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2 Liberation 2012 REMEMBERING PAST, EXTENDING FRIENDSHIP An annual publication of INSIDE the Pacific Daily News July 21, 2012 68th Liberation commemoration Images of PUBLISHER postwar Guam includes visit to former Rindraty Celes Limtiaco Page 3 concentration camp MANAGING EDITOR David V. Crisostomo , Saturday, July 21, 2012 , Saturday, the eve of the liberation MAGAZINE COORDINATOR National Park of Guam in 1944, the Jesse C. Babauta Service museum bombs started to fall again. At the time, 13- LOCAL NEWS EDITOR reopens year-old Irene Sgambel- Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno Page 5 luri-Beruan didn’t see VISUAL EDITOR the “black objects” as a Cid Caser signal that freedom was near. Instead of contemplating Some of Guam’s On PHOTO EDITOR the end of the war, she felt scared. Japanese occupiers had forced her family out of her Masako Watanabe historic World grandfather’s home in present-day Hagåtña. Before she ADVERTISING DIRECTOR War II sites knew it, she and about 20,000 others were marching to Jae Fermin Medina the concentration camp in Manengon valley in Yona. Rick Cruz/Pacific Daily News/[email protected] Page 7 Their historic journey and encampment were marked Memorial: Irene Perez Ploke Sgambelluri-Beruan, dressed DIGITAL DIRECTOR by suffering and death and are remembered as part of the in pink, and others light a torch during a memorial service Karen Gayle annual commemoration of the U.S. military’s efforts to at the Manenggon Memorial Foundation Peace Park in CREATIVE SERVICES MANAGER Liberation queen liberate Guam from Japanese occupiers. Yona on July 7. The annual Manenggon Memorial Service Rena Santiago from Agat was held to remember those who perished or suffered dur- guampdn.com On July 7, two weeks before the 68th year since the July 21st liberation of Guam, hundreds of people gath- ing the march to or at the concentration camp during World Page 10 ered at the Manenggon Memorial Foundation Peace War II. Park to reflect and remember. The peace park features the Ma- nenggon Monument — a tall, white pillar with a tiled portrait of a fig- ure comforting two others. Built 10 years ago by the Ma- nenggon Memorial Planning Coun- cil, the memorial stands at the cen- ter of a field that once was a con- centration camp. Many of the survivors were too young to remember the details of the march and massacres at Ma- nengon, so they had to rely on the stories recounted to them by their el- ders. One survivor, former first lady Geri Gutierrez, was just a little more than a year old when her mother was murdered at Manengon. “I never knew my mother,” Gutierrez said at the July 7 com- memoration. “When you live with- out a mother, you live with a void in your life, so (it’s) a very, very sentimental day.” After placing his candle on the memorial, Eddie Flores, 73, said he was part of the march from Yigo to Manengon. Trying to remember the days after that, he drew a blank, but he nonetheless looks at Manengon as a significant landmark in his life. “The time I remember was when they moved us from here to Agat. Because when I got up one night to use the bathroom, my mother took me out, and I saw the beautiful ocean with so many ships. So I fig- ured it had to be Agat,” Flores said. Rita Franquez, another Manen- gon survivor, recited the inifresi, or offering during the commemora- tion at Manengon. Franquez’s delivery marked a pivotal point in the service — one that signaled healing of wartime’s emotional wounds. She preceded her Chamorro recitation by singing the Japanese national anthem, explaining her choice of song was “in the spirit of friendship and international har- mony.” By Vanessa Ochavillo For Pacific Daily News 3 Saturday, July 21, 2012, Saturday, guampdn.com PRECIOUS IMAGES OF POSTWAR GUAM PRESERVED, SHARED o commem- Air Force on Guam after the orate war. Maggy gave the photos to Guam’s 68th Rosalie Kikuchi, a local resi- Liberation dent, who in turn provided Day, the Pa- them to the PDN. cific Daily The second collection News is comes from Sister Oliva Be- making navente, who received the pho- available to the public two col- tos from a stateside military Tlections of previously unpub- family with postwar ties to lished photos of Guam in the Guam. Benavente said she was immediate years after World given the photos about two War II. The collections include decades ago, and she has kept more than 300 black-and-white them safe — but mostly secret photographs and postcards that — in a closet for years. “It’s very precious,” Be- show everyday life in the years Masako Watanabe/ after World War II. Both col- navente said, after loaning the Pacific