The Agana Bridge in Guam: 1945 - 2011 and Related Posts
Update to this story: July 13, 2014
This is so cool. Back in 2011, I wrote this blog post about when my husband Cary's father, Troy Matthews, was in the Navy CBs during WWII and helped to build the Agana Bridge in Guam.
This is what the email said:
"Hafa Adai Ms. Matthews,
Thank you for allowing the Department of Public Works for using your photos for display.
I've attached two new photos for your records. The first photo is of the bridge now.
The second shows the bridge construction (1945), which includes a photo of your father, Troy (IMG_3986) displayed at the Agana bridges ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday, July 9 with some very distinguished guests.
(IMG_3986) L-R Captain Philip Old, Director of the Joint Program Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy; The Honorable Eddie Baza Calvo, Governor of Guam; Mr. Carl Dominguez, Director of the Guam Department of Public Works; Captain Glen Shephard, Commanding Officer of the Naval Facilities Engineer Command Marianas and Ms. Richelle Takara, Territorial Representative of the Federal Highway Administration.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me or Monica via email or in the information below. Thank you again and have a wonderful day!"
Thank you! We are so proud to have been part of this.
~ Kathy M.
Original Story, February 2011:
I have shown some of these photos to you before, but have just gotten some new information about them, and decided to do a bit of research of my own and share them with you again. On other posts, I showed several Guam pictures that my father-in-law took and grouped them all together. A reader of Oregon Gifts, Mr. Martin Deinhart, spotted one of those posts and focused on the building of the Agana bridge. Martin sent me this email the other day:
"This week there was an article in the local Guam paper indicating that the Agana bridge--which your father-in-law worked on--was going to be be rebuilt. According to the article the present day bridge is the same one from 65 years ago. (I guarantee the next bridge will will not last 65 years.) Attached is a photo and map from the newspaper article." Martin Deinhart
Thank you, Martin, for that very interesting information and for inspiring me to do this post! (If you enjoy this post, I know that you will enjoy this one too: 1945 WW2 Guam Pictures of The Navy Seebees
So, do you guys remember this handsome young man? If you don't, he is my father-in-law, Troy Matthews. (It has been four years ago this month since Troy has gone on to be with the Lord.):
During WW2, Troy was stationed in Guam as a Navy Seabee. When he was there, he helped build the Agana Bridge. In the photo below, Troy is the one with his hand on the cement lever. This photo was taken on February 20, 1945:
Here is a photo after the bridge was completed, taken on March 23, 1945:
Link to the article from The Pacific News in Guam:
Roadwork in Hagåtña and replacement of the bridge threatens to hamper progress and delivery of supplies, said the commanding officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command.
According to Pacific Daily News files, design work will start in June and physical work could start by December. The project won't be complete until December 2014. For most of that time, at least two lanes of Marine Corps Drive will be closed."
If you enjoyed this post, I think that you will really like this related one: Troy's WW2 Guam Photos
This is so cool. Back in 2011, I wrote this blog post about when my husband Cary's father, Troy Matthews, was in the Navy CBs during WWII and helped to build the Agana Bridge in Guam.
The bridge was being rebuilt in 2011, and the Public Works Department in Guam
asked if they could use Troy's photos, and Cary and his Mom said sure. A
couple of days ago, I received these photos in an email:
This is what the email said:
"Hafa Adai Ms. Matthews,
Thank you for allowing the Department of Public Works for using your photos for display.
I've attached two new photos for your records. The first photo is of the bridge now.
The second shows the bridge construction (1945), which includes a photo of your father, Troy (IMG_3986) displayed at the Agana bridges ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday, July 9 with some very distinguished guests.
(IMG_3986) L-R Captain Philip Old, Director of the Joint Program Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy; The Honorable Eddie Baza Calvo, Governor of Guam; Mr. Carl Dominguez, Director of the Guam Department of Public Works; Captain Glen Shephard, Commanding Officer of the Naval Facilities Engineer Command Marianas and Ms. Richelle Takara, Territorial Representative of the Federal Highway Administration.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me or Monica via email or in the information below. Thank you again and have a wonderful day!"
Thank you! We are so proud to have been part of this.
~ Kathy M.
Original Story, February 2011:
I have shown some of these photos to you before, but have just gotten some new information about them, and decided to do a bit of research of my own and share them with you again. On other posts, I showed several Guam pictures that my father-in-law took and grouped them all together. A reader of Oregon Gifts, Mr. Martin Deinhart, spotted one of those posts and focused on the building of the Agana bridge. Martin sent me this email the other day:
"This week there was an article in the local Guam paper indicating that the Agana bridge--which your father-in-law worked on--was going to be be rebuilt. According to the article the present day bridge is the same one from 65 years ago. (I guarantee the next bridge will will not last 65 years.) Attached is a photo and map from the newspaper article." Martin Deinhart
Thank you, Martin, for that very interesting information and for inspiring me to do this post! (If you enjoy this post, I know that you will enjoy this one too: 1945 WW2 Guam Pictures of The Navy Seebees
So, do you guys remember this handsome young man? If you don't, he is my father-in-law, Troy Matthews. (It has been four years ago this month since Troy has gone on to be with the Lord.):
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
During WW2, Troy was stationed in Guam as a Navy Seabee. When he was there, he helped build the Agana Bridge. In the photo below, Troy is the one with his hand on the cement lever. This photo was taken on February 20, 1945:
 |
Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews
|
Here is a photo after the bridge was completed, taken on March 23, 1945:
 |
Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews
|
This next part is what I copied and
pasted from the article that Martin was telling us about. The text and
photos are all from The Pacific News:
Stumbling block:
Vehicles travel across the Agana Bridge next to the Paseo Loop in
this Sept. 17, 2010 file photo. A replacement project for the bridge
is expected to cause heavy road congestion and also could complicate
buildup projects.
