Liberation Day ...

Most people don't know that Guam was the only populated U.S. territory that was occupied during World War II (some of the Aleutian islands were occupied for a short time). Hell, most people don't know where Guam is, or any of its significance to the United States.

Japan bombed Guam on the same day it bombed Pearl Harbor. The difference is that Japan invaded Guam and occupied it until August 1944 — more than 2-1/2 years.

Guam became a U.S. territory in 1898, at the culmination of the Spanish-American War. It maintained a military presence on the island. The people here, the Chamorros, considered themselves a part of the United States, even though America had yet to grant citizenship. There are few groups of people as patriotic as Chamorros.

Despite a brutal occupation which included forced labor, concentration camps, rape, torture, beheadings and other murders, the Chamorros maintained their faith in America. Several families help keep a U.S. Navy radioman, George R. Tweed, hidden and safe from the Japanese. They knew they would be killed for helping, but they continued to do so. Many more families kept hidden small American flags — knowing the penalty for possession of such was death.

Their hopes were made real on July 21, 1944, when U.S. Armed Forces — primarily Marines, but also some elements of the Army — landed on Guam. It took a few weeks of bloody fighting, along with thousands of U.S. casualties, before Guam was liberated. This is why the majority of locals love the men and women of the military, why we open our villages and our homes to young people thousands of miles away from home, feeding them our local cooking and making them feel like they have a second home here.

Tomorrow, the island will celebrate that event with a parade down the main road of our capital village. A month-long carnival continues. People are camping out along the parade route, barbecuing our famous island specialties. Families are together and celebrating.

Guam has never failed to give back to America, so grateful have been the people for the Liberation. Guam ranks among the top in any community for military recruitment per capita, and that's for all major forces — the Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force. That's been the case for decades.

Ask anyone who's been involved with hands-on training at the boot camp level for any length of time, and they will tell you how much they relish having a kid from Guam come through, especially a Chamorro young man or woman.

Guam suffered the highest per capita deaths in Vietnam. And in the Persian Gulf War. During the current campaign, several more have died. Several others have been wounded severely.

My point here is this: Even though America sometimes forgets us ... we never — and will never — forget them.

Happy Liberation Day.