This monument, visible from the cache, was erected by the Mid-Pacific Post, American Legion Guam and recognizes the Liberation of Guam by U.S. Forces on July 21, 1944. This is a small piece of the history that many may have never noticed as they travelled south. Bunny Rabbit would like you to take a few moments to view it and appreciate those who helped liberate the island many years ago.
Liberating Guam
By DAVE LOTZ and ROSE S.N. MANIBUSAN
By early 1944, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was preparing for Operation Forager — the capture, occupation, and defense of the Mariana Islands. Targeted were the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. The United States Pacific forces under Nimitz's command commenced the broad Pacific sweep of island-hopping that would by mid-summer 1944 result in the Liberation of Guam.
American naval forces were hard at work as the war moved west. America and Japan both considered the Mariana Islands important because of their strategic location. From Guam, airstrips would be built, where B-29s could make bombing runs to Japan. Apra Harbor, because of its deep water port, would serve as an excellent fleet anchorage in the Western Pacific. Outside the continental United States, Guam would become one of the largest naval bases in the Pacific. As a former U. S. possession, America had a moral obligation to liberate the Chamorro people.
American fast carriers attacked the Marianas Islands on Feb. 23, 1944. At the same time, American submarines concentrated on sinking Japanese ships. Both tactical elements would thus disrupt reinforcement of the islands. Ultimately the submarines sank at least 30 enemy ships at the cost of two submarines and prevented troops and equipment from reaching Guam and the other Marianas Islands.
On July 21, 1944, beginning at 0530, for three hours the beaches off Asan and Agat were shelled and bombed. Off the reefs, to the horizon, American battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and landing craft, along with over 50,000 U.S. troops, prepared to retake Guam. At 0819, in Asan, the Marines, loaded into their amphibious Landing Vehicles, Tracked (LVT) for the assault, reached the line of departure. The first waves of LVTs hit the beach at 0829 in Asan and at 0832 in Agat.