4. The Agana Race Riot saw black and white US Marines fight it out from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day 1944
Guam in the Pacific Ocean was host to both black and white US Marines in 1944. But instead of fighting the enemy, the white troops elected to turn on the all-black Marine 25th Depot Company. The white Marines would stop their fellow soldiers from entering Agana, pelt them with rocks, and shout racist obscenities at them. On Christmas Eve 1944, 9 members of the 25th on official leave were seen talking to local women, and white Marines opened fire on them. Then, on Christmas Day, 2 black soldiers were shot dead by drunken white Marines in separate incidents.
Guam’s white Marines were decidedly short on festive cheer and goodwill to all men. Not content with these murders, a white mob attacked an African-American depot on Boxing Day, and a white soldier sustained an injury when the 25th returned fire. Sick of their treatment by their fellow soldiers, 40 black Marines gave chase to the retreating mob in a jeep, but further violence was prevented by a roadblock. Can you guess what happened next? Yes, the black soldiers were charged with unlawful assembly, rioting, and attempted murder, whilst the white soldiers were left to nurse their aching heads.
