Thank you for including the indigenous Chamoru who suffered and died during the occupation alongside the brave servicemen who died liberating our island. Our island and our people still observe Liberation Day on July 21 every year to honor and celebrate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to free us from the Imperial Japanese.
My childhood neighbor's dad had photographs and letters from his uncle who was a Marine KIA on Guam. He was killed by a Japanese mortar I believe. You don't hear as much about Guam, but a lot of men died taking it.
What a sobering experience i did not know so many guam civilians died during the battles and occupation thank you for sharing my love and admiration goes out to the people of guam ❤❤
Thanks for this series, my grandfather who passed in 2016 was a part of the 3rd Marine division and shared many stories from Guam and Guadalcanal. He brought back a Japanese Arisaka rifle from Guam with a American bullet still lodged in the stock. I inherited it from him and have it hanging on the wall as I write this. Thanks for doing this series, it means a lot seeing the Journey he took and what these islands look like today.
@@roderickstockdale1678 I'm not sure, he may have as he went from island to island with 3rd Marine division, but the main ones he would talk about often were Guam, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima. He also served as a Staff Sergeant during the Korean war.
@@roderickstockdale1678 I'm not sure if he actually fought on Guadalcanal or if he just stationed there for a while, but it was one places he used to talk about.
When looking at the memorial it clearly shows the scale of the conflict and the number of units and people involved. Because of documentaries like these these people are honoured, wel done!
Wow. Seeing all those names of civilians caught in the crossfire of war really impacted me, put me in a somber mood. Thanks for sharing another excellent installment in your series here.
So very true! When thinking of WW2 people mainly think of Europe, or the famous battle. But if you want to honour the people who fought and died, honour them all. Amen!
Thanks for this video JD. Seeing the engraved lists of names of our soldiers who died was sobering. The list of the people of Gaum who died and then who suffered due to brutal treatment in internment camps had quite an impact, such loss!
My Dads uncle was captured on Guam 3 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a Navy corpsman and spent the rest of the war as a POW . He wrote a book “ 1368 Days an American POW in WW2 Japan.”His name was Peter B. Marshall.
I was stationed at the Naval Legal Detachment Guam on the Naval Annex. Just before I Retired and left the island, I had the extraordinary opportunity to update some legal papers for a Husband and Wife who were children when the Japanese first took over, thru to the end, and the recovery after the war. The Wife told me she was near he beach downtown when the first planes flew over. The Husband told me how he helped his parents sneak food and medicine to the POW camps. I truly hope they took my advice and wrote these memories down before their eye witness accounts of Heroes of Occupation are lost to time.
My father was in the First Provisional Brigade on Guam. Terrible fighting on the Orote Peninsula. They were really the 22nd Marines before and after Guam. They liberated the Marine barracks on Guam, he was always proud of that.
All I have to say is after following this channel for 6 months now, you are good enough to be on the History channel. And if that happens to be the case, don't let them change how you story tell.
The story of George Ray Tweed is an interesting one. He was part of the Guam garrison at the time of initial invasion. He was one of 6 seamen that withdrew into the jungle rather than be captured. The other 5 were eventually captured and beheaded. He managed to evade captivity with the help of the local population from 1941 until he was evacuated 2 1/2 years later.
For all you Sea Bees, coming from a mostly USMC family, thank you for all you do!! In fact all branches too!! All Veterans have to go through so much bad stuff, both during and after.
Thank you so much for this series on Guam. My father was in the Marines there and in Okinawa. He never talked much about it. So it great to see and hear some of the thing's he must have experienced.
Growing up in an Air Force family and living in Hawaii in the early to mid sixties I often heard about Guam. Mainly just from friends that had recently been stationed their with their family. At that young age the conversation of WWII was never discussed. And to this day there is not a lot of discussion about the significance of reclaiming that island. Thanks JD for enlightening us about this episode that occurred during WWII.
A friend of mine, Allen Kosnar passed away last December 1 month before his 98th birthday!! He was in the 3rd Division. Told me they landed on Guadalcanal for live training, then he survived Bougainville, (bugs, terrible heat, lots of rain, ect.) Then I believe Kwajalein area? The 3rd was to land on Siapan or Tinian, but went to Guam! Al told me of a banzai attack on Guam, where he ran out of ammo and was in hand to hand fighting!!! After the battle he talked of them counting 1730 some deceased enemy!! He was wounded 18 days into Iwo Jima at the 2nd Air Field!!!! Look him up!! He's the sole survivor of Flight 19 Bermuda Triangle!!! He was healing from his wound and volunteered to be a Gunner on a torpedo bomber!!! He competed in rifle competition until his late 80's!! A VERY proud Marine!!! I miss him dearly!!
Thanks for sharing JD. This series has to be some of your best work to date. Excellent coverage on Saipan; I look forward to more on Guam. The terrain looks terrible from your plane in--horrific fighting conditions for the Marines and soldiers!. Thx!!
My dad was a US Army Combat Engineer that floated in at night and cleared the beach for the Marines. He landed in Tumon Bay. Did you happen to visit Tumon Bay while you were there? It's full of hotels now. When my father's Engineer Construction Battalion landed they went on to carve out and pave an air strip that is now Anderson Air Force Base.
My daughter's family lived for the last 3 years on Guam, just returned to Tennessee in May. I had the opportunity to spend May, 2021 and April 2022 on Guam. It's exciting to see you visit places I've walked on. Some really great snorkeling off some of those beaches. Didn't get to visit Siapan while there. Guam is also where a Japanese soldier was found, in 1972, 28 years after the war was over, living in the jungle having never surrendered.
