George Ray Tweed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Ray Tweed, (July 2, 1902 – January 16, 1989) was a Radioman in the United States Navy at the outbreak of WWII.

A sixteen year veteran of the Navy, George was the chief radioman on Guam when the Japanese invaded the island on December 10 1941. He and five other men slipped into the Guam jungle rather than become prisoners of war.

When the Japanese became aware of these men on the island they began to hunt for them. The Japanese issued an order demanding that they surrender within a 30 day period or be beheaded when captured. None of the men surrendered and the Japanese eventually captured and executed all of them except George. The Japanese also executed local Chamorro natives whom they suspected of helping the missing Americans.

George managed to elude the Japanese for two years and seven months, until just before the start of the Battle of Guam. On July 10, 1944 he was able to signal two destroyers involved in preparations for the impending US invasion. He was rescued by US troops.

For his heroism, George was awarded the Legion of Merit and promoted.

According to a newspaper article (Le Petit Journal, Montreal) from August 25, 1946, George Tweed had promised a local native, Antonio Artero, a brand new car if he evaded capture and return to the United States. George, with the help of General Motors, sent a car to Antonio Artero from San Francisco.

George Tweed died in an automobile accident in 1989. He is buried at Eagle Point National Cemetery in Oregon.

George Tweed's story is told in short in the official US Navy documentary on the Battle of Guam, as well as in the 1945 book "Robinson Crusoe, USN." His story was also dramatized in the 1962 movie "No Man is an Island" starring Jeffrey Hunter as George Tweed.

Controversy

Tweed's alleged story portrayed the Chamorro natives as uncivilized and weak against the Japanese; mainly because when Tweed would want to try to sneak out to the beach area's to signal allied boats, the Chamorro would advise him not to. This was due to the fact that many of the natives were forced to do labor for the Japanese, giving the natives great intelligence on Japanese weapons cache and troop locations. Unquestionably did the Chamorro give enormous assistance to Tweed, and many native lives were lost.According to tweed the signaling of battleships was a heroic task done single handedly by himself when the the truth is locals on shore were killed doing this while he remained hidden.The 1962 movie "No Man is an Island" is an inaccurate portayal of Guam Tweed's accounts and should be kept on a shelf with other fictional movies.