Unlike areas in the western U.S. where land was acquired by the federal government through treaties and conquest, Guam's DoD lands were acquired in the post war years by condemnation from private landowners. These land condemnations occurred between 1945 and 1950, while Guam was under the administration of a military government. All phases of the condemnation were conducted by military officials. These condemnations also occurred before citizenship was granted to the people of Guam. Further complicating the matter was the general feeling of gratitude among the Chamorro population for the liberation from enemy occupation and the widespread understanding that the lands would eventually be returned to the original landowners.
Many families still hold out hope for eventual return of their lands.
Land is central to the Chamorro culture. Recent military down sizing, made available excess military lands. This renewed the long standing controversy over the initial condemnations, and the belief that the federal government made an implicit promise to the Chamorro families to one day return their land. Unfortunately, to date no excess land has been returned to the citizens of Guam. American citizens and nationals, both civilians and prisoners or war, have received some compensation during the latter part of WWII and in the post war years legislatively from the federal government.