Guam's 80th Liberation Day Parade: From tradition to full-blown family reunion (2024)

From Yigo to Malesso’ and Seattle to San Diego, camping out along the parade route went from a long-standing tradition to a full-blown family reunion for many families on Guam’s 80th Liberation Day.

On either side of Route 1 from Adelup to Hagatña Sunday morning, banners bearing family and “familia” or clan names were packed together as tightly as the canopies and the people under them.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero launched the parade with a directive for onlookers to “party hardy,” which those present took to heart.

“I feel wonderful,” said 87-year-old California resident Elizabeth Baza Sudo Mendiola, who was digging into a fiesta plate beach-side at the Sudo family reunion on Sunday morning.

She said she’s the youngest and last surviving of the 12 Sudo siblings, originally from Yona, who sired the clan present on Sunday.

A young girl back when U.S. Marines liberated the island in 1944, Sudo said she had many fun memories of Liberation Day celebrations growing up.

“My original life is on Guam, and I love it. I would like to stay here but my family is in California,” Mendiola said.

Mendiola has been living stateside for the past 40 years, according to daughter Christine Mendiola Crisostomo, who flew home with mom for this year’s reunion.

Some 30 people flew in from off-island to visit, said Frances Sudo Lizama, Mendiola’s niece, who was put in charge of planning the family reunion.

Members of the Sudo family, like others, took advantage of the 30% discounted airfare ticket from the states to Guam that the Guam Visitors Bureau and United Airlines jointly offered as part of this year’s celebration.

The Sudos’ get together wasn’t originally planned for Liberation Day, Lizama said, but so many family members from off-island wanted to attend the parade that they decided to push the event back and host it along the parade route.

“Coming together, it’s a good feeling. We can at least come together and still move the family forward and trying to pass down the traditions,” Lizama said.

Giving the next generation a glimpse of Guam is exactly what Arizona resident Desmond Wilson, 48 and originally from Hågat, had in mind for this Liberation Day.

Wilson brought his young children and wife for their first ever visit this year, where they tied in with relatives who set up a tent along the parade route.

“It’s been 30 years since I’ve seen liberation. I wanted my family to be able to experience it,” Wilson said, adding that it was “easier to show them than to explain.”

Wife Jessica Gutierrez, 46, said the experience has been great for her and the kids.

“I’m originally from Mexico, so this is my first time here. And I’m enjoying it. I mean, I liked the culture. It’s very similar to Mexican culture, the families, and I love the environment,” Gutierrez said.

The festivities were “nothing like I’ve ever seen. We’ve been to many festivals in many places, and this is by far the longest,” Gutierrez added.

Though the 80th Liberation Day was a first in a long time for some families and a first ever for others, it remained the latest in a long-time tradition for many.

Bino Gumataotao said he’s been helping to coordinate a Liberation Day get-together for most of the 47 years of his life.

That’s because the home he grew up in in Hagatña is about 40 feet away from Route 1, with a perfect view of the parade, and the party was always at their place, Gumataotao said.

Getting together with loved ones was always his favorite part of the celebrations, and they even have Liberation Day babies in the family tree, like his niece Victoria Gumataotao, who turned 25 on Sunday.

Though the pandemic put the brakes on Liberation Day festivities for years, and last year’s Typhoon Mawar stopped the celebration again, Gumataotao said they got right back to reserving a spot outside their door, where family members from Talo’fo’fo’ to Asan gathered around.

“It’s nice this year, it’s busy man, it’s the most packed I’ve seen in a long time. And it’s nice to see the people get together to keep the culture,” Gumataotao said.

He compared Liberation Day to the biggest village fiesta on the island.

“The fiesta, the family getting together, it’s not as strong as it used to be,” Gumataotao said. “At least Liberation is still strong.”