This series is fascinating, thanks for posting them. My father served as Shore Patrol on a small island in the northern Phililipines.....I have always wondered what the terrain looked like, so I could picture what his stories looked like...The island had a small landing strip on it, Japanese still in the hills, he was 17 and always on edge. when patrolling at night. Thanks again.
I can remember reading a story about when Gen MacArthur returned to the Philippines and a young lady welcomed him and asked if he had ever been to the Philippines before. Great Tribute JD.
Thank you JD ! The hard work you put into theses episodes are amazing! My hope would be that everyone would watch an learn! Look forward to every episode! Take care an continue teaching ! Semper fi
I'm guessing you haven't made it to Iwo Jima yet. My Dad was on Iwo Jima during WW II, he was in the Army 483rd AAA. There were some young men from his home town. At some point in time, Dad became separated from his unit and got pinned down by a sniper. As he was scribbling notes to family to say goodbye, another boy took the sniper out. Thank God for that boy. I learned of this from a older cousin a few years back. It's a shame that the boy who saved my Dad passed away before I could shake his hand and thank him.
Spent 5 months in the Naval Hospital on Guam after getting shot in Nam a beautiful island were still finding Imperial soldiers from WW2 in the hills that was in 69 Alpha 1/9 Marines the Walking Dead
Another great video JD! As a young boy, I was fascinated with the War in the Pacific since my grandpa was USNR and served from 1942-1944 in the Pacific theater. Completely coincidental, but my missionary travels have allowed me to visit Pearl Harbor, Corregidor island, the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, as w ll as the beach on Leyte where Gen. MacArthur did return to the PI. Now, living on Guam allows me to see the many places that were part of the Japanese occupation as well as the liberation of the island. All bring chills to me when I visit. Don't know if you had time here to investigate the MANY atrocities carried out by the Japanese on the Chamorro people. So many stories and every one is heartbreaking.
@@TheHistoryUnderground the shocking thing is that these are all from one campaign. On my deployments we lost people, but I couldn't fathom losing that many. Keep up the good work.
What a timely video thank you! I'm just now reading book 3 of the amazing Even Thomas trilogy; Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945. Am just starting the chapter on Guam.
That's my home town guam thank you for your great content Have you heard about the Japanese soldier that was hiding in a underground compound that he built and was found in like the 70s he thought the war was still going on after 30 years later and was just in hiding crazy story
😢I can’t imagine just going about my day and then some crazy people who think they are going to be allowed to take over the world come onto my home and take it over. Thank God the US didn’t let that happen. What these civilians endured was horrible. The fact that they survived is a testament to human strength and endurance. Thank you again for this amazing and sobering video. 👍😢
Guam guy here, just want to express my most sincere thanks to you for doing what you do. I remember my old aunts and uncles telling us stories about what they went through during the invasion and what their parents had to do just to survive. Most of them have passed away since then but the sadness in their eyes is a memory that will never leave me. If you are still on the island I hope you enjoy your time here, thanks again for doing this my friend.
Yall make this very real for everyone, not just us military Veterans. Well done again Gents. So many people feel sorry for the japanese because of the nukes dropped on them. NEVER, EVER, will I feel sorry for them. They earned everything they got through their own treachery. Good job bringing those facts back to the forefront of reality.
My grandfather was one of the marines but he never talked about it. Whatever he saw of the concentration camps there effected him the rest of his life.
Hey JD, as always a great vedio. I was stationed on Guam in '68 and some of us used to go exploring the island and we found a knocked out Sherman tank, among other things. Down near the Navy base. Would be "very interesting " if you happened to find it again.
there are a couple of target tanks still in the hills near the airport. i hiked back to see those and found a hornets nest in one of them lol never saw a tank near the base
Bravo! Thanks for bringing Guam a little closer to the mainland! Would you, having done so much on the Pacific, be doing anything in your series regarding the “they were expendable,” US Servicemen who were captured, enslaved taken to Japan?
@@TheHistoryUnderground -- My godfather, Max Brodofsky, was amongst the Pan Air civilians captured on December 10, 1941 on Guam. He and his colleagues were taken to Japan and held for the duration.
I was in the 1st. and 3rd Marine Divisions during my time in the Corps. These men were our hero's. Tom Boyte GySgt. USMC, retired Vietnam 1965-66-1970-71 0331- Infantry, Machine Guns
Although I'm European and forever grateful to US boys who fought here on Old continent I'm so glad Pacific theater getting much deserved attention and often been overlooked by D-day, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge and all other battle's of European theater of WW2.
Dear lord, thats a lot of names of the native peopl of Guam that suffered from what happened during that almost 3 year ordeal. Wow...brings a whole new perceptive
Thanks for bringing to light of the Pacific theater. Makes me think of the vet I met in a grocery store as a teenager. He said history tends to forget this area as there's too much focus on the European effort. "The Pacific was pure hell," he said.
NOTE: At the 2:11 mark, I inadvertently said 1st Provisional Marine Division when I meant 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. My error. If you've watched a few episodes and feel like I've earned it, be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss any new content when it comes out. Also be sure to check out The Gettysburg Museum of History and their store at gettysburgmuseumofhistory.com. Thanks!!!
thanks for correcting that. my father was in 3/4 1st pro. brigade. incidently the 4th was reconstituted as an honor and that's were a lot of the Raiders went.
