Following the invasion of Tinian in July 1944 by the U.S. military, "Camp Churo" was established to care for, as well as bring some semblance of organization, to Tinian's 10,635 non-military inhabitants. This camp, misnamed "Camp Churo" by the U.S. Military, was within Tinian's village of Chulu. U.S. military officials chose this site because of the existence of water wells, that would better serve the needs of the civilian population. The camp was divided into two sections. One held the 8278 Japanese and Okinawan civilians. Okinawans, brought to the island to work in the sugarcane fields, made up most of this group. 2357 Koreans, also brought in to work the sugarcane fields, made up the second section. There were no Chamorros or Carolinians in Tinian's civilian count, but noted were the presence of four Chinese persons.
In a few weeks, the the camp population rose to 11,479. A World War II correspondent for VOGUE magazine wrote that the "birth rate was four times higher than the death rate" (Kempner, 1945, pp. 103, 125-127). Life within the camp eased into a livable routine. Everyone received two meals a day. Those between the ages of 16 and 60 that volunteered to work were given a third meal at noontime. The skilled volunteers earned a daily wage of 50 cents while the unskilled ones were paid 35 cents. Fields outside of the camp were utilized for farming. Rudimentary crops provided sustenance for the camp population. The civilians were also allowed to fish in nearby waters. Water was rationed to a gallon a day, to be used for drinking as well as for washing. It was not uncommon to see male and female, young and old alike, bathing themselves, bathing children, or washing clothes at the sites of the water wells. Commercial pursuits were also part of camp life. Camp Chulu had 30 "authorized, legitimate, and privately owned enterprises" (Kempner,1945). These largely involved the production of handcrafted items including hand-sewn cloth Japanese dolls, wooden masks, miniature wooden models of the native cow carts (karetan guaka) that harken back to the Spanish period, woven pandanus bags, seed necklaces and belts, as well as metal objects produced by the smithee.
There were 3,000 children in Camp Churo and a young Naval officer Lieutenant (j.g.) H. Terjen Mook took it upon himself to teach the youngsters English, geography, history, and arithmetic Through hard effort and hard-earned community support, Lt. Mook was able to achieve successes. The civilians also had their own means of entertainment. They would don traditional costumes and take part in dramatizations and comedies based on native Japanese plays. The U.S. military also provided stateside movies and newsreels including the ever-popular films depicting the comedic antics of Bud Abbot and Lou Costello. Although the housing situation appeared rather shanty during the Camp's existence, people within its perimeter nevertheless lived life as best they knew how and made it bearable and even enjoyable. The inhabitants of Camp Chulu were repatriated to their respective homelands in 1946.
Source documents for this narrative are contained in Groehn Collections' archived material.
(CNMI Accession#: 1999.26)