“Vice Admiral Turner declared the island [Saipan] secured, putting the time at 1615 of 9 July [1944]. The next day an official flag-raising took place at [Marine General] Holland Smith’s headquarters in Charan Kanoa. For the Marines at Marpi Point, a tragic sight took the edge off a happy occasion. Hundreds of Japanese civilians, fearful of the Americans, committed suicide by jumping from the seaside cliffs. Some took their children with them. Efforts to stop them fell upon ears deafened by Japanese propaganda.” – Henry I. Shaw, Jr., Bernard C. Nalty, and Edwin T. Turnbladh, Central Pacific Drive, History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Vol. III, “Northern Saipan: End of the Campaign”