19511d0c-ad26-4cdc-97ff-b32549d49b03

Kasperbauer, Carmen_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

Carmen Artero Kasperbauer was born in Agana, in Guam on August 8th 1935 to Josepha Perez Torres Artero and Antonio Cruz Artero. She was the second oldest of 12 children. When the war broke out on December 8th, Carmen was dressed like an angel in a cathedral mass for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. They suddenly heard the droning of the plane and they thought it was Pan Am Clipper and got excited. The grownups soon realized it was not Pan Am Clippers and they all panicked, running out of the church. There was bombing going on in town. Carmen and her sister got separated from the rest of the family, but her aunt found them and grabbed their hands. She got them home and her parents already in the car. So many people were panicked; they were hanging all over the car, begging to have her father take them with him. They headed north to Taguac, their family property. Taguac is in the back area of Dededo. Carmen jumps ahead to tell of hiding George Tweed. She tells how Mr. Pangolin [sp?], their neighbor in Taguac begged her father to help hide George Tweed, the Navy radio man. He was a prisoner of war who escaped and had been kept hidden by the Chamorros for a long time. Her father, Antonio, agreed and he hid him in what is now known as Tweed’s Cave, a narrow slit between two cliffs. This was very risky, as the Japanese were punishing and executing people that they thought were hiding Tweed. Carmen’s dad would take Tweed food in a gunny sack and to fool any Japanese who they may run into, he had Carmen come along with an empty gunny sack to pick federico nuts while he would go up to Tweed and give him his provisions. Carmen and her family were always hungry. They never had enough because the Japanese were always taking it away. They would show up at meal time and push her family away from the table and eat all their food. Carmen shared photos that she brought, including a few of Tweed’s cave and that area, pictures of her family with Tweed, one picture of her parents with Tweed from 1981, a photo of the car that Tweed gave them as a token of appreciation by the Chevrolet Company. She also had a copy of a letter that Tweed wrote to Carmen’s father and left in the cave for him to find, telling him that he was going to be picked up by a boat. She also had a copy of a map he drew and some signals he planned out to signal the Americans. She also read the letter out loud. Carmen discussed how she feels that America and Japan should make a formal apology to the Chamorros for using their land and people as their battleground. They destroyed the Chamorro culture, which can never again be the same. She also would love if America and Japan would build a museum in Guam for all their artifacts and also a performing arts center because it would be a way of economic development for the island, by all the visiting tourists can come to see their talented young people. Carmen points out that a lot of private land had been taken away by the Americans in 1946. They also forced the Chamorros to become US citizens through an act of Congress. And that way, it legitimized the land taking. Now a lot of that land is surplus and Carmen would like to see it given back to the people it was taken from. Carmen explains that they are not against the veterans, because they feel that once they realized what was going on, they made changes in their plans on how to attack the island and to care for the natives. In the beginning, the natives were not part of their thoughts and their plan. She herself has a son who is a Navy pilot and he was sent to the Gulf War during the Iraq-Kuwait War and he was one of the planes in the very first wave to initiate the war. She tells a story of one Japanese officer in Guam right in the beginning of the war who befriended her mom and dad. He would come visit them at their house in Agana and sing American songs to the kids. Before he left, he gave her mom and dad a picture of himself and his wife and his kids. He said that he hated his country, going into war with America and he cried. He loved America and he was a graduate of Harvard University and he had lots of good friends in America. Carmen believes his ship ended up being destroyed. Carmen’s final story was about going into hiding in Tweed’s cave when the Americans were bombing everywhere. She recalls how before they left, Mr. Pangolin was tricked and taken away and killed and her father was almost taken away as well. Carmen helped her father chase away the men by handing him a gun and calling the dogs. Feeling very vulnerable, they hid at Tweed’s cave. They didn’t realize at the time, but her mom was pregnant, and she lost that pregnancy there. Her dad had to go down to fetch water in the fresh water pool and that went on for days. Carmen would go to the front of the cave and was watching the invasion and one day her cousin came up telling them that the Americans had come to help them. When they proved they were to be trusted, Carmen and her family left with the American soldiers and were taken to a safe place. This turned out to be Carmen’s 9th birthday. Carmen had pneumonia and had to be put in the infirmary tent and she recalls the man to one side of her was coughing and vomiting up blood and the woman to her other side was screaming on and on, and Carmen didn’t realize she was giving birth. That night she ran away to find her family. This is how Carmen remembers the end of the war. Carmen’s message is how we must try to forgive, but we must try also to make it better for our children. And we must give recognition and tribute to those Chamorros who were killed, because of America and Americans have an obligation to recognize that. Not only recognize but give tribute.

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 4170

War in the Pacific Oral Histories

2025/03/07

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

Saturday, April 5, 2025 2:51:01 PM

Saturday, April 5, 2025 2:51:01 PM

Kasperbauer, Carmen_WAPA-246_WAPA 4170_OralHist_Video.mp4

mp4

2403.3 MB

Historic

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