Japan occupied Guam for thirty-two months during World War II with brutal force.

Evidence

Before its inhabitants finally became citizens, Guam became one of the only pieces of U.S. territory occupied during World War II. Two days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, thousands of Japan’s troops overwhelmed about four hundred defenders on Guam. Chamorros would have to endure not just one day but thirty-two months “which will live in infamy” during the Japanese occupation. The Japanese government changed the island’s name to Omiya Jima, introduced the yen, and forced Chamorros to learn Japanese. “You must bow to us” became the law; violence became the means of enforcement. The Japanese military put as many as twenty thousand Chamorros into concentration camps. There was rape, sexual slavery, and other forced labor. Hundreds were killed by machine gun, grenade, and sword. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 238

Two days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, thousands of Japan’s troops overwhelmed about four hundred defenders on Guam. Chamorros would have to endure not just one day but thirty-two months “which will live in infamy” during the Japanese occupation. The Japanese government changed the island’s name to Omiya Jima, introduced the yen, and forced Chamorros to learn Japanese. “You must bow to us” became the law; violence became the means of enforcement. The Japanese military put as many as twenty thousand Chamorros into concentration camps. There was rape, sexual slavery, and other forced labor. Hundreds were killed by machine gun, grenade, and sword. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 238

Categorization

• QUESTION: The ironies compound: Chamorros denied U.S. citizenship rights then suffered Japanese occupation as American subjects — worth tracing how colonial legal status affected wartime protection.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 238