World War II Military Figure. After the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, Japanese forces soon overran Guam Island in the Pacific. Tweed, then serving as a Navy chief radioman with several other U.S. personnel, slipped into the jungle rather than surrender. He became the only survivor after the others were captured and killed. He managed to elude Japanese soldiers for two years seven months, providing information to American forces that recaptured Guam Island in July 1944. His survival effort is considered one of the greatest feats in war history to date.