Two Lovers Point area

Dave Mueller

Several times a week, I ride my bike along the road that provides access to Two Lover’s Point and Tanguisson Beach. I know that this road is the only section of the WW2 road I’ve explored that is still in use. Until recently, I never even thought to look for war remnants along it’s length. The whole area was called the “Harmon Annex”, used by the Army Air Corps as a base following the liberation of Guam in 1944. I have read that General LeMay’s headquarters was in this area. Today, however, the whole area is overgrown with tall grases, formerly abandoned clearings from the 50’s and 60’s when the Air Force occupied the site.

Along both sides of the road is an easement for utilities. There are underground fuel and power lines running from the Tanguisson power plant to the distribution station along Marine Drive. As a result of all these disturbances, I figured it was pointless to look for anything remaining from the war along this stretch of road.

A couple months ago, the power company did some maintenance along the easement, pushing the grass and scrub growth back into the jungle with a bulldozer. Following this work, I noticed some bottles laying in the clearing. Figuring they were modern trash, I disregarded them.

Recently, I got a flat tire on my bike in this area, so I pulled off the road to change the tube. It was an opportunity to look closer at the bottles laying in the new clearing, literally within sight of the Two Lover’s Point sign. Amazingly, one of the first bottles I find is a WW2 Japanese Kirin Beer Bottle!

The next weekend, my youngest son and I decided to explore the area more closely.

My Son, Justin, runs ahead looking for stuff in the dirt bank, pushed there by a bulldozer to clear the easement.
We find broken Japanese beer bottles everywhere – obviously broken while clearing the area. This is the base of a smaller WW2 Kirin beer bottle.
Amazingly, the bulldozer did not break this WW2 Japanese DaiNippon beer bottle.
Justin with a Kirin beer bottle he pulled out of the dirt in one piece.
Patio soda bottle – Pepsi’s first diet soda, produced in 1963 and 1964 until they changed the name to Diet Pepsi.
Two clear WW2 coke bottles dated 1945, sitting next to a more recent whiskey bottle, probably from the 50’s.
Shards of DaiNippon beer bottles are laying everywhere, Japanese war remnants sitting within sight of the Two Lovers Point entrance, one of the most popular destination for tourists from Japan.
Justin did really well, finding two more Japanese beer bottles, next to a shard of a broken DaiNippon bottle.
Justin holds a piece of DaiNippon beer bottle he picked up just a few feet from the Two Lovers Point entrance.

When we were done exploring, we had rescued seven WW2 era Japanese beer bottles from sure breakage by lawn mowers. There is no telling how many bottles remain buried in the dirt banks. Time will tell as the rain washes away the soil. It is apparent that this was a roadside dump site following the liberation in 1944. Scattered amongst recent trash and beer bottles from the 1950’s until today are countless fragments of broken beer and soda bottles dated 1944 and 1945.

My son had a great time also and he has started a WW2 botttle collection of his own. Usually, I can’t bring him with me into the jungle because of the growth – sharp plant spines, rocks, spiders, and mosquitoes. This was a great opportunity to take him somewhere safe and to show him some history first hand.