Like other Guam residents, Ms. Sokala has been inundated with text messages from friends on the mainland — islanders’ term for the continental United States — asking how she was doing. Guam has been an American territory since 1898, when Spain ceded it in the wake of the Spanish-American War. Life on Guam is also deeply tied the military bases and the service members stationed at them. Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam house an estimated 13,000 military members and their dependents. One-third of the island is owned by the United States military.

Source: New York Times August 09, 2017 23:11 UTC