In 1941, the Navy sought West Coast locations for bases to ship men, material, and equipment into World War IIs Pacific theater. The Dublin and Livermore area offered wide-open spaces with good transportation routes to the San Francisco Bay area. Near Dublin, the Navy built Camp Parks, Camp Shoemaker, and Shoemaker Naval Hospital. Camp Parks prepared Seabees to build and maintain airfields, ports, and hospitals from Guadalcanal to Japan. Hundreds of thousands of other sailors and WAVES came to Camp Shoemaker on their way from basic training to postings on ships, bases, and stations throughout the Pacific. Shoemaker Hospital saw them again when they returned injured or ill. Farther east, the Navy built Livermore Naval Air Station to train thousands to fly.

Set in the turbulent period of Guam history, between the Spanish-American War and World War II, the lives and loves of three Chamorro women are told in vivid detail. A navy seaman leaves young Amanda de Leon broken hearted. For Sylvia de Leon Camacho, happiness ends too soon. Life teaches the level-headed Vivian Camacho that falling for an American serviceman is futile, like reaching for the moon. Cultural and racial prejudices magnify the distance. Trying to build a life with one is as impossible as building a mansion on the moon. Then a navy civil engineer comes into Vivians life.