went to check it out. It was a pretty interesting parade - for the first two hours. The next three hours were boring as hell and I eventually fell asleep.

Marine band

Navy

Float from the village of Yigo (pronounced Gee-go).

Just because they were in the parade doesn't mean they can't grill.

On a sad note, a B-52 scheduled to perform flyover of the parade crashed into the ocean with no survivors. They were from Louisiana.