Place

Sumai/Sumay

War In The Pacific National Historical Park

Black and white photo of the facade of a church full of bullet holes surrounded by ruins. — Ruins of Santa Guadalupe Church in Sumai after the Battle of Guam, 1944.
US Army Signal Corps Collection of Photographs; National Archives 111-SC- 21184

Built beneath the palm trees growing along the southern edge of Apra Harbor’s clear blue water, the town of Sumai was a long-time commercial hub on the eve of America’s entry into World War II. Originally inhabited by the indigenous CHamoru people, Sumai's proximity to Apra Harbor, a natural deep-water port, made it an important center throughout Guam’s history. It came under Spanish rule and became a popular stop for trans-Pacific galleons (1521–1898) and other ships needing to resupply and a favorite port town for the whaling industry throughout the 1800s.[1]

Following the Spanish-American War (ended 1898) and the establishment of U.S. military rule, the Naval Governorship was based in Sumai and it quickly became the center of Guam’s connection to U.S. national and international interests. The U.S. Marine Aviation Squadron built their barracks in Sumai and Standard Oil Company’s oil storage tanks were located just outside of town. The Trans-Pacific Cable Company, which connected Guam with North America and Asia, also established a station here. Once a week, the luxurious Pan American Airways’ China Clipper landed in Sumai's sheltered water on its way to and from the U.S. and China.[2] By 1941, two thousand people lived in Sumai, just under 10% of Guam’s total population.[3]

However, with war looming, there were dangers associated with Sumai and its surrounding landscape’s strategic importance for transportation and communication. On the morning of December 8, 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sumai became the first place on Guam to be attacked by Japanese forces.

That day, with much jubilance, one of the most important Catholic holidays, Gipot Santa Maria/Feast of the Immaculate Conception, was being celebrated. As many of Sumai's residents left the church, nine Japanese planes appeared in the sky above the town. They bombed the Pan American buildings and the Standard Oil fuel tanks, killing two CHamoru and effectively cutting Guam off from the outside world.[4]

With just the clothes on their backs, the residents of Sumai fled to seek safety in the bundåk/jungle and liyang/caves. Two days later, on December 10, 1941, Naval Governor Captain McMillin surrendered Guam and was taken as a prisoner of war. The Japanese quickly seized Sumai as the location for their own garrison. The few residents who stayed were quickly evicted from their homes and faced terrible treatment, including five women who were raped by the invading forces. Sumai's residents spent the next three years of the Japanese occupation living in makeshift shelters.

In preparation to recapture Guam in 1944, American forces heavily bombed the island. On July 21, 1944 American forces landed on Guam’s shores and on August 10th, after fierce fighting, the island was declared secure. When the dust settled and Sumai's residents were free to return, they found their homes gone, completely destroyed in the fight to retake the island.[5]

After nine months of waiting to return home, in April 1945 the US Navy informed Sumai's residents that they had two choices: merge with the village of Hågat/Agat and form one community or move to the newly developed site of Sånta Rita on the slopes of Mount Alifan. Mourning the loss of their ancestral lands, the island razed by U.S. bombs and ravaged by war, Sumai residents moved to Sånta Rita.[6] Three years later, in November 1948, Guam’s Naval Governor Charles Pownall officially seized Sumai as part of Naval Base Guam.[7]

Sumai, with its deep-water port and open space for an airstrip, continues to be strategically important to military priorities and has not been returned to its original inhabitants. Today, all that remains of the once flourishing town are the church cross, the CHamoru cemetery and the taotaomo’na/ancestors. To request access, contact the Public Access Plan Coordinator referenced in the Joint Region Marianas Public Access Plan.

To hear oral history interviews from people who survived the attack on Sumay, listen to the interviews with: Juan Namaulea Perez, Father Marcian Pellett, and Rafael Reyes.

View historic photos of Sumai from before and after World War II.

[1] Leo Babauta, "Sumai (Sumay)," Guampedia, November 16, 2023; Jennings Bunn, "Sumay," War in the Pacific National Historical Park.

[2] Babauta, "Sumai (Sumay)."

[3] US Census Bureau, “Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1941” (Washington DC: Bureau of the Census, 1942); James Perez Viernes, "Fanhasso i Taotao Sumay: Displacement, Dispossession and Survival in Guam" (Honolulu, Hawaii, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2008), 55.

[4] Viernes, "Fanhasso i Taotao Sumay," 69–70.

[5] Viernes, 72–74, 77–78.

[6] Babauta, "Sumai (Sumay)"; Viernes, "Fanhasso i Taotao Sumay," 99.

[7] Viernes, "Fanhasso i Taotao Sumay," 87–95.

This article was made possible through generous support from the Mellon Foundation in partnership with the National Park Foundation and American Conservation Experience. Learn more about the Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship.