Micronesia's Wartime Generation: Experiences and Memories

Abstract

In Micronesia, the years of World War II produced dramatic political, economic, and lifestyle shifts as Islanders experienced attacks and invasion, followed by a transition in governance. After more than three decades of colonial rule by Japan, the islands came under American control, first through military occupation administered by the U.S. Navy, then as a U.N. Trust Territory. This article examines how the impact of this historical moment—the transition in power due to military conquest—forever altered the lives of the generation that came to adulthood during the war years, and how that transition is encoded in memory.

Keywords:

• Micronesia
• World War II
• history
• memory
• war
• generations

Notes

Research was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, RO-22103-90, “World War II in Micronesia: Islander Recollections and Representations.” Additional support for travel, research, and publication assistance was provided by The Taft Memorial Fund of the University of Cincinnati, the University of Wyoming, the U.S. National Park Service, Federated States of Micronesia, University of Hawai'i--West O'ahu, and Montana State University. Results of NEH-funded research, and additional archival and other work, are reflected in two books: Typhoon of War: Micronesian Experiences of the Pacific War (University of Hawai'i Press, 2001), which outlines a general history of Micronesian experiences during the war years, and Memories of War: Micronesians in the Pacific War (University of Hawai'i Press, 2008), which focuses on how Islanders commemorate and represent their cultural memory of the war years. Elders who shared their memories, including those not named here, as well as translators and others who assisted in the research, are credited in the appendices of both books.

1 On the U.S. World War II generation, see Terkel (1984) and Brokaw (1999, 2001); although comparative studies are few, Maas and Settersten (1999) discuss postwar experiences of German World War II veterans.

2 This article does not deal with Guam, where American control dates back to the Spanish-American War in 1898, or with Kiribati, under British control from 1892 until independence.

3 See Acknowledgments for information on research funding, assistance, and interviewees.

4 In Saipan, however, the U.S. Navy placed indigenous Chamorros, known to be loyal supporters of the Japanese, in civilian internment camps.