Daily News/ photo album to PDN so the lections came from military [email protected] families who were on island collection could be preserved in the wake of the war. Above: Sister Oliva Be- in digital format. “So I didn’t Both collections include navente photographed in the exactly want to bring it out. historic snapshots of local vicinity of her family’s Yigo Sometimes when things are people, churches, beaches property on June 25. old you have to be very care- and quaint village scenes. ful. … I didn’t want to let it go They also include photos tions, which are also published and I didn’t know who to give that were taken on and off mil- on www.GuamPDN.com. it to.” itary bases, and some photos The first collection was include the island’s former provided to the PDN by Susan By Brett Kelman leaders. A few of the photos Maggy, of California, whose Pacific Daily News came with handwritten cap- parents met working for the [email protected] HELP US ■ If you know any of the people in the images or have informa- tion about the scenes, please call 479-0417 or 479-0434 or email [email protected]. 4 PRECIOUS IMAGES OF POSTWAR GUAM PRESERVED, SHARED , Saturday, July 21, 2012 , Saturday, guampdn.com 5 Saturday, July 21, 2012, Saturday, ‘LITERALLY THOUSANDS Museum offers new, of interactive ways to STORIES learn about Left: The National Park Service wartime history opens several new permanent exhibits at the T. Stell Newman HERE ith the touch of a but- ’ ton, lights dance Visitor Center today. Rick Cruz/Pacific Daily News/[email protected] across a giant map of Guam, telling the sto- ry of war in a way Wyou’ve never seen before. Red lights represent the embed- ded Japanese, who curl into defen- sive positions on beachfronts and guampdn.com ridgelines. Green lights represent the Marines, who approach from the ocean and fight for a foothold on land. During a presentation that lasts about seven minutes, the points of light on this large relief map show how Japanese forces lost beaches in Asan and Agat. They then retreat- ed north before the Marines split the island in half to divide and con- quer. As the lights clash on the map, overhead screens show black-and- white battle footage and the sounds of war rumble through a high-tech audio system. A somber narrator brings it all together, quoting Marines who survived the battle. “In the morning I had only 10 rounds of ammunition left,” the nar- rator explains, as the lights chase each other across the map. “Every- body was quiet — either dead or wounded.” This relief map, which uses an overhead laser light system to ex- plain the battle to retake Guam, is the centerpiece of the new War in the Pacific National Historical Park museum. The museum opens on to the public today. Entry to the museum is free. The relief map may be the most advanced exhibit in the new mu- seum, but it’s far from the only at- traction. The museum has more de- tailed information presented in more interactive exhibits — and available in more languages — than ever before. Attraction The museum features about $2 million worth of new exhibits, which are the result of about seven years of work, said Park Superin- tendent Barbara Alberti and muse- um designer Dan Quan. “We think that this is going to be a great attraction for the tourism industry here on Guam. And it’s going to be a wonderful tool for the teachers on Guam,” Alberti said. In the weeks leading up to Lib- eration Day, the Park Service held special invitation-only open house events for local educators, the tourism industry and a collection of community leaders. The museum is divided into three main sections. A perimeter tour covers the War in the Pacific as a whole, culminating in a seven- n Continued on page 8 6 Saturday, July 21, 2012 Saturday, , guampdn.com Guam’s Complete Home Site. Guamhomefinder.com 7 Saturday, July 21, 2012, Saturday, Some of the HISTORICAL SITES TELL GUAM’S WAR STORY historical island the days leading Although the event took place 68 said. brutal wartime history and libera- places to visit: up to the island’s years ago, it wasn’t until 2004 that “Yigo is known as the last bat- tion. liberation in the Chagui’an Massacre site was tlefield during the Japanese occu- After today’s celebrations have World War II, 45 located. The area only became pation and American invasion. ended, you can continue to make Tumon Bay men and boys memorialized in 2008. They bring back history and are that connection to Guam’s libera- Along the waterfront of Tumon’s wereIn rounded up by Japanese forces Places like the Chagui’an Mas- landmarks of our past during the tion by remembering the events of hotel row are a multitude of World and marched to Yigo.