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Two Gunners Injured by Cannon Salute Accident in 1819
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- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
As the Uraine expedition made their way to Guam the following day on March 18, 1819, the crew fired a 21-gun salute, which was immediately returned by the Spanish government. Unfortunately, two Gunners from Guam were injured during the return salute fire. They were Cecilo Pan Helina [Cecilio Pangelinan?] and Ramoun Biagoumes (Ramon Villagomez?).
Gaimard described Cecilio as “a man of colossal size and atheletic disposition, was badly burned on the chest, the stomach and the left wrist; the face, the right forearm and all the left upper arm were burned to a lesser degree. The outer layers of the skin had peeled away, with open sores in many places on the chest and lower back; where the heat had penetrated to the cellular tissue it had caused peeling around the left wrist. The thumb on the left hand was lacerated over its entire surface, which had resulted in quite severe bleeding.
Gaimard described Ramoun as, “also very tall but less muscular, had second-degree on the chest, stomach and both arms and third-dgree burns in a few places.”
1819 Dynomometrics Study: Freycinet Scientific Expedition
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- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
Joseph-Paul Gaimard, Surgeon Assistant for the Freycinet’s science expedition in 1819, conducted a dynamometric experiment at certain places throughout the journey.
On Guam he examined a total of 89 people on Guam: 76 mestisu CHamoru-Filipinos, seven (7) Hawaiians from Kauai who were left stranded on Tinian by a whaling ship; and six (6) Europeans and Filipinos living on Guam. Below is a transcription of the tables Gaimard recorded:
Read more: 1819 Dynomometrics Study: Freycinet Scientific Expedition
Uranie Crew Members Who Deserted Her on Guam 1819
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- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
These past few days have been quite intense reading Brassard & Milsom’s book on Gaimard and his diary of the 1819 Uranie French Expedition.
I have several other publications I have collected (some free, others I paid for) regarding the Urainie and her visit to Guam so I am bouncing back and forth between those publications and re-reading them to try and weave all those perspectives into one. And then all of sudden, I digress some and make a note of something related to the greater genealogy objective. lol.
Part of it stems from someone asking me if their ancestor was part of the Uranie crew. Unfortunately for that person, he (John Roberts/Roberto) was not from this ship. But that question continued to remain in the back of my mind as I continued my research. The crew list in Gamaird’s diary is not complete. However, in one of Jacques Arago’s publications (written in his French language), he has a more comprehensive list of the crew that includes their name, grade, place of birth, and movement (miscellaneous note).
Read more: Uranie Crew Members Who Deserted Her on Guam 1819
About Saturday’s CHamoru Genealogy Workshop in Everett, WA
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- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
This is somewhat of an after-action report and a lesson learned for not doing one for the Workshop in Arlington, Texas last month. So here forward, I will continue to document these Workshops.
A big shout out to Julita Atoigue, dba GuamGrub, for organizing the event held at the Everett Library, Evergreen Branch, Everett, Washington on June 7, 2025 from 12:00 to 5:00pm. Those were actually the Saturday operating hours of the library. But no problem, everyone pitched in to help setup and restore the conference room upon conclusion.
We planned for up to 30 people. I generally plan for that amount to factor in a 50% attrition. Lo and behold while we received 24 registrations, there were a total of 13 participants! It’s actually a good number of participants because it allows me more time to work with and help each participant with their unique questions pertaining to their own genealogy journey. For me, the best part of the Workshop is engaging with the Participants, listening and learning of their family and stories.
Of the 13 participants, we received 8 completed Participant Feedback Forms. Their responses and comments are documented in the video.
"Saipanese Returns After 35 Year Exile" (Daniel Manibusan Aldan)
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- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
[Transcription]
Saipanese Returns After 35 Year Exile
From MNA press release
SAIPAN – Daniel Manibusan Aldan has returned to Saipan from a 35-year absence from his home island. Drafted into the Imperial forces in 1942, Aldan remains as a sprightly 62-year-old, and not surprisingly, things have changed in his absence.
Aldan's wartime career under the Japanese took him to New Guinea in February of 1942, leaving behind on Saipan his wife and three small children.
It was not easy to refuse the orders of the Japanese military at that time, he says, because resistance would have meant severe punishment.
On reaching New Guinea, he was assigned to the Japanese Navy where he remained for six months, but was transferred to Halmania, Indonesia for hospitalization when he became ill. It was there he convalesced for a period of time during 1943.
Read more: "Saipanese Returns After 35 Year Exile" (Daniel Manibusan Aldan)
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