Pan Am 1941 route map showing Canton Island
Canton Island in 1941 was a tiny, barren atoll of sand and rocks, with no native population. But it made a convenient spot where Pan American Airline's clipper planes could stop for refueling on their way from Hawaii to New Zealand.
Pan Am also had a station on Guam, and it was from Guam that Pan Am recruited workers to staff various positions on Canton Island.
That's how these Chamorro Pan Am workers got stuck on a remote atoll, far from home, when World War II broke out on December 7, 1941.
From the list of Chamorro Pan Am employees working at Canton Island in 1941
The Chamorro workers were (name, age, occupation, home village) :
ANDERSON, Jose (24, waiter, Sumay)
BORJA, Antonio (21, launderer, Sumay)
CARBULLIDO, Albert (23, clerk, Agat)
CHARFAUROS, Ignacio (23, mess boy, Agat)
CONCEPCION, Juan (23, waiter, Sumay)
CRUZ, Ignacio (31, cook, Sumay)
CRUZ, Vicente (25, assistant cook, Agana)
DE LEON, Jose (46, aircraft mechanic, Agana)
DUEÑAS, Ramon (47, carpenter, Sumay)
GARRIDO, Anselmo (27, aircraft mechanic, Sumay)
GUERRERO, Jose (27, cook, Agana)
GUERRERO, Magno (18, messboy, Agana)
MAFNAS, Antonio (23, waiter, Agana)
MATAGULAY, Juan (41, aircraft mechanic, Garapan, Saipan)
MATERNE, Domingo (23, laundryman, Agana)
MESA, Felix (24, utility man, Agat)
PEREZ, Vicente (20, waiter, Agana)
QUITUGUA, Enrique (30, cook, Asan)
RIVERA, Vicente (22, waiter, Agana)
SALAS, Juan (33, cook, Agana)
VALENZUELA, Francisco (27, mess boy, Agana)
WON PAT, Vicente (23, bar keeper, Sumay)
The large number of Sumay men is not surprising, given that the Pan Am base and hotel site were located in Sumay before the war.
JOSÉ PANGELINAN DE LEÓN IN 1960
One of the Chamorro Pan Am employees on Canton Island in 1941
CANTON ISLAND
PAN AM'S CANTON BASE BEFORE THE WAR
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