HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — To celebrate 79 years since Guam was liberated from the Japanese military’s control, a woman who was 6 when the Japanese first invaded described in vivid detail what life was like during that time.
On Friday morning, the 79th Liberation Day festivities kicked off with a memorial ceremony held at the Guam Museum in Hågatña. Many of the island’s leaders, including Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, the 37th Guam Legislature, village mayors and a host of military personnel from all branches, heard the remarks of Carmen Artero Kasperbauer, a former senator, retired nurse and war survivor.
As Kasperbauer took the stage behind the Guam Museum facing Marine Corps Drive and the memorials throughout Skinner Plaza, she recalled being a 6-year-old girl, dressed as an angel and at Mass with her family at the cathedral in Hagåtña for the fiesta of the Immaculate Concepcion.
It was the morning of Dec. 8, 1941, She heard the drone of airplanes overhead, thinking they were Pan American Airlines flights and wanting to go outside to see them.
As the planes continued flying over, Mass stopped when a man spoke to the priest. Kasperbauer recalled them whispering before she heard a loud explosion from a far distance.
Her family and all others in attendance were urged to return home because the Japanese were invading Guam.
“We were so scared,” Kasperbauer said.
She said her family tried to return home, which was not too far from where she was speaking on Friday morning.
“As we were running, a plane came swooping down and we got so scared that we ran under somebody’s house, because in those days houses were on stilts. I got so scared that when we ran down under the house, I landed on top of a big turtle,” said Kasperbauer.
She said her family took their belongings from their Hågatña home and moved north to the area now known as NCS. They lived there for the duration of the war.
Helped hide Tweed
In that time, Kasperbauer’s family helped U.S. Navy radioman George Tweed hide from the Japanese military.
She vividly remembered the sounds and sights of the war zone that was Guam during the Japanese occupation — airplanes being shot down, dead American and Japanese soldiers.
“There were a lot of American soldiers, … there were a lot of Japanese soldiers, … some were hanging in the trees,” Kasperbauer said.
Her family lived in fear until they were rescued by American soldiers on her birthday.
“My mother asked one of the soldiers what day it was, because we had been hiding in the jungle and he told us it was Aug. 8. She was laughing and crying, hugging me and saying, … “Today is your birthday.” … I will never forget that,” she said.
Kasperbauer shared that a Japanese soldier visited her family’s house. He had been drafted into the military after attending college in the United States.
“He told us that he did not want to go to war against America because he loved America. There was nothing he could do, ” Kasperbauer said. “I remember seeing tears rolling down his cheek. … He told my mother that he did not think he will ever see his wife and children.”
Kasperbauer concluded by sharing wisdom she gained from her experiences.
“War is terrible,” she said. “We should all learn to work together, to love, understand and tolerate each other in order to live in peace and harmony. Living in pain will destroy you. Living in love, that is what will truly liberate you.”
Carmen Artero Kasperbauer speaks at the 79th Liberation Day memorial ceremony held Friday morning, July 21, 2023.
