Where the rivers interconnect: Look donates property

Photos of the trip to
Yilig and Manenggon River


River Meeting: Two volunteers work to chop down and clear an area of dense bamboo growth to reveal the Manenggon River (background).  A coconut tree marks the spot where the Yilig River and the Manenggon Rivers intersect.  The red shirted volunteer is in the Yilig River (foreground). The Yilig River is about 12-15 feet wide and about 12 feet deep at the center in the area that these volunteers crossed.

Senators Tina Muna Barnes and Rory Respicio joined by a few staffers, friends and Yona Mayor Pedo Terlaje made a trip to Yilig in an attempt to find the fork in the river where the Manenggon and Yilig Rivers join to pour out to Yilig Bay. It is the area where long-time resident and property owner (deceased) Dwight Look donated land for the construction of a memorial to honor those killed as well as those who survived the trauma of the period.

The area represents the location where the Japanese led and gathered many Chamorro families to torment, beatings, and eventually, even mass murder as accounted by some eye witnesses. During the final days of the war, Japanese soldiers gathered residents from all points on the island and instructed them to march to Manenggon and other concentration camps anticipating the invasion of U.S. Forces. Other eye witness accounts of the days leading to the invasion tell how many people never made it to Manenggon: being ambushed or killed along the way.

Former senator Willy Flores relates brutal acts told by eye witnesses in an effort to force them into submission. Based on accounts Flores received throughout the years working on the Manenggon Monument Memorial project describe the horror mothers had to endure while Japanese soldiers tossed infants into the air and bayoneted them on the way down; insisting their mothers watch or themselves be killed if not their other children.

For obvious reasons, facts like this and memories of the area have been suppressed and much of the history has not been documented. However, the passage of time has healed emotional wounds and in some cases allowed better understanding and even forgiveness for the violence that occur during war. Some participants of the war still alive today are beginning to articulate their experiences of that dark period in Guam’s history.

The Manenggon Memorial Foundation Members hope to capture testimonies of that period in a collection of personal interviews recorded by family members on audio or video cassettes, or by interviewers sent to conduct the interviews.

It is the desire of the Board of Directors of the Manenggon Memorial Foundation to build the memorial at the Manenggon Concentration Camp location, to bring honor to those who died along the march to Manenggon, at the camp and other concentration camps on Guam during WWII as well as those who survived the event.

If you or someone you know participated in the march to the Manenggon Concentration Camp, or other camps on the island and would like to provide your personal experience to be included in the Historic Collection at the Memorial when built, please call Dominic Muna at Senator Tina Muna Barnes’ office, (671) 472- 3455 or 472-3457 and inform him of your interest.

Old Navy Weir: This downstream photo of Yilig River was once the location of a Navy weir used as a water gauging station and supply area.

Machete in Hand: Making the trip to find the point where the rivers intersect are: Front L-R: (Kneeling):  Dominic Muna [Office of Senator Tina Barnes], Bill Hara [Office of Sen Tina Barnes],Ricardo Blas, Jonathan Leon Guerrero L-R (Middle Row):   Pete Aguon, Mayor Jose Terlaje, Sen Rory Respicio, Sen Tina Barnes, Krishelle Cruz [Office of Sen Tina Barnes], Ken Cruz [Office of Sen Respicio], Vicente "Butch" Camacho [Office of Sen. Barnes], Sonny Mitchell L-R: (Back):  Robert Hoffman [Office of Sen Respicio]

Enjoying the BIG Yilig: Senator Tina Muna Barnes is helped out of the Big Yilig River after she and volunteers enjoyed a refreshing dip in the river’s cool water after the hard work of revealing the Manenggon River located further upstream.

Thumbs Up! Senator Tina Muna Barnes, Chair Committee on Community, Culture, Recreation and Public Broadcasting is joined by Senator Rory Respicio in thumbs up support for the Manenggon Memorial Foundation project.