By Frank Whitman
On July 14, U.S. Marine Cpl. Frank Wright arrived in Guam for the second time in his life. The contrast between the two visits could hardly have been greater.
The 99-year-old Wright’s first visit to the island was 80 years ago when he was a member of the U.S. military that fought heroically in the ferocious battle to liberate Guam from the brutal occupation by Japanese forces.
Unlike his arrival 80 years ago, in 2024 he was welcomed at the A.B. Won Pat Guam International Airport by a delegation that included the governor, lieutenant governor, Marines from Camp Blaz and officials from the Guam Visitors Bureau. And he was provided with a hotel room on Tumon Bay.
He came to the island at the invitation of GVB and served as what is being termed Grand Liberator in the festivities surrounding Liberation Day, July 21.
Wright was 16 years old and living in Little Rock, Arkansas when the United States joined the hostilities of World War II. He was determined to take part in the fight, but had not reached the age of 18 as was required to join the U.S. military - so he lied about his age.
He reported to boot camp in San Diego on Jan. 24, 1942.
He became a member of the 4thMarine Raiders Special Forces, under the command of Col. James Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin Roosevelt.
The Marine Raiders are the Corps’ special forces arm and as such “are a force, expeditionary in nature, prepared to thrive in uncertain, chaotic, and austere environments,” according to the Raiders’ website.
During the war, Wright fought in the particularly vicious battles of Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Guam and Iwo Jima. During the battle for Guam, He was severely injured when a Japanese soldier stabbed him in the stomach with a bayonet. In Iwo Jima he was shot in the arm and chest by a machine gun.
In addition to the horrors of war, Wright recalled some less horrific times engaged in a favorite pastime. “I spent six months training (in Guam) for Iwo Jima,” he said during a courtesy visit at the governor’s office complex at Adelup. “During that time I was able to coerce some of the people to show me the secret fishing spots. … I'm from Arkansas and I love to fish.”
When he arrived in Guam 80 years later, he was awed by the development that had taken place over the years.
“When I first got here and saw all these buildings, you can’t believe how I felt,” he said. “I really felt honored to see all this stuff that has been going on.”
Click here to listen to a Liberation Day song composed by Tony Barcinas
From his third-floor hotel room he looked out the window and “I was looking down on the area that the Third Marine Division has traveled on,” he said. “I just raised my head up and saw all these beautiful hotels and restaurants … that does not just happen, folks; that's planning.”
Wright spent the last six months of his four-year active-duty stint in the Corps as a Marine drill instructor.
His military awards include a Purple Heart with two stars, the Presidential Unit Citation with two stars, Navy Unit Commendation, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign with three service stars, the Fleet Marine Force with four stars, the Marine Corps Expedition Medal, a Combat Action Ribbon with four stars, the Victory Medal and a Good Conduct Medal.
GVB is paying the travel expenses for Wright and a companion. He is also accompanied by eight other individuals – relatives and members of the Stockton Marine Corps Club - traveling at their own expense. The group will head to Iwo Jima after their Guam visit.
The Grand Liberator title is being used for the first time because “we were really trying to come up with a fitting title,” said Sinajana Mayor Robert Hofmann.
During the visit, Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero recognized Wright and the two parade Grand Marshals she had selected: Francisco Leon Guerrero Manibusan, 91, and Teresita Paulino, 86. Both were children in Guam during the Japanese occupation.
Hofmann said he felt the interaction between the liberator and the survivors would stoke the emotions of local residents. “That interaction brought tears to my eyes, that a liberator is talking to a war survivor,” he said.
Paulino reflected on the effect of the war. “In 1941, I was only four years old but I picked it up and you look around for all the atrocities that had happened ,” she said. “But you have to have a big heart and pick it up and move on to the best of your ability.”
Leon Guerrero said she was honored and had great respect for Wright’s “commitment and willingness to come back here and celebrate our 80 years of liberation.” She noted the commitment of the thousands of U.S. service members who fought to free the island from the Japanese Imperial Army. “We are what we are today: a free country, a free island back to peace in our Pacific island and enjoying the freedoms of democracy.”
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