When the U.S. Military Came to Guam
The island’s wildlife has been a casualty of the military presence.
Since North Korea threatened to fire missiles into the water around Guam, much has been made of the island’s strategic importance. It is the westernmost U.S. territory; it is home to two existing military bases—for the air force and the navy—and a planned third, for the marines.
The United States retook Guam from the Japanese in World War II, and the military has been an outsized and sometimes controversial ever since.
