A Major Shift of U.S. Marines to Guam is not a Popular Decision With the Island's Natives - 'Dan Rather Reports' Tells Us Why

Tomorrow's program looks into the huge impact that a new U.S. Marine training center will have on the tiny island - Tuesday, October 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET

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Oct 04, 2010, 02:57 ET

DALLAS, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Tomorrow's "Dan Rather Reports" takes a closer look at the planned transfer of some 8,600 Marine troops from their current base in Okinawa, Japan, to the tiny island of Guam - and how the move may not be as popular as one might think.

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Guam is a very patriotic place. It has the highest military enlistment rate, per capita, in the United States--almost three times the national average. They celebrate two Independence Days – July 4th and July 21st (the day the U.S. troops liberated Guam from the Japanese in World War II).

While the two existing bases are a vital part of the community and a boon to the local economy, the influx of not only the Marines, but their wives, husbands and children, not to mention the thousands contractors needed to increase infrastructure, will create a huge negative environmental impact on Guam. And the military's need for acres of precious land is causing island natives to worry.

After Guam's liberation from Japan, the natives, or Chamorros learned that losing their land to the U.S. military was not a temporary thing.

"I'm gonna give you my land, and then I'll get it when the war is over, right," said Michael Bevacqua a Professor of Chamorro history and native of Guam. "But what happens is when the war ends, the military stays."

The small and remote island of Guam is, according to the Pentagon, "a critically important dot on the map" with North Korea, China and Indonesia all within striking distance, but with the military's proposed expansion plan given an "F" by the Environmental Protection Agency, the question is, is the economic boom the island will see because of the Marine base worth the cost Guam will pay in land, water and other precious natural resources.

John McCarroll, who leads the EPA's Pacific Island office said, "The heart of the problem is that Guam's infrastructure can't handle a big population increase."

"Dan Rather Reports: Goin' to Guam" premieres on HDNet, Tuesday, October 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET with an encore presentation at 11:00 p.m. ET.

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