Jeff's Pirate
Cove
there have been many relics that date to the
ancient Chamorros found along the shoreline that fronts Jeff's
Pirate Cove and the area around it in Guam, offering clues to a
rich history of this region and the famous internationally
recognized landmark. Just about half way between the Togcha
River and the cove, there is a WWII bunker that had been
constructed by the Japanese when they occupied the island during
the war, and in 1945, Japanese stragglers would murder a
Chamorro guide and five US sailors that had been hunting for war
souvenirs along the Togcha River. Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi, the most
famous WWII straggler, would come here and visit the area that
he lived in until 1972, when he would be discovered, after
spending 28 years hidden in the Talofofo jungle after the end of
the war. Yokoi stated that while he hid in the hills around the
Togcha, he would listen to the festivities going on at the cove.
After the war, a Flight Personnel Rehabilitation Camp would be
built on the site, and by 1945, the 25th Naval Construction
Battalion constructed a beer garden, horseshoe throwing pits,
softball diamonds and volleyball courts there, and later a salt
water swimming pool. After serving some 10,000 officers and men,
the camp would be destroyed by Typhoon Allen in 1949. The
original owner would lease the property from the Shimizu family
in 1952, whose name was Adrian LaDeau, who would sell out to
Jimmy Cruz in 1967, who was a retired Navy chief, and then, his
widow would sell it to Jeff Pleadwell in 1979; and ever since,
the cove or Jeff's would be the name of the bar/restaurant
located there.
|