The exhaustive List of Civilians affected by the Japanese Capture of Guam is almost overwhelming to realize the total Cruelty inflicted just on Guam. I tried to picture how massive a monument could be if one could list all the names of people subjugated by Japan throughout the Asian Area. How luck the Japanese people were to be Conquered by the United States of America. Thank you.
Great video's 👍. When we lived on Okinawa, dad would fly to Guam with the planes,while mom my jackass brother and me would goto the shelters for typhoons. Ah, the 70's.
Worked for a CEO who went in on all 3, 3rd Marine Divisions Landings Bougainville, Guam & Iwo Jima. Went into Bougainville as a PFC when relieved @ Iwo was a Company Gunny, all Field promotions. One hell of a Leader and Proud Marine!
So I will be heading to Guam May of 23. My Mothers nephew Victor Litwinowich’s name is on the monument. He was with the 3rd division. His transport was blown up enroute to the beach. In your video you have a video of a transport being blown up. We’ve seen that video and know that that could have been him. Thank you for this video.
@@TheHistoryUnderground a quick question, Im trying to get as much information regarding my relative prior to going there. He was on the transport Epping Forest. Any hints as to where I could go to get as much info as possible? Keep doing what you do!
I was stationed in Guam in the 1960"s we used to set on ,our ship in Apara harbor, and watch the brush fires in the hills and jungles. Every so often we would see massive explosions. of dud ordinance. left buried in the hills. some real fireworks at night.
I'm curious. How do you know how to pronounce the Japanese names? Do you practice them before filming? Thank you JD for sharing these videos of the events in the Pacific. We don't hear about this part of the war that much in school.
My uncle came ashore soon after the Marines, straight out of high school (Class of 1944 with no graduation ceremony-they were in boot camp). He was a Storekeeper (Navy logistics) up on what became Admiral Nimitz’s HQ and is still called Nimitz Hill today. Admiral Nimitz ran the Pacific Theater from here through the rest of the war.
When I was stationed on Guam in 1979 I remember walking along the reef one day and finding a 50 caliber bullet just laying there. There was also the day a bulldozer hit a (thankfully) dud bomb while digging in the quarry we had.
Another great video as usual JD!!! Were you able to get onto the Navy base? There are some really interesting Japanese machine gun pill boxes on Dadi beach.
I look forward to this series on Guam, JD. I spent 16 months there in 1976-77, at the now closed Naval air station at Agana. At the time I was there, there were no monuments or memorials that I can recall. It is sad to see how the monument at Point Asan has been neglected and run down.
You are correct. No monuments to any one except a war dog grave marker which is now encompassed by the main base. I was there in '68 and my memories of Guam are varied.
Thanks so much for sharing this! My Dad drove a Higgins boat from the USS Elmore on July 21, 1944. I have records showing that he would have landed on Asan Beach. My wife and I briefly stopped on Guam in 2019 on our way to Peleliu for the 75th anniversary of the battle of Peleliu in which my Dad also participated. While on Guam I noticed that there was a commemorative plaque on the outside of the airport terminal. The interesting thing about that is that the year of Guam’s liberation was wrong. It said it occurred on July 21, 1945 (it was actually 7/21/44).
@@TheHistoryUnderground , if you go to Peleliu reach out to Tangie. He’s the curator of the Peleliu Museum and is a wonderful guy! The people there are wonderful! He gave me the enormous honor of raising (and later lowering) the flag on 9/15/2019 (the 75th anniversary of the battle) over Bloody Nose Ridge. I’ve never felt so profoundly humbled and yet unworthy to do anything in my life! It took about 18 months of research for me to figure out just where my Dad’s boat would have come in that day. Based on my Dad’s log (he obtained at one of his ship reunions years ago), some documents from the National Archives I received from a VERY helpful aid to my local Congressman (among other information) I was pretty sure he came in on White Beach 2. Thanks so much for your work in keeping this very important history alive!
Wow! Thanks for sharing this with us J. D. This series on the Pacific Theatre of War has been outstanding. As I have said before, I highly doubt you can hardly find modern day shots of these islands and battlefields today outside of this series.
one chunk of the concrete on the base seemed to have been hit by a parks service lawn mower back in november of 2020 i moved it back to the base of the monument and told the parks dept person as i left about it I seriously doubt anyone went out to fix it
JD, the second unit that landed was the "1st Provisional Marine Brigade" not division. It was an incomplete unit still forming that I believe became the 6th Marine Division. The unit only had two regiments instead of the normal three.
Omg, thank you so much for this video! As I commented in your previous video, my father was there with the third Marine division, ninth Regiment. he very rarely discussed any of his experiences on Guam, Bougainville, and Iwo Jima. But when he did, The horrors that he would tell we’re undescribable. What it must have been as a soldier to live through these years of battle, and what they dealt with on a daily basis is mind boggling. Again can’t thank you enough for this, and look forward to your next video.
@@TheHistoryUnderground You are definitely the best! Would you be interested in me forwarding the book that was published documenting the ninth Marines campaigns, starting from enlistment to the end of the war? it is very detailed and in depth.
Thank God for men like your father! My father was also at Guam. He drove a Higgins boat from the USS Emore so it’s possible that my Dad transported your Dad to the beach that day! I can’t even imagine how brave those men were!
My Father was with the 3rd and the 9th and landed on Guam. He went on to Iwo and was wounded a second time. He rarely spoke of it, only on Christmas with plenty of Egg Nog.
