WHERE IN THE WORLD: GUAM, NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS

By George Fontana

To those of us of a certain age, and to WWII history buffs, Guam, the largest island in Micronesia (32 miles long by 4 miles wide), is best known as a strategic military post and the site of ferocious and prolonged fighting between the Japanese and American forces. Indeed, the last Japanese soldier emerged from a remote cave (Guam is riddled with caves) 28 years after the War had officially ended. Perilously perched on the rim of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the world’s oceans, Guam is an important U.S. military position, as well as an increasingly important tourist destination and commercial port. The native Chamorro population continues to live on Guam (Guahan) having endured occupation by the Spanish, the Germans, the Japanese and the United States. Guam today is a U.S. territory, while Saipan and the islands to its north form a self-governing U.S. commonwealth. We docked at Apra, a modern, deep harbor with a significant U.S. Navy presence.

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