Down winding roads and behind lush green jungle is a clearing.

 

Though usually empty and quiet, on Thursday it was brimming with people gathered to honor and remember what took place on these grounds.

At the tail end of World War II, 45 CHamoru men were taken from the Manenggon concentration camp and forced to carry supplies to a Japanese Army Command post in Yigo.

These men were later executed by the Japanese to prevent them from providing information to American troops.

Then, on Aug. 8, 1944, while continuing to drive the Japanese north, the Americans made a gruesome discovery: A truck loaded with the decapitated bodies of 24 of the men.

The next morning, the 21 remaining bodies were found at Chagui’an.

This discovery marked the largest single act of violence that occurred on Guam during the war.

Lt. Governor Josh Tenorio says the continued remembrance of this tragedy ensures that we get closer to restoring what dignity we can to the men from which it was brutally taken.

“Remembering the men of Chagui’an and keeping their memory alive is a form of resistance because truth is a form of justice, and because the lessons of war must be learned and kept alive in the hearts and minds of every single generation. Especially here in Guam,” said Tenorio. 

And by learning about these events and remembering the human price of war, the Lt. Governor prays that it will be enough for us to avoid it.

“It’s our duty to impress upon the next generation that life – however fragile – is also full of possibility, the possibility to work through our differences with peace as the ultimate priority,” added Tenorio. “But history gives us memory and memory gives us wisdom. We must use this wisdom to shape a different future where the pain of one generation need not be the fate of another.”

Master storyteller and CHamoru language educator, Peter Onedera, shared an original poem written just for the memorial alongside the young men’s league of Guam.

“In a swift moment in time, they were gone. They were forced, overpowered, tortured, executed by beheadings. Men. Young, mid-adult, elderly even. Family men. Bachelors. Common, decent, God-fearing. They were my brothers forever etched into hearts, minds, memories, for time immemorial. I pray, I resist, I was tormented. Why? This was the age old question for they were forever gone,” said Onedera. “Goodbye my brothers. Goodbye my friends. We will meet again.”

And so, the 45 men of Chagui’an are not lost to time.

Their names are known. The legacy of their sacrifice and bravery endures.

And each year, Guam remembers, with purpose, with pride, and with a commitment to the words 'never again'.