Personal Histories of World War II in the Marianas

This series is presented by the CNMI Museum of History and Culture for the 60th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battles for Saipan and Tinian.

THE MARINE SCOUTS’ STORY

The destruction brought by war touches every aspect of the society in which it takes place. War can displace entire populations, tear families apart, and decimate towns and homes, to say nothing of the psychological and spiritual damage it may cause … for war takes a terrible toll on the human spirit as well. Yet it does have another side. War often leads to incredible acts of courage, selflessness, bravery, and even kindness. And war can make a man out of a boy, and a hero out of a man.

In 1944, on the tropical island of Saipan in the western Pacific Ocean, 64 young native men were part of an extraordinary group. In many ways they are without peers, yet their stories are little known. In this, the 60th anniversary year of the Battle for Saipan and of the formation of this group of men, it is fitting that their story be told for all to hear … and remember.

As the Battle for Saipan drew to a close, more than 3000 Chamorro and Carolinian people had been placed in Camp Susupe. The large camp was divided into sections that housed native civilians, approximately 9,100 Japanese and 1,100 Korean civilians, and some 1,700 Japanese and Korean prisoners of war.

Although Saipan had been declared secure, Japanese holdouts in the jungle terrain continued to be a problem. Several hundred enemy soldiers, along with an unknown number of civilians, remained in hiding. Some were armed and continued to harass the American forces with nighttime raids and sniper attacks. U.S. Marines and soldiers were constantly placed on patrol to search for Japanese stragglers. The Americans had a difficult problem on their hands and little time to spend on it. The American Island Commander of the Military Government on Saipan decided to delegate the responsibility for combat patrols to a group of local men.

The main objective in recruiting local residents was to relieve the U.S. armed forces so they could devote their energies to the war effort. Some 100 young Chamorro and Carolinian men said goodbye to their families in Camp Susupe after being recruited to help the 2nd Marine Division. Some became the “native police,” assigned to help the 811th Military Police Company (of the Army) guard prisoners and maintain law and order in Camp Susupe. These recruits were trained by the Army Military Police and were responsible for guarding the entire camp. This meant enforcing all general orders and regulations issued for the civilian camp and preventing unauthorized civilians from entering or leaving.

In early August of 1944, 50 Chamorro and Carolinian men were selected by the military government for a special mission with the Marine Corps 6th Provisional Military Police Battalion. They were chosen, in part, because of their familiarity with the locations of Japanese fortifications on Saipan. They knew these locations because, earlier, the Japanese had conscripted many of them to do the work of building tunnels, enlarging caves, and constructing gun emplacements and other potential hideouts. They were also selected for their general knowledge of the Saipan terrain and for their fluent command of the Japanese language.

The group was taken to the I-Denni area of central Saipan, about five miles from their families and friends in Camp Susupe. Upon arrival at the Marine camp, the company was divided into five platoons of 10 men each, issued uniforms and gear, and given extensive training in military tactics. The men believed they were being trained to become United States Marines.

The initial assignment for each of these five groups—known collectively as the “Marine Scouts”—was to go on combat patrols and undertake mopping-up operations around Mt. Tapochau, down to the hilly areas of Laulau and the Kagman Peninsula, and northward on the ridges to Mt. Marpi. On these patrol missions, they destroyed virtually all man-made caves, tunnels, bunkers, and military hideouts to ensure that any snipers or Japanese holdouts remaining on Saipan would be forced to turn themselves in.

On one of these combat patrol missions around the Talafofo area on the eastern coast of Saipan, a platoon captured three Japanese snipers who were hiding in a cave. On two separate occasions, several platoons of Marine Scouts joined expeditions to the Northern Islands, hundreds of miles away, in order to remove Japanese soldiers stationed on those islands. Marine Scouts engaged Japanese snipers in the Lake Susupe area and fought alongside American Marines in a section of Saipan that would come to be known as “Death Valley.”

When hostilities ceased and Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945, the Marianas Marine Scouts were released from duty with the 6th Provisional Military Police Battalion. Not one had died during their service as Marines in the war. The young men returned to their families at Camp Susupe.

Without compensation, other than a quick goodbye to the Chamorro and Carolinian Marine Scouts, the United States Armed Forces left Saipan in 1945 and turned over the administration of the Northern Marianas to an interim government under the American flag. For over 50 years, the Marine Scouts spoke of their wartime experiences with family members and friends, and each year, residents of the Northern Mariana Islands remembered the men in ceremonies for veterans. Still, something was missing: official recognition from the U.S. military, and the veterans benefits the men should have received as U.S. servicemen, but which they were never offered.

For many years, this oversight bothered Juan N. Babauta and Edward Deleon Guerrero Pangelinan, sons of two of the scouts. The two discussed the matter frequently over the years and wondered what could be done. When Babauta was elected in 1990 as the CNMI’s Resident Representative to the United States in Washington, D.C., he and his special adviser Pangelinan had the opportunity to do something for the Scouts. Together with Babauta’s staff, the two men researched various U.S. laws and read thousands of pages of declassified military archives. They also collected affidavits from 11 of the Scouts still living. In 1997 a 100-page petition for official recognition of the Scouts as United States veterans was filed with the Secretary of the Air Force. It would take a further two long years of research and review before the Civilian/Military Service Review Board decided in favor of the application. The official memorandum from the Board stated that the Marianas Marine Scouts’ service “should be equated to active military duty.”

On September 30, 1999 the Department of Defense made it official, and on January 31, 2000—55 years after the fact—the Marine Scouts’ service in the U.S. Armed Forces was formally recognized. In an emotional ceremony held in the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe, on Saipan, each Scout was inducted into the Marine Corps with the rank of corporal … awarded the Asiatic Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal … and received an honorable discharge from active duty. Then CNMI Governor Pedro P. Tenorio, Resident Representative to the United States Juan N. Babauta and his staff, members of the 12th NMI Legislature, U.S. military officers, and officials from veterans groups were on hand to witness the event, joining hundreds of family members and well-wishers from the community. Some members of the Scouts who could not attend the ceremony due to their frail health were later visited by USMC Brigadier General Parker, Judge Munson (who administered the oath of induction), Governor Tenorio, and Resident Representative Babauta, each Scout receiving certificate of service, medals, and official discharge.

As General Parker said in his address to the Scouts at the recognition ceremony, “This recognition is a long time coming, but your contribution to the mission of the United States Marine Corps was clearly demonstrated over fifty years ago. To sacrifice your life for freedom and democracy, as reflected in the flag of the United States of America, represents the greatest contribution that a citizen can make to the future of this great nation. Your country applauds you. Your recognition as United States Marines today ensures that this generation, and generations to come, will remember your service to the United States of America.”

(Adapted from Now for Then: The Marianas Marine Scouts, published by the Office of the Resident Representative to the United States, CNMI. Used by permission.)