“Colonel Ogata’s well-planned defense of Tinian had irrevocably collapsed; most of the Marines were either on or near the concluding objective line. At 1855 on 1 August [1944], the American commander declared the island secured. A statement like that, however, was a sort of partial truth on any Pacific territory captured from the Japanese. On Tinian, even more than elsewhere, the residue of the enemy force was troublesome. Some of the Japanese preferred self-destruction to surrender, but the proportion of soldiers and civilians that committed suicide on Tinian was smaller than on Saipan. Some of the Japanese civilians who killed themselves were members of the Civilian Militia, or Zaigogunjin, which had been quite inoperative. The men had received a bit of military training but no weapons, and their prime interest was fleeing to safety with their families. The Japanese soldier that chose to live was a die-hard type, able to hide out for months. Most of the Marine casualties after 1 August were caused by those Japanese, who faithful to their military code, decided to forego security and die in combat.” – 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, “Assault on Tinian”