Loving your Pacific series! You tell the best stories and take us to the most interesting places. Thank you JD! Is this a whole episode without you banging your head!?
A very solemn and heart wrenching experience seeing all those names and the loss of so many on the island. Please God do not allow this sacrifice be made again we are all brothers and sisters and should live in peace and uplift one another. Thank you for this footage and information, well done.
Those UDT guys were tough. In Fort Pierce FL is the UDT/Navy seal museum and memorial. They have a amazing collection. It's located at the place where the UDT started and trained.
Hard to imagine what many of those men had gone through in previous battles, knowing how ferocious and unrelenting the Japanese were. I’m glad you are making these videos on the pacific theatre… my understanding was limited but is expanding with every video!
Holy crap JD . Really hit home as all of your videos do but when you showed all of the names of the people of Guam I choked . Unbelievable how far the names kept going 🥺🇺🇸🇺🇸🙌🏼🙏🏼
What's amazing so far with these locations is the high ground, I mean commanding high ground the Japanese had. Wow, the grit to take that ground is unimaginable imo.
Wahahaha I thought I found Wilson. Hilarious comment 😂😂😂. Ps it’s not a soccerball it.s a football 😁. You are one very lucky person to be able to visit all those islands. And we are very lucky we can see it in your videos. Ty JD on to thext place!
I’ve been in Guam for the past year, I’ve been wanting to take my snorkel/fins over to red beach 1 and 2 along with my underwater metal detector and see if I can find anything. Might have to make that a priority next weekend.
In 1988-1993, I spent five years on Okinawa with III MEF. We made several deployments to Guam and saw the same scenery I am looking at now. Thanks for the memories
For a guy that's hit his head a few times you really do a great job. Walking the beach with a camera narrating what happened with each Corp or Division. Excellent work JD
I was born and raised on Guam, but have been Stateside for the past 9 years, Thank you for teaching people about the history of the invasion of guam..
Absolutely. Thank you for watching. Got a lot more to come.
Thank you for mentioning the Coast Guard a lot of people don't realize that the Coast Guard played a major role in World War II
Absolutely! 🇺🇸
There’s a great video on UA-cam of Frank Devita detailing what he saw in the coast guard driving a landing craft in Normandy.
I knew the national guard played some big roles in ww2, like in the normandy landings, however I didnt know about the coast guard
@@adammitchell3462 well we both learned something today I didn't know the National Guard was prominent that's interesting
@@TheHistoryUnderground Yes, thank you JD, from an old Coast Guard veteran. Semper Paratus!
Thank you for including the indigenous Chamoru who suffered and died during the occupation alongside the brave servicemen who died liberating our island.
Our island and our people still observe Liberation Day on July 21 every year to honor and celebrate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to free us from the Imperial Japanese.
Thank you. I’ve got some more content from Guam on the way.
My childhood neighbor's dad had photographs and letters from his uncle who was a Marine KIA on Guam. He was killed by a Japanese mortar I believe. You don't hear as much about Guam, but a lot of men died taking it.
Oh wow. I would love to see that. And no, you don’t hear much about Guam.
Hafa Adai and us Chamorros are grateful for his service, salute 🫡
Ever since it became the 52nd state after Puerto Rico.
What a sobering experience i did not know so many guam civilians died during the battles and occupation thank you for sharing my love and admiration goes out to the people of guam ❤❤
Thanks for this series, my grandfather who passed in 2016 was a part of the 3rd Marine division and shared many stories from Guam and Guadalcanal. He brought back a Japanese Arisaka rifle from Guam with a American bullet still lodged in the stock. I inherited it from him and have it hanging on the wall as I write this. Thanks for doing this series, it means a lot seeing the Journey he took and what these islands look like today.
Your Grandfather is a true hero! Much respect!
Was he on Bougainville also?
@@roderickstockdale1678 I'm not sure, he may have as he went from island to island with 3rd Marine division, but the main ones he would talk about often were Guam, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima. He also served as a Staff Sergeant during the Korean war.
@@dpt2143 he fought on Guadalcanal? I read the battle was over by the time 3rd division arrived there?
@@roderickstockdale1678 I'm not sure if he actually fought on Guadalcanal or if he just stationed there for a while, but it was one places he used to talk about.
When looking at the memorial it clearly shows the scale of the conflict and the number of units and people involved. Because of documentaries like these these people are honoured, wel done!
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Wow. Seeing all those names of civilians caught in the crossfire of war really impacted me, put me in a somber mood. Thanks for sharing another excellent installment in your series here.
Sad.
Fantastic job, very well done.
I feel the veterans of this campaign would feel very honored in how much respect you've shown in this.
I hope so. Thank you.
So very true! When thinking of WW2 people mainly think of Europe, or the famous battle. But if you want to honour the people who fought and died, honour them all. Amen!
Thanks for this video JD. Seeing the engraved lists of names of our soldiers who died was sobering. The list of the people of Gaum who died and then who suffered due to brutal treatment in internment camps had quite an impact, such loss!
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My Dads uncle was captured on Guam 3 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a Navy corpsman and spent the rest of the war as a POW . He wrote a book “ 1368 Days an American POW in WW2 Japan.”His name was Peter B. Marshall.
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I was stationed at the Naval Legal Detachment Guam on the Naval Annex. Just before I Retired and left the island, I had the extraordinary opportunity to update some legal papers for a Husband and Wife who were children when the Japanese first took over, thru to the end, and the recovery after the war. The Wife told me she was near he beach downtown when the first planes flew over. The Husband told me how he helped his parents sneak food and medicine to the POW camps. I truly hope they took my advice and wrote these memories down before their eye witness accounts of Heroes of Occupation are lost to time.
