No single event more dramatically altered the course of Guam’s future than did the American recapture of the island from the Japanese, in July and August of 1944.

As with the first volume in The Pictorial History of Guam series, “The Americanization of Guam: 1898-1989,” the primary purpose of this book is to help record the story of the Chamorros and the events that make up the history of their island. Their story is one of survival, of meeting the onslaught of progress, while still maintaining their unique cultural identity. And, as recounted in this volume, of confronting with courage, the hardships of occupation and the horrors of war.