World War II Honoree

Justiniano Garcio Guico

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Pang, Philippine Islands

Honored By

U.S. Submarine Veterans, Inc.

Relationship

Shipmates

STEWARDS MATE FIRST CLASS PETTY OFFICER DIED FROM ACUTE PNEUMONIA AS A PRISONER OF WAR AFTER BEING TAKEN PRISONER FOLLOWING THE SCUTTLING OF USS GRENADIER SS-210 ON 22 APRIL 1943. DECORATIONS: POW MEDAL. WHILE ON HER SIXTH WAR PATROL IN THE NORTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN USS GRENADIER WAS FORCED TO SCUTTLE HERSELF AFTER BEING MORTALLY WOUNDED IN AN ATTACK BY JAPANESE AIRCRAFT. A JAPANESE MERCHANTMAN PICKED UP 8 OFFICERS AND 68 ENLISTED MEN AND TOOK THEM TO PENANG, MALAY STATES, WHERE THEY WERE QUESTIONED, BEATEN, AND STARVED BEFORE BEING SENT TO OTHER PRISON CAMPS. THEY WERE THEN SEPARATED AND TRANSFERRED FROM CAMP TO CAMP ALONG THE MALAY PENINSULA AND FINALLY TO JAPAN. THROUGHOUT THE WAR THEY SUFFERED BRUTAL, INHUMAN TREATMENT, AND THEIR REFUSAL TO REVEAL MILITARY INFORMATION BOTH FRUSTRATED AND ANGERED THEIR CAPTORS. DESPITE THE BRUTAL AND SADISTIC TREATMENT, ALL BUT FOUR OF GRENADIER'S CREW SURVIVED THEIR 2 YEARS IN JAPANESE HANDS.