Oh wow. I hope so too.
My father was in the First Provisional Brigade on Guam. Terrible fighting on the Orote Peninsula. They were really the 22nd Marines before and after Guam. They liberated the Marine barracks on Guam, he was always proud of that.
Wow! Showing that landing beach in the next episode.
All I have to say is after following this channel for 6 months now, you are good enough to be on the History channel. And if that happens to be the case, don't let them change how you story tell.
The story of George Ray Tweed is an interesting one. He was part of the Guam garrison at the time of initial invasion. He was one of 6 seamen that withdrew into the jungle rather than be captured. The other 5 were eventually captured and beheaded. He managed to evade captivity with the help of the local population from 1941 until he was evacuated 2 1/2 years later.
There is a book about him on kindle.
He survived solely because of the many patriotic locals who risked their lives and died protecting him
The real hero’s in that story are the locals that helped him survive
For all you Sea Bees, coming from a mostly USMC family, thank you for all you do!! In fact all branches too!! All Veterans have to go through so much bad stuff, both during and after.
Thank you so much for this series on Guam. My father was in the Marines there and in Okinawa. He never talked much about it. So it great to see and hear some of the thing's he must have experienced.
Growing up in an Air Force family and living in Hawaii in the early to mid sixties I often heard about Guam. Mainly just from friends that had recently been stationed their with their family. At that young age the conversation of WWII was never discussed. And to this day there is not a lot of discussion about the significance of reclaiming that island. Thanks JD for enlightening us about this episode that occurred during WWII.
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I did not know about the attacks on those Islands. Thank you again
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A friend of mine, Allen Kosnar passed away last December 1 month before his 98th birthday!! He was in the 3rd Division. Told me they landed on Guadalcanal for live training, then he survived Bougainville, (bugs, terrible heat, lots of rain, ect.) Then I believe Kwajalein area? The 3rd was to land on Siapan or Tinian, but went to Guam! Al told me of a banzai attack on Guam, where he ran out of ammo and was in hand to hand fighting!!! After the battle he talked of them counting 1730 some deceased enemy!! He was wounded 18 days into Iwo Jima at the 2nd Air Field!!!! Look him up!! He's the sole survivor of Flight 19 Bermuda Triangle!!! He was healing from his wound and volunteered to be a Gunner on a torpedo bomber!!! He competed in rifle competition until his late 80's!! A VERY proud Marine!!! I miss him dearly!!
Wow!
He probably knew my Uncle.
Thanks for sharing JD. This series has to be some of your best work to date. Excellent coverage on Saipan; I look forward to more on Guam. The terrain looks terrible from your plane in--horrific fighting conditions for the Marines and soldiers!. Thx!!
Yeah, I never realized how rugged the terrain was until I went there. Brutal.
May these brave men R.I.P. God bless all our military and vets.
Another great history lesson with great videos. I certainly appreciate your travel and documentation of this story of Guam
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My dad was a US Army Combat Engineer that floated in at night and cleared the beach for the Marines. He landed in Tumon Bay.
Did you happen to visit Tumon Bay while you were there? It's full of hotels now.
When my father's Engineer Construction Battalion landed they went on to carve out and pave an air strip that is now Anderson Air Force Base.
Yep. That’s actually where my hotel was. Didn’t do any filming there though.
@@TheHistoryUnderground thats where ALL the hotels are lol
My daughter's family lived for the last 3 years on Guam, just returned to Tennessee in May. I had the opportunity to spend May, 2021 and April 2022 on Guam. It's exciting to see you visit places I've walked on. Some really great snorkeling off some of those beaches. Didn't get to visit Siapan while there. Guam is also where a Japanese soldier was found, in 1972, 28 years after the war was over, living in the jungle having never surrendered.
This series is fascinating, thanks for posting them. My father served as Shore Patrol on a small island in the northern Phililipines.....I have always wondered what the terrain looked like, so I could picture what his stories looked like...The island had a small landing strip on it, Japanese still in the hills, he was 17 and always on edge. when patrolling at night. Thanks again.
Interesting!
I can remember reading a story about when Gen MacArthur returned to the Philippines and a young lady welcomed him and asked if he had ever been to the Philippines before. Great Tribute JD.
Thank you JD ! The hard work you put into theses episodes are amazing! My hope would be that everyone would watch an learn! Look forward to every episode! Take care an continue teaching ! Semper fi
Many thanks. Hopefully people are sharing these videos and helping other to learn about what these men accomplished.
So loved the comment about the ball LOL. Thank you for doing this amazing video.
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I'm guessing you haven't made it to Iwo Jima yet. My Dad was on Iwo Jima during WW II, he was in the Army 483rd AAA. There were some young men from his home town. At some point in time, Dad became separated from his unit and got pinned down by a sniper. As he was scribbling notes to family to say goodbye, another boy took the sniper out. Thank God for that boy. I learned of this from a older cousin a few years back. It's a shame that the boy who saved my Dad passed away before I could shake his hand and thank him.
Unfortunately, Iwo Jima is almost impossible to get on.
I really enjoy your videos. My grandfather served on the uss hornet . Thank you sir for putting a real light on what the brave men faced!
Thanks!