Replacement needed: Vehicles
travel across the Agana Bridge just north of the Paseo Loop in this
September 2010 file photo. A project to replace the bridge with a
sturdier one will start this year, but could cause problems for buildup
projects. (Pacific Daily News file photo.)
"One of the largest logistical challenges the military buildup will face will be the Agana Bridge.
Roadwork in Hagåtña and replacement of the bridge threatens to hamper progress and delivery of supplies, said the commanding officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command.
Capt. Peter Lynch -- one of the
primary players in the Civil-Military Coordination Council -- earlier
this month said the bridge replacement project could complicate the
transfer of containers from the port in Piti to military and
construction projects in northern Guam.
The council will have to ensure
roadwork and the transfer of buildup supply shipments are coordinated,
Lynch said, or buildup projects could stumble over each other.
"That's where the (Civil-Military
Coordination Council ) is helpful," Lynch said. "You cross-pollinate
these ideas, issues and decisions that have already been made, and
figure out how they're going to work out. And then you have the
opportunity to come back and revise before anything has actually
happened."
The Defense Department created the
council last year in reaction to concerns that buildup projects needed
to be sequenced intelligently. The council has been on hiatus since
October, but is scheduled to meet again on Feb. 10.
Lynch said expansion at the Port
and road construction in Hagåtña, both of which threaten to impact the
flow of cargo, are two of the biggest issues the council will have to
tackle this year.
The roadwork in Hagåtña is
federally funded. It includes the replacement of two bridges that pass
over the Agana River and improvements to the intersection of Marine
Corps Drive and Route 8. The Agana Bridge, a 65-year-old structure on
Marine Corps Drive immediately north of Paseo Loop, will have to be
destroyed and rebuilt.
According to Pacific Daily News files, design work will start in June and physical work could start by December. The project won't be complete until December 2014. For most of that time, at least two lanes of Marine Corps Drive will be closed."
If
you want to continue your research on this topic, you can get started
with some links that I have found. I might expand on this post and
write a whole article on the Agana Bridge someday soon. I think that it
is so interesting that Troy helped build it, that I scanned and posted
those photos, that Martin found them and sent me info about the
rebuilding of the bridge. It sure is a small world, isn't it?
If you enjoyed this post, I think that you will really like this related one: Troy's WW2 Guam Photos
 | |
At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot! All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.  |
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Sepia Saturday #89: Some Sepia Posts That You May Not Have Seen
This week on Sepia Saturday, Alan has given us free choice on what to post. Well, of course it is always free choice, but I try to follow the theme if I can. Anyway ... I was posting sepia posts before I knew about Sepia Saturday, and here are a few that my Sepia Saturday friends may not have seen yet, nor my newer readers.
I hope that you have a few minutes to explore these neat posts. There is a lot of information here with some fun bits of history. To read other great Sepia Saturday posts from around the world, "CLICK HERE" when you are all done at Oregon Gifts.
"Bend's Water Pageant on Mirror Pond"
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
* Please click here to go to the post about Bend's Water Pageant on Mirror Pond.
"Bob Ross Revisited"
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
* Please click here to see the post on Bob Ross Revisted.
"1945 WWII Navy Sea Bees
Guam Building Projects"
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
* Please click here to read the post about the 1945 WWII Navy Sea Bees Guam Building Projects.
"The Agana Bridge Now and Then"
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
* Please click here to read the post about The Agana Bridge Now and Then"
"Postcards to Litha Series"
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
* #1 and #2 - Please click here to view the post about Postcards to Litha
* #3 - Please click here to read about The Wenatchee Apple King in the Postcards to Litha series.
* #4 - Please click here to read about The Willamette River in the Postcards to Litha Series.
So there you go, friends! Thanks for reading these, or if you couldn't get them all read today, please come back and finish up when you have more time. Happy Sepia Saturday!
Kathy M.
| |
| At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot! All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today. |
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Sepia Saturday #91 : Every Picture Tells a Story in WWII Guam
This week's Sepia Saturday theme is more or less to choose a picture that is worth a thousand words (or somebody on the campaign trail by train). I chose the first part. This is my attempt, and of course, I couldn't stop at just one. My late father-in-law, Troy Matthews, was a Navy See-bee during WW2, and was stationed in Guam. Here are a couple of photos from his collection that depict village life when Troy was there. Some of the photos were probably taken by him, others by the guys he was with, and some may have been bought in the village.
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
If you enjoyed this post, here are two more about Troy's time in Guam:
This is a Sepia Saturday post. To see more really cool old photos from around the world, and to learn their history, please "CLICK HERE". You are very welcome to join in and post your own too. This group of people is very interactive, and if you love history, you'll love Sepia Saturday! I sure do.
| |
| At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot! All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today. |
Thursday, November 12, 2009
1945 WW2 Guam Pictures of The Navy Sea Bees Building Projects:
In honor of
Veteran's Day and in honor of my father-in-law, the late Troy Matthews, I
have scanned the following pictures to share from his time in Guam
during WW2 in the Navy Sea Bees. These were taken in 1945. If you
enjoy this post, I know that you will enjoy this one too: "The Agana Bridge in Guam ... Then and Now"
These are copyrighted, so please do not use them without permission. Thanks!
Troy is the one standing with his hand on the cement lever.
Japanese Sub
A Guam Church
Villagers doing laundry in Asam, Guam.
Thanks, Troy.
These are copyrighted, so please do not use them without permission. Thanks!
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
 |
| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
