b8ea38a2-d2cc-40b2-b242-5a69ec3cdb57

O'Brien, Cyril_Z42_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_public.mp3

Cyril O’Brien, resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, began his career as a writer and media representative for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory just outside of Washington, D.C., until a year or so ago when he retired. He had been doing newspaper work most of the time and, in fact, even when he was working at Hopkins he was still represented papers in New Jersey. One of the reasons he has now come back to Guam is to write for newspapers and magazines about what he now sees here. However, his principle reason for returning was to see the battlegrounds, the landing beaches, where he, as a Sergeant with the First Battalion of the Third Regiment of the Third Marine Division, landed ashore very near Adelup Point. Cyril, or OB as his friends called him, was 21 when he joined the Marine Corps in 1942, in July, and he landed on Guam when he was 23, two years later. He had served before on Bougainville, Solomon Islands north of Guadalcanal, and had been in the Infantry. He was brand new at being a scout and still wonders if some of the poor Marines are still buried there. He was brand new at this job, so he didn’t have much experience as a scout, but it was his first introduction to combat. He was later hired as a Marine Corps Combat Correspondent and this is the position he was in when they landed on Guam. He was there to capture the true stories of the troops in combat. Mr. O’Brien’s first impression of Guam was the night before the invasions. He was on a ship offshore, the star shells were falling continually, and as he looked out he saw the big black hills that would be illuminated and they’d throw silhouettes. Then more star shells would pop in the night as the Navy shelling continued. All night you looked at these big black hills, which almost hypnotized you, and you thought, “Tomorrow, I will be in there.” It wasn’t necessarily a sense of fear, as it was excitement. There was no need to fear it because you knew you were going to have to do it. After having a large meal and receiving Communion, they all loaded into the AmTrac vehicles that were going to take them ashore. Mr. O’Brien remembers there was a corpsman, a very cheerful fellow with a big mustache, who said, “OB, I’ll see you on the beach.” Unfortunately, a shell landed in his AmTrac and OB never saw him again, he was killed. When Mr. O’Brien’s troop reached the shore, the gunfire was not as bad as he had originally thought, seeing that the Navy had cleared the way, but it was still intense. At this time, the troops were advancing forward up Chonito Ridge. Yes, there was gunfire and grenades going off, but the thing that OB remembers the most was the sound was so unbearable. Even with someone merely feet away, you had to scream to be heard. One thing that always impressed OB was of course the defense of the Japanese. They were on top of Chonito Hill and they were pouring everything at U.S. soldiers. At one point, they were about 100 yards from each other. The Marines were so close that in some cases, the Japanese couldn’t even throw their hand grenades; they used to roll them down the hill, because if they threw them, they’d go too far. Eventually, as history shows, the U.S. troops went up the side and took control of the ridge from the Japanese with a lot of firepower. Mr. O’Brien has no bitterness towards the Japanese, as they, too, were just soldiers doing their job like the Americans were. He also believes there are great tributes to the Japanese in the museum on Guam. However, he feels there is not enough representation about what the Americans did. As he stands in the museum and looks out a window, he can see Chonito Ridge where the first invasion took place and there is nothing pointing to the hill, no plague or anything telling the story of what happened. This is where the invasion began. He believes the American soldiers should be honored with a plaque on the road pointing to the ridge and something telling the story. He also feels there should be a map on the wall inside the museum outlining the different battlefields and different units. He would like to see the monuments as they are in U.S. for the battles that were fought there. His wish is that this will change.

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U.S. National Park Service, War in the Pacific National Historical Park

This digital asset is in the public domain. This digital version was made possible through the National Park Service by a grant from the National Park Foundation through generous support from the Mellon Foundation. When using this asset for any purpose, including online, credit 'Courtesy U.S. National Parks'.

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War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Code: WAPA

Guam , Guam
War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam , Guam
Latitude: 13.3905000686646, Longitude: 144.654006958008

ICMS (Interior Collection Managment System) : WAPA-00246
NPS Museum Number Catalog : WAPA 4192

War in the Pacific Oral Histories

2023/12/14

Sourced File: Video File (S:/WAPA_OralHist_0001_master.wav, 361,768 KB)

T. Stell Newman Visitor Center, Collections room, Safe and Shelf SLF D-01

Public Can View

Rose Manibusan, Jennifer Craig

Organization: American Memorial Park
Role: Chief Interpretation
Address: Micro Beach Road, Garapan, Mp 96950
Email: wapa_interpretation@nps.gov

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 12:33:45 PM

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 12:33:45 PM

O'Brien, Cyril_Z42_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Audio_public.mp3

mp3

49.8 MB

Historic

War In The Pacific National Historical Park and American Memorial Park