Spent 5 months in the Naval Hospital on Guam after getting shot in Nam a beautiful island were still finding Imperial soldiers from WW2 in the hills that was in 69 Alpha 1/9 Marines the Walking Dead
Another great video JD! As a young boy, I was fascinated with the War in the Pacific since my grandpa was USNR and served from 1942-1944 in the Pacific theater. Completely coincidental, but my missionary travels have allowed me to visit Pearl Harbor, Corregidor island, the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, as w ll as the beach on Leyte where Gen. MacArthur did return to the PI. Now, living on Guam allows me to see the many places that were part of the Japanese occupation as well as the liberation of the island. All bring chills to me when I visit. Don't know if you had time here to investigate the MANY atrocities carried out by the Japanese on the Chamorro people. So many stories and every one is heartbreaking.
Thanks again for another awesome video, JD. Seeing all the names really brings it into perspective.
Thank you. Seeing all of those names really brings it home.
@@TheHistoryUnderground the shocking thing is that these are all from one campaign. On my deployments we lost people, but I couldn't fathom losing that many. Keep up the good work.
What a timely video thank you!
I'm just now reading book 3 of the amazing Even Thomas trilogy; Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945. Am just starting the chapter on Guam.
I was just out there for a month back in February, you should check out Gun Beach. They still have a Japanese costal defense gun there
I would like that. Next time!
Only discovered your videos today so far only watched the suicide cliffs one but will be binge watching them
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Hafa Adai, love this as a local Chamorro and will share it out into my YT community and familia.
Thank you! I appreciate that. Got some more on the way.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Cool more about Guam? Are you still on Island?
That's my home town guam thank you for your great content
Have you heard about the Japanese soldier that was hiding in a underground compound that he built and was found in like the 70s he thought the war was still going on after 30 years later and was just in hiding crazy story
Gonna talk about him a bit in a future episode.
@@TheHistoryUnderground looking forward to it love all your videos thank you
😢I can’t imagine just going about my day and then some crazy people who think they are going to be allowed to take over the world come onto my home and take it over. Thank God the US didn’t let that happen.
What these civilians endured was horrible. The fact that they survived is a testament to human strength and endurance.
Thank you again for this amazing and sobering video. 👍😢
Glad to share the experience.
Guam guy here, just want to express my most sincere thanks to you for doing what you do. I remember my old aunts and uncles telling us stories about what they went through during the invasion and what their parents had to do just to survive. Most of them have passed away since then but the sadness in their eyes is a memory that will never leave me. If you are still on the island I hope you enjoy your time here, thanks again for doing this my friend.
Thank you. This was filmed back in June but I hope to return someday. Would loved to have heard some of those stories.
Yall make this very real for everyone, not just us military Veterans. Well done again Gents.
So many people feel sorry for the japanese because of the nukes dropped on them. NEVER, EVER, will I feel sorry for them. They earned everything they got through their own treachery. Good job bringing those facts back to the forefront of reality.
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My grandfather was one of the marines but he never talked about it. Whatever he saw of the concentration camps there effected him the rest of his life.
Hey JD, as always a great vedio. I was stationed on Guam in '68 and some of us used to go exploring the island and we found a knocked out Sherman tank, among other things. Down near the Navy base. Would be "very interesting " if you happened to find it again.
there are a couple of target tanks still in the hills near the airport. i hiked back to see those and found a hornets nest in one of them lol never saw a tank near the base
Thank you for sharing this
Excellent Video. It really gives one a perspective of the battle of Guam
Thanks. Not much is known about this battle.
Bravo! Thanks for bringing Guam a little closer to the mainland! Would you, having done so much on the Pacific, be doing anything in your series regarding the “they were expendable,” US Servicemen who were captured, enslaved taken to Japan?
Didn’t cover that in this one.
@@TheHistoryUnderground -- My godfather, Max Brodofsky, was amongst the Pan Air civilians captured on December 10, 1941 on Guam. He and his colleagues were taken to Japan and held for the duration.
I was in the 1st. and 3rd Marine Divisions during my time in the Corps. These men were our hero's.
Tom Boyte
GySgt. USMC, retired
Vietnam 1965-66-1970-71
0331- Infantry, Machine Guns
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Another great introduction, I am looking forward to the next episode. What is a provisional Brigade? That’s a new one on me.
We’ll explain that one in the next episode. 🙂
Thank you for making these videos.
Thank you for watching!
@@TheHistoryUnderground I can't wait to see your videos from my wife's country the Philippines. Her father was 16 yrs old during the occupation.
@@kdcowboy9478 - Definitely on my list.
Have a great week JD.
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Enjoyed the video, I thought the memorial for the civilians was awesome, they tend to always be forgotten casualties of war. Take care.
Although I'm European and forever grateful to US boys who fought here on Old continent I'm so glad Pacific theater getting much deserved attention and often been overlooked by D-day, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge and all other battle's of European theater of WW2.
Dear lord, thats a lot of names of the native peopl of Guam that suffered from what happened during that almost 3 year ordeal. Wow...brings a whole new perceptive
Awful. Not enough attention has been given to how the civilians suffered under Japanese occupation.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Couldn't agree with you more
Thanks for bringing to light of the Pacific theater. Makes me think of the vet I met in a grocery store as a teenager. He said history tends to forget this area as there's too much focus on the European effort. "The Pacific was pure hell," he said.
Hope that people are sharing the videos. Far too little is known about this theatre.
What branch was he?
Thank you so much, you’re the best!
Thank you 😊
NOTE: At the 2:11 mark, I inadvertently said 1st Provisional Marine Division when I meant 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. My error.
If you've watched a few episodes and feel like I've earned it, be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss any new content when it comes out.
Also be sure to check out The Gettysburg Museum of History and their store at gettysburgmuseumofhistory.com. Thanks!!!
thanks for correcting that. my father was in 3/4 1st pro. brigade.
incidently the 4th was reconstituted as an honor and that's were a lot of the Raiders went.
I would say most died during the occupation.. Your videos are always respectful and well done.. thank you sir!
Another great video! Do you have any plans in the future to tour eastern front battlefields from ww2 or ww1 battlefields?
yet again an awsome video mate
The exhaustive List of Civilians affected by the Japanese Capture of Guam is almost overwhelming to realize the total Cruelty inflicted just on Guam. I tried to picture how massive a monument could be if one could list all the names of people subjugated by Japan throughout the Asian Area. How luck the Japanese people were to be Conquered by the United States of America. Thank you.
Definitely.
Great video's 👍. When we lived on Okinawa, dad would fly to Guam with the planes,while mom my jackass brother and me would goto the shelters for typhoons. Ah, the 70's.
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Jackass brother😂
Thank you for this video. Thank you to the brave American Soldiers who fought and died for their country in that battle.
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Seeing all of the names shows what a great price was paid for a very small but strategic island. Thank you JD.
Worked for a CEO who went in on all 3, 3rd Marine Divisions Landings Bougainville, Guam & Iwo Jima. Went into Bougainville as a PFC when relieved @ Iwo was a Company Gunny, all Field promotions. One hell of a Leader and Proud Marine!
Wow!
My Dad was there too
Thanks for another educational video. This is a subject I know very little about. The Pacific was a very different kind of war compared to the ETO.
Very much so. And there is hardly anything out there about Guam. Go to Amazon and look up books on the battle. There’s next to nothing.
I learned something today, thanks to you. I didn’t know much about Guam until I saw this. So much sacrifice. Thanks for doing this. 👍
Chesty Puller's younger brother, Samuel D. Puller, was killed by a sniper on Guam while XO of the 4th Marines,
I may have to do a UA-cam Short on that.
@@TheHistoryUnderground That would be great !!
So I will be heading to Guam May of 23. My Mothers nephew Victor Litwinowich’s name is on the monument. He was with the 3rd division. His transport was blown up enroute to the beach. In your video you have a video of a transport being blown up. We’ve seen that video and know that that could have been him. Thank you for this video.
Oh wow! You'll love it there. If it practicable, a visit to Saipan would be worth your time as well.
@@TheHistoryUnderground a quick question, Im trying to get as much information regarding my relative prior to going there. He was on the transport Epping Forest. Any hints as to where I could go to get as much info as possible? Keep doing what you do!
My dad was at guam with the 3rd. Never stopped having bad dreams.
I look forward to every episode!! Thanks for all the work you put into them. Semper Fi!!
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Make sure u check out the food trucks at Hagatña on Thursdays👌🏽
And the tanks at Leo Palace Resort👍🏻
I was stationed in Guam in the 1960"s we used to set on ,our ship in Apara harbor, and watch the brush fires in the hills and jungles. Every so often we would see massive explosions. of dud ordinance. left buried in the hills. some real fireworks at night.
Wow!
I'm curious. How do you know how to pronounce the Japanese names? Do you practice them before filming? Thank you JD for sharing these videos of the events in the Pacific. We don't hear about this part of the war that much in school.
To be honest, I kind of shoot from the hip and hope for the best. 😅
@@TheHistoryUnderground It sounds great like you know Japanese.
My uncle came ashore soon after the Marines, straight out of high school (Class of 1944 with no graduation ceremony-they were in boot camp). He was a Storekeeper (Navy logistics) up on what became Admiral Nimitz’s HQ and is still called Nimitz Hill today. Admiral Nimitz ran the Pacific Theater from here through the rest of the war.
Wow!
When I was stationed on Guam in 1979 I remember walking along the reef one day and finding a 50 caliber bullet just laying there. There was also the day a bulldozer hit a (thankfully) dud bomb while digging in the quarry we had.
Wow!
Great video JD! That has to be one of my favorite intros you’ve ever done!
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@TheHistoryUnderground I was really hoping that was Wilson 🏐
Ha!
Another great video as usual JD!!! Were you able to get onto the Navy base? There are some really interesting Japanese machine gun pill boxes on Dadi beach.
I look forward to this series on Guam, JD. I spent 16 months there in 1976-77, at the now closed Naval air station at Agana. At the time I was there, there were no monuments or memorials that I can recall. It is sad to see how the monument at Point Asan has been neglected and run down.
Yeah, it'd be nice to see it restored.
You are correct. No monuments to any one except a war dog grave marker which is now encompassed by the main base. I was there in '68 and my memories of Guam are varied.
Thanks so much for sharing this! My Dad drove a Higgins boat from the USS Elmore on July 21, 1944. I have records showing that he would have landed on Asan Beach. My wife and I briefly stopped on Guam in 2019 on our way to Peleliu for the 75th anniversary of the battle of Peleliu in which my Dad also participated. While on Guam I noticed that there was a commemorative plaque on the outside of the airport terminal. The interesting thing about that is that the year of Guam’s liberation was wrong. It said it occurred on July 21, 1945 (it was actually 7/21/44).
How could they of all people get it wrong😂btw what’s the meaning of your name?
