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The Invasion of Saipan and Tinian
I distinctly remember the invasion of Saipan and Tinian as if it were yesterday. It was 73 years ago when the U.S. forces began bombarding Saipan and Tinian (June 10, 1944) night and day. Five days later, on the morning of June 15, 1944, U.S. forces began landing on the southwestern and south side of Saipan. Our father, Elias P. Sablan, told us that we had to find a safer location to hide until the turmoil was over. Father knew of a cave up in the hill at upper Cannad Table hill so we all followed him to that cave where we took refuge for three weeks.
There were other families who knew about the location of the cave so they joined us. Initially there were about 30 people in the cave but later some of the people could not bear the tremendous heat in the cave; they chose to leave. We had nothing to drink or eat so, we would send out three able men to get sugarcane and that was all we had for the three weeks that we were in that cave.
One morning three able men went out to get sugarcane when they encountered a group of Japanese soldiers, so they hid until the soldiers were no longer visible. By then the sun was up and as the three men returned to the cave the offshore American battleships saw men crawling up the hill so they started shooting at the area where the three men were seen. The explosion of the bomb created an unbearable pressure so my eldest sister Marikita led us in prayer.
We thank God for protecting us and we thank the three Marines that got us out of the cave safely. To show our deep appreciation to the three Marines who saved us during the invasion, I joined the 2nd Marine Association as a lifetime member.
Dave M. Sablan Sr.
Talafofo, Saipan
