Now for then

"Over fifty-five years ago a terrible and bloody world conflict swept across the islands of the Northern Marianas, as the United States of America and Japan struggled for supremacy in the Pacific. On June 15, 1944 the U.S. Marine Corps assaulted the Northern Mariana Islands at Saipan. Their intent was to secure the islands for the purpose of constructing strategic airfields, from which they would continue to carry out their efforts within the Pacific Theater of World War II. By July of 1945, the island of Saipan was declared secure by U.S. forces. Still, several hundred Japanese soldiers remained hidden in the dense jungles of Saipan, and harassed American soldiers with sniper attacks. In response, U.S. forces selected a group of approximately 50 Chamorro and Carolinian men, put them under the command of the 6th Provisional Police Military Battalion, and gave them the responsibility of patrolling for enemy holdouts. The men were issued Marine Corps uniforms, trained to use rifles and grenades, and instructed in hand-to-hand combat. Once on duty, platoons of these "Marine Scouts", as they came to be known, combed Mt. Topochau, the hills of Laulau and Kagman, and the ridges of Marpi. The Scouts took part in military expeditions on Maug and some of the other Northern Islands. Incredibly, none of these local men were killed during these highly dangerous operations. Yet their lives were clearly on the line. On September 30, 1999 the United States formally recognized the services of the Marine Scouts to the United States as "active duty" for purposes of all laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs"--P. 1.