Apollonia Manglona, 84, of Meridianville, is like a beautiful tree with branches.
The Guam native was born in Rota which is part of the Mariana Islands. She has nine children, 16 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. She and her five daughters and four sons and many of their offspring attended the Guam 80th Liberation Day celebration Saturday at The Cliffs at Redstone.
Manglona lived in Guam when the island was liberated by U.S. forces on July 21, 1944, from Japanese occupation. The Japanese had attacked Guam on Dec. 8, 1941, shortly after striking Pearl Harbor, igniting the war in the Pacific.
“I’ve got two kids born in Guam and we lived in Guam for most of our lives,” Manglona said.
She described the significance of Liberation Day to her. “It’s very special to me because we lived there for so long, and I’ve got two kids who were born in Guam,” she said.
Retired Col. Frank Chargualaf, 86, of Harvest, was the oldest of the 300 attendees at Saturday afternoon’s event which included food and music for the many families descended from the islands.
“I want to thank you very much for the continuation of celebrating the people of Guam,” he told the crowd.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Fernandez, 67, of Madison, opened the program which began with the U.S. national anthem and the anthem of Guam, “Fanohge Chamoru.” Guam is a U.S. territory which means it is part of the United States and citizens of Guam are citizens of the U.S. as well. Fernandez retired from the Army in October 2005 after 30 years of service.
“It means to me a lot of things,” Fernandez said of Liberation Day. “First and foremost, it’s liberation from tyranny – you know, that’s the imperial forces from Japan. And of course, the fact that we shall never forget the suffering that the Chamorro people endured.”
Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Leon Guerrero, 42, of Redstone Arsenal, attended the celebration with his wife of 12 years, La-Resa, and four daughters. Originally from Mangilao, Guam, he is chief paralegal with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate. Leon Guerrero has been in the Army 15 years and arrived at Redstone in August 2023.
His family members in attendance included daughter Alecktra, 17; daughter Aria, 11; daughter Aziah, 22, with her daughter Alizae, 11 months; and daughter Akyna, 23, with her daughter Aviya, 3 months, and husband, Rick.
“It means everything to me,” Leon Guerrero said of Liberation Day. “The United States has its own Independence Day. Guam has its own which is called the Liberation. It just builds unity to see our people from our islands in the States get to share this beautiful occasion amongst each other.”
Music was provided by the Latte Stone Band, from Huntsville, with vocalist Ashley Martin, guitarists Kevin McBride, Gil Manglona and Thomas Perez and drummer Jon Blas.
Chargualaf watched everything like a proud dad. His son Ronnie, and Ronnie’s wife Lasca, were among the attendees. Chargualaf has three children – two sons and a daughter – 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The Guam native was a young child when the Japanese occupied his homeland. Chargualaf survived being in a prisoner of war camp and his combat tours in Korea and Vietnam. In 1969 he was appointed as ambassador at large for Guam by Gov. Manuel Flores Guerrero.
“I may change uniform,” Chargualaf said, “but I will never change being a Guamanian.”
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