American Samoa: Difference between revisions

In 1918, during the final stages of [[World War I]], the [[Spanish flu|Great Influenza epidemic]] had taken its toll, spreading rapidly from country to country. American Samoa became one of the few places in the world (the others being [[New Caledonia]] and [[Marajó|Marajó island]] in Brazil) to have proactively prevented any deaths during the pandemic through the quick response from [[John Martin Poyer|Governor John Martin Poyer]] after hearing news reports of the outbreak on the radio and requesting [[quarantine ships]] from the U.S. mainland. The result of Poyer's quick actions earned him the [[Navy Cross]] from the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]. With this distinction, American Samoans regarded Poyer as their hero for what he had done to prevent the deadly disease. The neighboring New Zealand territory at the time, [[Samoa|Western Samoa]], suffered the most of all [[Pacific Islands|Pacific islands]], with 90% of the population infected; 30% of adult men, 22% of adult women and 10% of children died.<ref>{{cite journal  |title=The Influenza Epidemic of 1918–19 in Western Samoa |last1=Tomkins |first1=Sandra M. |journal=Journal of Pacific History |volume=27 |issue=2 |year=1992 |pages=181–197 |doi=10.1080/00223349208572706 |jstor=25169127}}</ref> Poyer offered assistance to help his New Zealand counterparts but was refused by the administrator of Western Samoa, [[Robert Logan (politician)|Robert Logan]], who became outraged after witnessing the number of quarantine ships surrounding American Samoa. Angered by this, Logan cut off communications with his American counterparts.