Guam and the Northern Marianas

Ten years ago the United States Treasury embarked upon a program of honoring each of our states with its own quarter. Beginning with Delaware (the first state) and proceeding with five states each year, they eventually arrived at Wyoming.

During those 10 years the treasury’s schedule was modified to include the District of Columbia and the five possessions that make up the dependencies of the United States. These are American Samoa, in the South Pacific; Guam, in the Northern Pacific; the Northern Marianas, also in the Northern Pacific; Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and the Virgin Islands of the United States, also in the Caribbean.

Recently, I have come into possession of a quarter honoring the Northern Marianas and also one honoring Guam, and as I have spent some time on all of these outposts in the Western Pacific, I will attempt to make you familiar with a part of this country of ours that you might not know much about.

In the Western Pacific, Guam is by far the largest and most important island under U.S. jurisdiction. It is located about 1,200 miles east of the Philippines and 1,700 miles south of Tokyo, Japan, a location that made it of great importance for the Allied war effort during World War II. A synopsis of the events of the war in the Pacific relevant to this island chain will graphically illustrate the strategic importance of Guam and the Northern Marianas.

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Dec. 7, 1941 — Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island and Thailand. U.S. Marines on Midway Island beat off Japanese attack and damage Jap warships. Japan declares war upon the United States and Great Britain.

Dec. 11, 1941 — Japanese occupy Guam.

Dec. 24, 1941 — Japanese occupy Wake Island.

June 3, 1942 — Midway Island heavily raided by Japanese planes.

June 7 and 8, 1942 — Battle of Midway; Japan has heavy aircraft and warship losses.

Jan. 31, 1944 — Americans commence invasion of the Marshall Islands, held by Japan since 1914.

Feb. 18, 1944 — Americans occupy  more atolls in the Marshalls, attack Truk in the Eastern Carolines.

Feb. 22, 1944 — American warships with a large force of carrier-based planes attack Japanese positions in the Marianas, including Saipan, Tinian and Guam.

May 1, 1944 — Truk, Satawan and Ponape are heavily bombed by United States.

June 13, 1944 — Heavy air raids on Japanese bases in the islands of Tinian, Saipan and Guam.

June 15, 1944 — Americans land on Saipan and Tinian Islands. The Americans are within bombing range of the Philippines and Japan and now isolate all Japanese armed forces in the Caroline and Marshall Islands.

June 19, 1944 — Japan loses more than 300  planes over the Marianas. This has been referred to ever-after by the American forces as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot.â€�

July 21, 1944 — American forces land on Guam.

Aug. 7, 1944 ­— American task force bombards Japanese installations in the Bonin Islands (600 miles from Japan).

Sept. 24, 1944 — U.S. Marines occupy Palau in the Western Caroline Islands, overcoming Japanese resistance.

Oct. 12, 1944 — American occupation of Guam, Saipan and Tinian is complete; however, the last Japanese holdouts do not come down from the mountains of Guam to surrender until the summer of 1956.

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Nov. 24, 1944 — The first Super-Fortresses based on Saipan raid Japanese cities. The round trip covered 3,400 miles.

Nov. 29, 1944 — Three raids in six days are made on Tokyo by Saipan-based bombers.

Feb. 19, 1954 — U.S. Marines storm ashore on Iwo Jima, 750 miles from Tokyo.

Feb. 25, 1945 — 200 Super-Fortresses from the Marianas bomb Tokyo. The battle still rages on Iwo Jima.

Mar. 18, 1945 — Enemy resistance on Iwo Jima collapses. American casualties were 20,000 wounded and 4,000 dead. The importance of the airfields on Iwo is to provide for an emergency landing field for damaged aircraft returning from raids over Japan. More American lives are saved in this way than had been lost in capturing the island.

Mar. 19, 1945 — Two or three times each week, forces of 200 to 300 bombers from the Marianas attack the principal cities of Japan.

 April 1, 1945 — After 10 days of naval assault by Americans and British, Americans make a large-scale landing in the Okinawa Islands, 320 miles from Japan.

April 11, 1945 — One of the fiercest battles of the Pacific War proceeds on Okinawa.

May 24, 1945 — 550 Super-Fortresses from the Marianas drop 4,500 tons of bombs on Tokyo before dawn.

June 12, 1945 — All Japanese cities are raided by huge fleets of bombers from the Marianas.

June 21, 1945 — Japanese resistance ceases on Okinawa.

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July 12, 1945 — It is estimated that the Americans and Allies have destroyed 27,000 Japanese planes, while losing 6,926 of our own.

July 27, 1945 — The United States, Britain and China issue an ultimatum to Japan to surrender unconditionally, or face utter destruction. Japan ignores the ultimatum.

Aug. 6, 1945 — The first atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, with appalling results. (The plane had taken off from Tinian.)

Aug. 9, 1945 — The second atomic bomb is dropped on the city of Nagasaki with similar terrible effect.

Aug.10, 1945 — Japan sues for peace.

Aug.15, 1945 — Japan surrenders unconditionally.

This article will continue next week.

Bob Grigg is the town historian in Colebrook.