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DOI to mark Battle of Guam, CNMI
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Posted on Jul 15 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Tuesday, July 15, 2008 (Wednesday on Saipan), Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Guam Gov. Felix Camacho, Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo and CNMI Resident Representative Pedro A. Tenorio will commemorate the historic World War II battles that liberated Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Today’s wreath laying ceremony marking the 64th anniversary of the Liberation of Guam and the Battle for the Northern Marianas will be held at the Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns, beginning at 8:30am. The ceremony is a tribute to the sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen and Coast Guardsmen who fought in the War in the Pacific and the people of Guam who endured wartime occupation.
Guam Liberation Day marks the historic July 21, 1944 landing of U.S. troops on Guam to begin the recapture of the island from entrenched Japanese forces—a milestone in the island’s history and a significant U.S. military campaign that had earlier secured Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Marianas.
U.S. forces suffered 1,700 killed and 6,000 wounded in retaking Guam. More than 18,000 Japanese were killed in the battle. About 700 Chamorros lost their lives during the war years. [B][I](DOI)[/I][/B]
