Battlefield losses made the military unwilling to return captured Pacific islands.

Evidence

The military felt especially justified in retaining captured Pacific islands because of the high human and financial costs of their acquisition. “Having defeated or subordinated its former imperial rivals in the Pacific,” a group of base experts explains, “the United States military was in no mood to hand back occupied real estate.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 85

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 85