During a book launch ceremony hosted by University of Guam President Dr. Robert Underwood, Major Ralph Stoney Bates, Sr., USMC (Ret.) explained the impact his recently published book An American Shame: The Abandonment of an Entire American Population had on himself and the people he interviewed.

Bates spent several weeks in Guam researching the war time events involving the Chamorro people. The book recounts the experiences of several individuals written in conversational form.