[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 5, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-16327]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: July 5, 1994]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 127
Tuesday, July 5, 1994
____________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
Proclamation 6705 of June 30, 1994
50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Guam
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Fifty years ago, on July 21, 1944, after two and a half
years of occupation, 55,000 United States Marines and
soldiers stormed the small Pacific Island of Guam in an
effort to bring about the liberation of a people
oppressed by tyranny.
The conquest of Guam by Imperial Japanese forces had
begun shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor when
Saipan-based Japanese bombers launched the first in a
series of raids on the island. The small defending
force consisted of a handful of military and civilian
construction workers, as well as the local Guam Insular
Guard and the Guam Militia. Hopes of defending the
island ended in the early morning hours of December 10,
1941, when the island's governor surrendered his post
and the island, thus making Guam the only American
community to be occupied during World War II.
The Chamorros, the indigenous people of Guam, endured
great hardships during the occupation as their captors
forced them to work long hours in the fields, repair or
build airfields and defense installations, and dig
hundreds of Japanese shelter caves. But liberation was
close at hand. Guam offered an ideal strategic position
for the Allied forces, as it would provide a
centralized location between the Japanese homeland and
the Philippine Islands to launch long-range bomber
attacks. By taking the Marianas Islands back, we would
also be able to sever vital enemy supply lines, thus
cutting off thousands of enemy soldiers and ending
their effectiveness in the war.
The battle for Guam was fierce. Enemy forces continued
to launch counterattacks despite their lack of supplies
or hope of winning. But the Americans were just as
determined and went to great lengths to complete their
mission.
Chief of Staff General Dwight D. Eisenhower stated it
best when he said:
``In a nation at war, teamwork by the whole people is
necessary for victory. But the issue is decided on the
battlefield, toward which all national effort leads.
The country's fate lies in the hands of its soldier
citizens; in the clash of battle is found the final
test of plans, training, equipment, and--above all--the
fighting spirit of units and individuals.''
And it was the spirit of the Americans fighting on Guam
that brought a quick end to organized resistance on the
island as it was secured by the American forces on
August 10, 1944.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim July 21, 1994, as the ``50th
Anniversary of the Liberation of Guam.'' I call upon
all Americans to observe this day with appropriate
programs and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and
eighteenth.
(Presidential Sig.)>
[FR Doc. 94-16327
Filed 6-30-94; 2:20 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P
