Roofers Taken as POWs

December 8, 1941 - Just hours after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Guam became a target of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Among other U.S. assets on Guam stood intercept Station BAKER, located at Libugon Hill. For three straight days, the Japanese bombed U.S. Naval assets on Guam, sinking the USS BARNES and USS PENGUIN in Piti Harbor and destroying much of the island’s infrastructure. For those three days, the seven assigned “On-The-Roof Gang” operators (Don Barnum, Eddie Dullard, Bob Ellis, Stu Faulkner, Hal Joslin, Rex Parr, and Markle Smith) destroyed as much classified material as possible before heading deep into the jungle. On day 3 of the Japanese siege on Guam, over 6,000 Japanese landed on Guam at Agat and Agana, and the island’s naval governor, CAPT George McMillin, surrendered. Among the nearly 400 Sailors, Marines, and civilians taken prisoner on Guam were the seven “On-The-Roof Gang” members. They were captured by the Japanese in the hills north of Libugon Hill and taken to Zentsuji Prison Camp to be held as Prisoners of War in Japan until the end of the war in 1945.