George Tweed Robinson Crusoe USN
The radioman that held out for 31 months on Guam in WWII
Jul 4, 2006
A US Territory won during the Spanish American war in 1898, Guam was an important half way point between Hawaii and the Philippines for the US pacific fleet. At the beginning of World War two the island and its sleepy backwater garrison was home to 700 US military personnel, mostly members of naval support units. On December 10, 1941, two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was attacked by a landing force of more than 6,000 Japanese troops. Having no heavy weapons and running short of ammunition for small arms they did have, the defenders were overrun within 48 hours. Declining to surrender, navy Radioman George Tweed packed his belongings into his personal car and drove into the mountains. He abandoned the vehicle and continued on foot accompanied by another sailor he picked up on the way. All he carried was a colt 45 handgun, some food and a small radio receiver. Within days Japanese troops were coming the dense interior for American stragglers (there were four others besides Tweed and his friend) forcing them to relocate often and take refuge in caves and holes. In February 1942 George's companion broke off on his own and was captured and executed. Two of the remaining Americans shared the same fate when they were captured a few months later and the final pair were captured and executed in October 1942.
At this point George Tweed was the only American on a small island with thousands of enemy troops. For years he continued a cat and mouse game with the islands new masters, changing his location often and only emerging in nights with no moon to find food and supplies. Local Chamorro natives helped George when they could and kept quiet about his whereabouts. Several paid for their kindness with their lives. By 1944 Japanese forces on the island numbered nearly 19,000 personnel and George had the added problem of avoiding American air raids. On at least two occasions he came within feet of being hit by bombs dropped by his own servicemen.
On July 21, 1944, Guam was invaded by a joint task force of U.S. Army, Navy and Marines. In the fierce fighting that shook the island, almost all of the Japanese defenders were killed. In a cave matrix produced by lava flows halfway up the 1200 ft Mt. Tenjo, Tweed lived as the "Caveman of Guam" With a ragtag uniform and long hair and beard he was found by US troops on the night of July 29, 1944. He had managed to elude the Japanese soldiers for two years seven months. He had been listed by the Navy as Killed in action more than thirty months before. He was awarded the Legion of Merit, given 30 days leave and over $5000 in back pay. After reuniting with his wife and children he reported back for duty and was promoted to Chief Radioman. One of the local Chamorro who aided Tweed, Antonio Artero, was decorated as well and an effort is under way to recognize others among the population who assisted in keeping him out of capture.
After the war he wrote a book 'Robinson Crusoe USN,' which was later turned into a movie. This modern day Robinson Crusoe died in 1989 in an automobile accident in Northern California. He was 86 years old.
As the most fitting end to this tale; when the Americans retook Guam in 1944 dozens of Japanese troops, rewriting Georges's story in their own language, refused to surrender and remained at large on the tiny island for years to come. The last known Japanese survivor,
> Shoichi Yokoi
did not surrender until 1972.
