The 7 Co-Liberators and Heroes of Malesso were honored earlier today as Bill 303, which designates Route 4 in Malesso as the “Seven Heroes of Malesso Highway” —- was signed into law.
PNC’s Damen Michael has this story
Bill 303 looks to honor the seven heroes of Malesso who saved the village from the total massacre by renaming a portion of route 4 in the village as Seven Heroes of Malesso Highway.
The co-liberators are Jose Reyes, Vincent Meno, Patricio Taijeron, Nicolas Ada, Mariano Nangauta, Jose Nangauta, and Juan Naputi.
The bill introduced by Senator Tony Ada noted that these 7 heroes risked their lives to prevent further massacres from happening after the 50 Chamorro men and women were massacred in the Tinta and Faha areas of Malesso.
In a release shared to PNC by Juan Naputi, Spokesperson for the families of the War Heroes, Co-liberator Jose Reyes drew up a plan with the other liberators to attack the Japanese that were returning from work detail during sunset.
Reyes holding the only rifle shot the first soldier descending from the hill and the remaining liberators engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
All but one Japanese Soldier was eliminated and in fear of retaliation, another group of men towed a canoe to open seas to inform U.S Armed Forces of Chamorro inhabitants inland.
In an interview with Mae Nangauta, the oldest representative of Malesso told PNC how happy she was for the seven brave men
Nangauta said, ” oh I’m so happy to hear now that these men were recognized and their names will never be forgotten by the people of merizo especially the families whose children or grandchildren are still alive. ”
Reporting for the Pacific News Center
I’m Damen Michael
