Seizure of Guam

The Imperial Japanese conquest of Guam began on December 8, 1941, just hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

At 8:27 a.m., while people were in church celebrating Gipot Santa Maria (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), nine Japanese planes appeared over the village of Sumai. They bombed the Pan American buildings and the Standard Oil fuel tanks outside of town. Two CHamoru men employed at the Pam American hotel were killed in the attack. The planes also sunk the USS Penguin (AM-33), the largest ship on Guam, and strafed Piti, Hagåtña and other major population centers.

World War II had arrived on Guam.

Unable to defend their homes, residents of Sumai, Piti and Hagåtña fled to the bundåk (jungle), liyang (caves), and ranches in the hills for safety.

The planes returned the following day, destroying radio towers and military facilities. Then, during the early hours of December 10, two groups of Japanese soldiers began the invasion. Roughly 400 men from a special Japanese naval landing party of the 5th Defense Force started landing at Dungca's Beach in Agana Bay, just outside the capital city of Hagåtña. The South Seas Detachment, a Japanese army unit with 5,500-man, landed on near Aporguan, Tumon, Togcha, and Agat.

Guam was poorly prepared for the invasion. The island’s entire military force consisted of 274 U.S. Navy personnel, more than half of them non-combative personnel; 153 Marines; and about 120 Insular Force Guards with minimal military training. The garrison was armed with three machines guns, four Thompson submachine guns, six Browning automatic pistols, fifty .30 caliber pistols, a dozen .22 caliber regulation rifles, and eighty-five Springfield rifles labelled: Do not shoot. For training only.

Captain George J. McMillin, the island’s governor, sent most of the Marines to defend the Orote peninsula. Three platoons of the Insular Force Guard (roughly 85 men) were assigned to defend Hagåtña. The Insular Guard made a valiant attempt to stop the Japanese advance at the Plaza de Espana. They managed to drive the Japanese soldiers back twice but were soon overwhelmed. The battle lasted less than an hour.

By 5:45 a.m., McMillin realized that "the situation was simply hopeless," and began to surrender his post and the island. He signed the letter of surrender between 6:00 and 7:00 and the Japanese flag was raised over the governor's mansion.

For the next 32 months, Guam was Japanese-occupied territory. It was one of only four places in the United States occupied by enemy forces during World War II.