The Horror of War

THE HORRORS OF WAR

By Jillette Torre Leon-Guerrero

Justo Torre Leon-Guerrero today. He was a witness to the downed aircraft and the arrest of the pilot, his uncle and brother.

Juan Torre Leon Guerroro, who was tortured for helping the downed American pilot. Jose Leon Guerrero Cruz and Rosa Rosario on their wedding day. Cruz was beheaded for assisting a downed American Pilot who was also executed.

*Funding has been provided to Pacific Historic Parks from Humanities Guåhan and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the federal ARP Act of 2021.*

The plane was sputtering and flying low above the trees. Justo Torre Leon-Guerrero watched in horror as the American plane descended rapidly above the field, hit the ground, and crash landed into a coconut tree not far from where he stood. His older brother, Juan Torre Leon Guerrero, who had been loading wood into the carabao cart, told him to tie the carabao to a tree and stay put as he rushed to the downed plane to aid the pilot. At 14 years of age, Justo didn’t listen to his brother. He tied the carabao to a tree and rushed after his brother.

At this impressionable age, Justo had just witnessed the downing of an American plane. He watched as his uncle, Jose Leon Guerrero Cruz and his brother, Juan Torre Leon Guerrero helped the injured pilot out of the cockpit and onto the wing of the plane. The pilot was bleeding from a large cut above his ear. He vividly remembers the star on the wing of the plane where they stood. The pilot gave his gloves to his uncle and his ID bracelet to Juan. Justo asked to see it. He read, “Lt. J.G. Hamilton.” Just as he was returning the bracelet to his brother, a Japanese soldier snatched it from his hand. Terrified, he trembled as the Japanese soldiers took the pilot away.. Later, the same day, the soldiers returned and collected his uncle, Jose Leon Guerrero Cruz. The next day they came for his brother. The pilot and his uncle were beheaded several days later. His brother was tortured for his part in assisting the American flyer.

It wasn’t until decades later when Justo told his story to his family, that a search was initiated to find the identity of the American pilot, “Lt. JG Hamilton”. Justo wanted to find Lt. Hamilton’s family so that he, as one of the last people to see him, could meet them. But at 92 years-old, time is running out for Justo.

To this day, we have not been able to identify this pilot. Historical research online, a research trip from Guam to the National Archives at College Park, correspondence with groups looking for the remains of downed pilots and the assistance of War in the Pacific National Historical Park staff has not been successful in identifying him. Even a contracted researcher at the National Archives was not able to come up with anything.

While a lot of time has passed, the search will continue and hopefully one day we can pay tribute to the family of one of the greatest generation’s fallen heroes.

This single event had a significant impact on Justo Torre LeonGuerrero who retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Master Sergeant with two tours of duty in the war zone during the Vietnam War. He shares his WWII experience in his book, “Coming of Age in War-Torn Guam: The WWII Memoirs of Justo Torre Leon Guerrero.”