Liberation Day

Last weekend, a few days after our return from Japan – just after finishing all the laundry – we attended the biggest fiesta on Guam – the Liberation Day parade. This was the 68^th celebration of the July 21 liberation of Guam from the Japanese by the US Marines during World War II.

Some families went all out decorating their booths.  No one went hungry.

Scouts get in on the action.

Scout sisters at work.

The guy on the left is famous on Guam. We call him Elvis because of his hat.
He can be found every Wednesday dancing like a Muppet at Chamorro Village.

Guam is one of several Pacific islands that were critical in the US-Asia front during WWII.  It’s the front I didn’t learn much about in school, and most of my current knowledge is from the National Park Service publications here on Guam, from reading Unbroken last fall, and from the speeches of the Admiral in charge of Joint Region Marianas, who just left the island for his next duty station, after giving the most fired-up politically charge change of command speech I have ever heard. More on that later.

What you need to know: Guam was under US protection from the time of the Spanish-American war in 1898 until 1942, when the Japanese captured it, ran out the Americans, and enslaved the Chamorros.  Many were massacred. Two years later, on July 21, 1944, the Marines were back, charged the beach, and recaptured the island. According to our Admiral, more Marines died on the shores of Guam than at Guadalcanal.

Ever since that day, the Chamorro people have honored the Marines (and the Seabees who rebuilt the island) by celebrating the 21^st of July in a much bigger way than the 4^th. 

The princesses of each village.

We were warned that crowds and traffic for the parade would be awful. A couple neighbors intended to watch the parade on TV instead of fighting the crowds. I guess people get spoiled here. I think there were more people in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Chicago than live on this island.

One of the scout moms stood in line for 5 hours to reserve a spot on the parade route for a tent, so that the scouts could sell drinks and treats to make money for their Eagle projects.  I’d been busy shopping and baking for the previous 2 days, after restocking the pantry post-vacation. Bought a bunch of freezer pops, but didn’t give them enough time to freeze.  We loaded up the GMC at 0500 the day of the parade with tents, chairs, goodies, coolers, drinks, chips, posters, and sunscreen.  Some people had set out their tents the day before so that they could camp out and start cooking their fiestas early before the parade’s start at 10.

I showed up with the younger kids at 8:30, and had no problem finding a parking spot, although I admit I had to walk 4 blocks, hardly a stretch after our miles through Tokyo.  We found the Boy Scout tent and set up our chairs. We had the ocean to our backs – perfect for a quick dip when it got hot.  Best spot to watch a parade ever.

View from behind our tent. The smoke down the way is from grills.

The bishopmobile.

And the parade way exceeded my expectations. The floats were beautiful. The bands were good. Spirits were high.  It was a beautiful day on the island. 

The theme was "68 years of Progress through Peace," and the floats were supposed to be made with local sustainable materials.

The flowers on this float are made of coconut husks.

By the time the parade started, the boys had handed out all the sweets, except the unfrozen freezer pops and some melted lemon bars, and most of the waters.  They gave away what was left of the waters to people in the parade.  Under my husband the scoutmaster’s direction, they gave things away for free, and just asked for donations. 

A lot of people, especially kids, took without giving. This made me a little uncomfortable, because I was the one who had charged all the groceries.  But my husband’s sense of charity was good.  Many people gave more than enough to cover our costs. And many people, especially some of the volunteers, were really grateful for a free, cold water.  And my husband felt rewarded for the act of community service when he heard someone at work (who didn’t know he’s the scoutmaster) say “I heard the scouts were giving away waters.”

The proa, a sailing canoe, is a symbol of the island.

This group was popular. The bird lady was quite stunning.

When the parade ended a few hours later, clean-up of our space was quick and easy.  But the boys worked another couple hours sorting cans and bottles for recycling. This was a dirty, stinky job, that I got out of because I took the littles home, after I saw enough messy garbage to be even more impressed with the cleanliness of Japan.  It surprises me on an island people aren’t more careful with their garbage. If as much care were given to cleaning up and beautification as was given to the floats, Guam would be a prettier place.

This energy efficiency bulb is from the Navy base.

Our youngest is afraid of mascots.

This one is for my dad: big man on a little chair roasting a pig.