Interesting! Would love to see Peleliu.
My screen name comes from a childhood nickname from my brother.
@@TheHistoryUnderground , if you go to Peleliu reach out to Tangie. He’s the curator of the Peleliu Museum and is a wonderful guy! The people there are wonderful! He gave me the enormous honor of raising (and later lowering) the flag on 9/15/2019 (the 75th anniversary of the battle) over Bloody Nose Ridge. I’ve never felt so profoundly humbled and yet unworthy to do anything in my life! It took about 18 months of research for me to figure out just where my Dad’s boat would have come in that day. Based on my Dad’s log (he obtained at one of his ship reunions years ago), some documents from the National Archives I received from a VERY helpful aid to my local Congressman (among other information) I was pretty sure he came in on White Beach 2. Thanks so much for your work in keeping this very important history alive!
@@roderickstockdale1678, I wondered the same thing! I was shocked when I saw it, especially since my Dad was there so I knew that date very well!
Wow! Thanks for sharing this with us J. D. This series on the Pacific Theatre of War has been outstanding. As I have said before, I highly doubt you can hardly find modern day shots of these islands and battlefields today outside of this series.
There isn’t much out there. Thanks for the kind words!
Sad to see the condition of that monument considering it is less than 30 years old.
Yeah, I thought the same thing.
one chunk of the concrete on the base seemed to have been hit by a parks service lawn mower back in november of 2020 i moved it back to the base of the monument and told the parks dept person as i left about it I seriously doubt anyone went out to fix it
JD, the second unit that landed was the "1st Provisional Marine Brigade" not division. It was an incomplete unit still forming that I believe became the 6th Marine Division. The unit only had two regiments instead of the normal three.
Yeah, I misspoke there. Got it right at the end though. :)
I've noted the correction in the description.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Yeah! I heard you use the correct unit designation later in the video. Love your videos, keep up the good work.
Omg, thank you so much for this video! As I commented in your previous video, my father was there with the third Marine division, ninth Regiment. he very rarely discussed any of his experiences on Guam, Bougainville, and Iwo Jima. But when he did, The horrors that he would tell we’re undescribable. What it must have been as a soldier to live through these years of battle, and what they dealt with on a daily basis is mind boggling. Again can’t thank you enough for this, and look forward to your next video.
My pleasure. Glad that I could show where he landed.
@@TheHistoryUnderground You are definitely the best! Would you be interested in me forwarding the book that was published documenting the ninth Marines campaigns, starting from enlistment to the end of the war? it is very detailed and in depth.
Thank God for men like your father! My father was also at Guam. He drove a Higgins boat from the USS Emore so it’s possible that my Dad transported your Dad to the beach that day! I can’t even imagine how brave those men were!
@@grocnrollgrocnroll5465 Exactly, as was your father! True heroes of the greatest generation! Thank you for your kind words.
My Father was with the 3rd and the 9th and landed on Guam. He went on to Iwo and was wounded a second time.
He rarely spoke of it, only on Christmas with plenty of Egg Nog.
I cried when I saw the names, just one island out of so many, so sad, so many
Loving your Pacific series! You tell the best stories and take us to the most interesting places. Thank you JD! Is this a whole episode without you banging your head!?
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Adios Saipan and welcome to Guam, hope your 30min flight to Guam was good lol.🤙🏾
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A very solemn and heart wrenching experience seeing all those names and the loss of so many on the island. Please God do not allow this sacrifice be made again we are all brothers and sisters and should live in peace and uplift one another. Thank you for this footage and information, well done.
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Those UDT guys were tough. In Fort Pierce FL is the UDT/Navy seal museum and memorial. They have a amazing collection. It's located at the place where the UDT started and trained.
Definitely want to visit there.
My cousin is listed on that memorial. I believe he was in the 2nd UDT. His name was Jerry Williams. I love to get down there.
Hard to imagine what many of those men had gone through in previous battles, knowing how ferocious and unrelenting the Japanese were. I’m glad you are making these videos on the pacific theatre… my understanding was limited but is expanding with every video!
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Holy crap JD . Really hit home as all of your videos do but when you showed all of the names of the people of Guam I choked . Unbelievable how far the names kept going 🥺🇺🇸🇺🇸🙌🏼🙏🏼
Unreal.
What's amazing so far with these locations is the high ground, I mean commanding high ground the Japanese had. Wow, the grit to take that ground is unimaginable imo.
I know. I never realized how commanding their positions were until I actually walked the ground.
Wahahaha I thought I found Wilson. Hilarious comment 😂😂😂. Ps it’s not a soccerball it.s a football 😁. You are one very lucky person to be able to visit all those islands. And we are very lucky we can see it in your videos. Ty JD on to thext place!
I’ve been in Guam for the past year, I’ve been wanting to take my snorkel/fins over to red beach 1 and 2 along with my underwater metal detector and see if I can find anything. Might have to make that a priority next weekend.
That would be awesome.
In 1988-1993, I spent five years on Okinawa with III MEF. We made several deployments to Guam and saw the same scenery I am looking at now. Thanks for the memories
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Well done JD! This was an excellent video! Looking forward to the rest of this series! So good! That joke about Wilson?…good one!
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I really enjoyed this video. One question I have is what was the "1st Division Marine Brigade?"
Tackling that in the next episode 🙂
For a guy that's hit his head a few times you really do a great job. Walking the beach with a camera narrating what happened with each Corp or Division. Excellent work JD
Thank you!