Barrigada is pretty easy to pronounce. Mangilao is pronounced "Muh-nee-lau". Barrigada was the site of battle
centered around a well. Today P.C Lujan Elementary School, located along the northern part of Route 8, sits smack
in the middle of the battlefield. The well was located immediately north of the modern-day school.
Unlike the Battle of Yigo, there is
no marker on site to commemorate
the Battle of Barrigada. Rather, just
off Route 8 is the San Vicente
Catholic Church. On the church
grounds is this simple memoral pillar.
This pillar and its dedication
plaque list the names of not only the
local men who fought and died to
liberate Guam from the Japanese,
but also lists the sons that Barrigada
has lost in Korea and Vietnam.
You can drive by P.C. Lujan Elementary School, but it is not
recommended you park and poke around the battlefield too much.
Schools on Guam take their security precautions very seriously,
and you could easily find yourself explaining your wanderings to
the Guam Police Department (no, I am not speaking from
experience!). March 2005.
This pillar, one of two, marks the
entrance to the grounds of the old
Officers Club. Nothing else of the
club remains. These pillars are
located on the grounds of the
present-day Navy NCS Barrigada
site. You have to get base access to
visit them.
A block north of Route 15 ("The
Back Road to Andersen AFB") in
Mangilao is the Church of World
Messianity's Peace Memorial.
This memorial is dedicated to all
the men who died in World War II.
