History UsefulNotes / Guam

* ''Film/{{Pixels}}'': Anderson Air Base is attacked by Pixel aliens, causing majority of the base to disintegrate into 8-bit pixels.
* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellBlacklist'' starts off it's plot with an attack by the Engineers on the Anderson Air Force Base, during which Victor Coste is injured, motivating Sam to step in to lead the newly formed Fourth Echelon.

After 1944, during the remaining years of the war, the USA built numerous military bases on Guam. The island became key to the USA's efforts in the Pacific. After the war, the bases remained in use and this caused the Guamanians to demand at least some autonomy. In the 1950's, Guam was given its own government, subordinate to that of the USA's. Guamanians were also given US citizenship and are allowed to immigrate to the USA freely. The bases are still in use today and serve as protection for US interests in the Pacific area. The bases have also been expanded to accommodate for soldiers being relocated to Guam. The continued presence of US bases on the Japanese island of Okinawa remains controversial, and if it were to be shut down, many of the soldiers there would likely be relocated to Guam.

Guam today is still classed as an 'Unincorporated Territory' or dependency of the USA (like UsefulNotes/PuertoRico). The Chamorro language is still in use, but is under threat of being replaced by the English language. Steps have been taken by the Guamanians to try and preserve the language, but the fact that Guam is a US territory, and the high presence of English speaking military personnel, make this difficult.

The USA also captured the Philippines and used Guam as a 'Pacific Gibraltar' between the USA and the Philippines. During this time, Guam was entirely governed by the US navy. In 1941, after Japan went to war with the USA as part of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Guam was occupied by the Japanese, who renamed Guam 'Great Shrine Island'. Any Americans on the island were taken prisoner and sent away to POW camps elsewhere. Many Americans tried to hide from this, but were found and killed, along with any Guamanians who helped hide them. The Japanese navy governed the island during this time; they outlawed English as a language, banned things such as radio and cars, and forced the Guamanians to speak Japanese.

In 1815, Mexico became independent and Guam became very much unneeded by the Spanish since it could no longer trade in between the Philippines and Mexico. Guam was neglected by {{UsefulNotes/Spain}} and communications between the two dwindled. Guam was lightly defended from a fort. In 1898, the UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWar broke out and a ship led by Henry Glass was sent to capture Guam. The US Ship sailed into the harbor at Piti, near the fort. The Guamanians had not been told that the USA had declared war on Spain, and so when the ship fired at the fort and missed, they thought that it was 'saluting' it. The fort returned the 'salute' and expected the ship to dock. When it did not, a naval officer and a translator sailed to the ship to welcome them to the island. Once aboard the ship, they were informed by Henry Glass that the USA had declared war on Spain. They had no choice but to surrender the poorly defended island.

In 1815, Mexico became independent and Guam became very much unneeded by the Spanish since it could no longer trade in between the Philippines and Mexico. Guam was neglected by Spain and communications between the two dwindled. Guam was lightly defended from a fort. In 1898, the USA declared war on Spain and a ship led by Henry Glass was sent to capture Guam. The US Ship sailed into the harbor at Piti, near the fort. The Guamanians had not been told that the USA had declared war on Spain, and so when the ship fired at the fort and missed, they thought that it was 'saluting' it. The fort returned the 'salute' and expected the ship to dock. When it did not, a naval officer and a translator sailed to the ship to welcome them to the island. Once aboard the ship, they were informed by Henry Glass that the USA had declared war on Spain. They had no choice but to surrender the poorly defended island.

In 1668 the Spanish began colonizing Guam. A Jesuit mission led by Diego Luis de San Vitores was sent to the island to convert the islanders. He made a deal with one of the Chamorro leaders, Quipuha, who renamed himself "Juan Quipuha" post-conversion and sold his land to the missionaries so they could build a cathedral. The natives were made to attend the cathedral regularly and learn Spanish. Quipuha also allowed the Spanish to build a port on the island, and Guam served as a base for ships travelling between Mexico and the Philippines.

The island is part of a string of islands collectively known as the Mariana Islands; this archipelago was colonised by the Chamorro people, who are believed to have migrated from what is now Indonesia. The Chamorro developed their own language, and on Guam they even developed their own class system. One class lived near the coast and lived off of fish, and the other lived more inland and lived off of fruit. They also built strange 'Latte stones' throughout the island. These are pillars with a bulbous, smooth rock balanced on top of them. The Latte rocks can still be seen today and there is much speculation about why they were built.

Ironically, Guam is an US territory, acquired because the USA wanted more islands (the rest of the Mariana Islands, collectively referred to as the Northern Mariana Islands, are an American commonwealth). Today Guam is used to give the USA more power in the Pacific; a third of the island is taken up by US military bases.

Guam ('''Chamorro:''' ''Guåhan'') is a very small, tropical island in the Mariana Islands around two thousand miles east of the Philippines. It is one of the nearest US territories to Asia, the other being UsefulNotes/NorthernMarianaIslands. The name 'Guam' comes from an old Chamorro word meaning 'We have everything we need here' or 'We are content with what we have'.

In 1521, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan landed on the island during his famous circumnavigation of the world. After docking his ships in a natural harbour, his crew left the ship and begun exploring the island. The natives of the island discovered the ships and begun stealing stuff; the locals had a pseudo-communist approach to things, everything was everybody's property. When Magellan and his crew discovered this, they had difficulty stopping them, since the crew was trying to recover from an illness and the Chamorro were generally stronger than them. Magellan had to use cannons to stop the Chamorro taking any more stuff and named the island the "Island of Thieves" because of this.

Guam is a very small, tropical island in the Mariana Islands around two thousand miles east of the Philippines. It is one of the nearest US territories to Asia, the other being UsefulNotes/NorthernMarianaIslands. The name 'Guam' comes from an old Chamorro word meaning 'We have everything we need here' or 'We are content with what we have'.

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Blacklist'' starts off it's plot with an attack by the Engineers on the Anderson Air Force Base, during which Victor Coste is injured, motivating Sam to step in to lead the newly formed Fourth Echelon.

* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' GU

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Guam is a very small, tropical island in the Mariana Islands around two thousand miles east of the Philippines. It is one of the nearest US territories to Asia, the other being UsefulNotes/{{Northern Mariana Islands}}. The name 'Guam' comes from an old Chamorro word meaning 'We have everything we need here' or 'We are content with what we have'.