Under Fire On Guam

A grunt’s view

US flotilla
Early on July 21, 1944–D-day for the American invasion of Guam in the Central Pacific’s Mariana Islands–a US flotilla hovers offshore to provide artillery support and guard against Japanese air attack. (National Archives)

Amtracs and ducks
Loaded with US Marines, amtracs (amphibious tractors) and ducks (amphibious vehicles codenamed DUKWs) race toward a Guam beach on July 21, 1944. (National Archives)

  

GIs on transport ship
The army’s 77th Infantry Division would stream onto Guam behind the marines from July 21-24. These GIs on a transport ship are going in on D-day, the 21st. (National Archives)

Exploding amtrak

While marines crawl onto a beach, an enemy shell explodes a troop-laden amtrac offshore. Survivors from other shelled amtracs are swimming toward the beach. (National Archives)

  

Marines racing for cover
After arriving on terra firma, marines jump from an amtrac and race for cover on a Guam beach on D-day. (National Archives)

Crawling marines
The only way to get off the beach was to crawl forward, as these marines are doing. A US destroyer in the center background shells Japanese positions on Guam. (National Archives)

  

Marine captains
Exhilarated but wary, marine Captains Paul O’Neal (left) and Milton Thompson plant the Stars and Stripes eight minutes after hitting the beach. Marine photographer Corporal Milton A. Ford took this risky shot. (National Archives)

US machine-gun nest
The Americans had to be extremely vigilant against Japanese night attacks and infiltration. This hidden machine-gun nest guards a flank of the army’s 305th Infantry. (National Archives)

Marines and tank
After securing beachheads, the Americans had to push inland and clear Guam of enemy forces. These marines move toward the central highlands with a tank. (National Archives)

US signalmen
Stretching communication lines to and from the advancing front was a constant priority. Here, marine signalmen check connections at a portable switchboard. (National Archives)

Dobermans and their handlers
Doberman pinscher “Devil Dogs”–trained to sniff out enemies and to carry messages between the front and the command post–move inland with their handlers. (National Archives)

Corporal and Doberman
Corporal Morris H. Cato (the human) walks Corporal Fritz von Margod (a Devil Dog) back at the beachhead after a late July inland patrol. (National Archives)

Wounded Doberman
War dog Corporal Kurt receives comfort and first aid on a jeep, after being wounded together with his marine handler. (National Archives)

Marines with puppies
Not all dogs on Guam were Devil Dogs. Marine Private William Zeckman (left) and Corporal Harry Wells (right) found these puppies in war-ravaged Agat. (National Archives)

Private preparing meal
Days after D-day, Private First Class Attilio Lattanz prepares his first hot meal on Guam: melted chocolate shavings, soon, perhaps, to become simulated hot chocolate. (National Archives)

77th Infantry forward observers
Army forward observers from the 77th Infantry Division size up the front in late July 1944 as the Americans’ northerly sweep up the island kicks into high gear. (National Archives)

Medics helping wounded marines
Medics assist wounded marines before returning them to combat or sending them offshore to waiting hospital ships. (National Archives)

3rd Marine Division machine-gunners
In Agana, Guam’s capital, 3rd Marine Division machine-gunners guard the flanks of US forces that are driving the Japanese out of the city and farther inland. (National Archives)

Captured Japanese
Few Japanese left Guam alive. Capture by the army’s 305th Infantry Regiment saved this man from the banzai charges and suicides of the invasion’s final days. (National Archives)

Wounded marine
A young marine wounded early in the fighting awaits evacuation to an aid station after being bandaged by frontline medics. (National Archives)