Medal of Honor Books This series of books contains the citations for ALL Medals of Honor awarded to that branch of service, with brief biographical data and photos of many of the recipients. Some of them also include citations for other awards, analysis of awards, data tables and analysis and more. Click on a book to find it on Amazon.com where you can find more details on what is contained in each book, as well as to get a free preview. Each volume is $24.95. Heroes in the War on Terrorism NAVY    -  MARINES   -  AIR FORCE   - ARMY O.E.F.  - ARMY O.I.F. These books contain the citations for nearly all of the awards of the Silve Star and higher to members of each branch of service in the War on Terrorism. Books include photos of most recipients, some biographical data, analysis of awards by rank, unit, date, and more. ENCYCLOPEDIA of AMERICAN MILITARY HEROES With the 5 Medal of Honor volumes above, these books comprise a virtual 28-volume ENCYCLOPEDIA of decorated American heroes(15,000 pages)  with award citations, history, tables & analysis, and detailed indexes of ACEs, FLAG OFFICERS, and more. (Click on any book to see it in Amazon.com - $24.95 Each Volume) United States Army Heroes Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Service Medals 1873 - 1941 Korea Vietnam 1862 - 1960 RVN - Present United States Navy Heroes Navy Cross Silver Star Navy Corpsmen 1915 - 1941 WWII Korea - Present WWII United States Marine Corps Heroes Navy Cross Silver Star 1915 - WWII Korea - Present 1900 - 1941 WWII 1947 - Korea Vietnam - Present WINGS OF VALOR The Defining Generation Visit My AUTHOR PAGE

While Richmond Hobson and his volunteers were making their valiant attempt to block the harbor at Santiago by sinking the Merrimac, and while US Marines were engaging the enemy on the ground at Guantanamo Bay and Cuzco Well, the first American soldiers of the United States Army were on their way to the Philippine Islands.  The soldiers of the Eighth Army corps, under the command of Thomas McArthur Anderson, would require a five week voyage before arriving at Cavite in the Philippine Islands on July 1st.  It was a voyage to the far side of the planet, a world away from the action in Cuba.

 

 

The Philippine Expeditionary Force

While President McKinley unabashedly admitted he couldn't find the Philippine Islands on a map "within 2,000 miles",  Guam was even harder to find.  The small island, almost alone in the vast western reaches of the Pacific Ocean,  is only 30 miles long and 4-8 miles wide.  With a total land mass of 212 square miles, it is one fifth the size of Rhode Island, our smallest state.  In June of 1898 Guam didn't belong to the United States anyway, so who was to care.  

Indeed Guam mattered to Spain, the country that had claimed the island since 1668.  How little importance the island held for Spain however, was quickly apparent by the size of the military presence on he island...some sixty Spanish marines under the leadership of Lieutenant Guitterez.

To be sure, though the US President and few American citizens had ever heard of Guam, US Naval planners had noted its position in the Pacific for years.  The southernmost of the Mariana Islands, situated neatly between the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands some 5,000 miles west of San Francisco and 1,600 miles east of Manila Bay, the tropical island was an excellent re-coaling point for a burgeoning navy.  With this in mind, on June 20th Commander Henry Glass of the USS Charleston (C-2) turned his ship from its normal duties as escort for the convoy of the Philippine Expeditionary Force, and cruised to meet the enemy at Guam.

The strategic position of Guam in the the Pacific is limited only by the nature of the land itself.  The northern half of the island is almost entirely a plateau of coral formation, while the southern half is hilly and of volcanic origin.  Inhabited primarily by the native Chamorro, little of the industrialized world had made its way to the island late in the 19th century.  The only decent anchorage for sea-going vessels lay on the western coast in the wide Apra Harbor.  It was into the Apra Harbor that Commander Glass steamed his mighty warship on June 20th.

While the troop ships remained in the open ocean, Commander Glass ordered his sailors and Marines to battle stations. As the Charleston entered enemy territory, the commander sighted the Spanish fort of Santa Cruz.  Quickly he ordered his guns into action, firing a salvo of 12 heavy rounds, unaware that the Spanish fort had been abandoned for years.  When there was no return fire, the guns of the Charleston fell silent, and the warship steamed menacingly into the harbor towards the city of Piti.

As the Americans neared the city, Commander Glass was surprised at the Spanish response.  A small boat was slowing making its way towards the Charleston containing one officer and three of his men.  When the four enemy had been taken aboard, Lieutenant Guitterez began apologizing in Spanish.  Commander Glass couldn't believe his ears as the enemy officer's words were translated.

"We weren't aware your ship was coming to Guam," the nervous officer explained with an embarrassed look on his face.  "That is why we weren't prepared to return your 12-gun salute when you entered the harbor."  It was incongruous... so remote was the tropical island and of so little importance to Spain, that the garrison at Guam had not yet even learned that Spain and the United States were at war.

Then it was Lieutenant Guitterez's turn to express surprise, as Commander Glass informed him that the broadside issuing from the USS Charleston had NOT been a SALUTE...but a hostile act commenced in the war between the two nations.  "You and your men," Commander Glass informed the stunned Spanish officer, "are now prisoners of war."

---

 

It was one of those rare anomalies of warfare, the conquest of Guam, a new chapter in that Splendid Little War that made it so unique.  When the reality of the situation had been made clear to Lieutenant Guitterez, he and his fellow POWs were paroled and told to return to the Island and inform the Governor Juan Marina of the situation.  Commander Glass requested that the Spanish governor himself then come aboard to formalize the surrender.

Despite the situation and caught totally unawares of events elsewhere in the world, Governor Marina balked.  The following day Commander Glass sent Navy Lieutenant William Braunersreuther into Piti to deliver an ultimatum to the Spanish governor, backing his demand for surrender by preparing a landing party of 30 of the Charleston's Marine guards.  Faced with this final threat from the American commander, Governor Mariana surrendered to Lieutenant Braunersreuther with his men.  That afternoon the United States Flag was raised at the abandoned Fort Santa Cruz as the troop ships sailed into the harbor, their bands playing the National Anthem.  Amid the roar of naval guns, this time in salute, Commander Glass claimed the Island of Guam for the United States...the first American possession in the Pacific.   (Not until the following August 12th would the Hawaiian Islands become possessions of the United States.)  The Island of Guam was taken without casualty, on either side.

Mission accomplished, Glass then quickly set his convoy on course for Manila.  In the years to follow, Guam would become a major military installation for the United States.  In World War II the price for control of the island would be far more expensive in American lives.  More than a century later, however, the Stars and Stripes still fly over the island of Guam.

The Philippine Expeditonary Force arrived at Cavite ten days later, but would see little action against the Spanish.  In the Pacific, the Spanish-American War was all but over.  Half a world away, however, some of the bitterest fighting remained... and unlike the tropical island of Guam, Cuba's freedom from Spain would come at a high price.

 

HomeOfHeroes.com now has more than 25,000 pages of US History for you to view.