By Valerie Cha
The Battle of Okinawa continues as the island, locals, and U.S. military suffers the repercussions of war. As I discussed in my previous blog, “The Ongoing Battle of Okinawa,” there is a hindered relationship that exists between Okinawans and Americans due to the large number of military personnel and bases on the island. Though the benefits and consequences have been explored, I wanted to elaborate on the effects it has on military families and island locals. This post will voice the opinions of military personnel on the topic of their presence in Okinawa.
As the United States and Japanese governments are the determining factors of the development of military bases, military families are stuck to live those decisions made. During my 10 weeks internship on Camp Foster, Camp Courtney, and Camp McTureous this past summer, I spent quite some time getting to know some of the military families I worked with. At the time, I was unfamiliar with the existing issue. However, towards the last few weeks of my trip, I noticed the protestors and grew curious of how military families felt about being on the island. I wanted to know if they knew their impact on the island and the lives of locals, but I didn’t have the courage to ask.
Morton H. Halperin, an ex-U.S. official, stated in an article posted on Kyodo News that “Okinawa is a military base.” He mentioned that the phrase was delivered to him early in his career by a senior naval officer, and he grew to understand the meaning of it. During the war, the entire island was treated as one big base (Haplerin, 2018). As the development continues today, Okinawa remains the same: a single, large military base. This opens the discussion to believe that American troops understood the impact of the number of developing bases on the island. But how do they feel about it?
After a long search of an opinion from an American’s point of view, I found the voice of a novelist and daughter of military personnel who was stationed in Okinawa: Sarah Bird. As mentioned before, military families are living the decisions made. However, do they know why it was made or why they are on the island? Many of the children had vague ideas about the outcomes of war. Even when I was there, I questioned how the United States received so much land for the military bases and why the yard workers, bus drivers, and cleaning personnels were all elderly Okinawan locals. “Because we won the war, knucklehead,” was a common response for children who questioned it (Bird, 2014). Some military children, such as Bird, saw themselves to be part of an “occupying force,” and asked themselves how it would feel to lose one-fifth of their home state to a foreign force for decades (Bird, 2014).
It’s obvious that American families are aware of the impact they have on the island. We know that Okinawans have protested U.S. military presence for decades. We also know that the locals have complained about crime, environmental degradation, economic stagnation, and the fact that “we’ve made their homeland an inevitable military target” (Bird, 2014). Although the matter is beyond our reach, some military families, including American citizens like me, believe that relocating a bulk of our bases should be an obligation we must discharge before the development of more bases on the small island expands further. As Bird stated, “We must undo the grave injustice committed in 1951.”
References:
Bird, Sarah (2014). “A Military Brat on Okinawa.” The New York Times, The New York Times.
Halperin, Morton H. (2018). “OPINION: Ex-U.S. Official Urges Japan to Convey Okinawa’s Voice on Base Issue.” Kyodo News.
Troops in Okinawa 
I can relate to your feelings because my country has also been invaded and hurt deeply by another country. Being raised in Jiangsu, China, I can never forget the mass murder committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing. Worse than your situation, Japan is not aware of the crime they have done. There are even far-right groups in Japan, Uyoku dantai, trying to justify Japan’s role in WW2. Not only do they deny the existence of Nanjing massacre, but also refuse to apologize for forcing Asian women to act as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. In my opinion, I think it might be more interesting and more compelling to take a look at how Japan treats the nations that it hurts. Basically, the question that is worth to consider is did Japan do the same thing as Americans to the nations that it has hurt? Bringing this argument will make the blog less controversial and more deep in thoughts.
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This is a very interesting post. I really like this quote: “Even when I was there, I questioned how the United States received so much land for the military bases and why the yard workers, bus drivers, and cleaning personnels were all elderly Okinawan locals. “Because we won the war, knucklehead,” was a common response for children who questioned it (Bird, 2014). Some military children, such as Bird, saw themselves to be part of an “occupying force,” and asked themselves how it would feel to lose one-fifth of their home state to a foreign force for decades (Bird, 2014)”. It made me question how I would feel if I were one of the people of Okinawa. The truth is I can’t imagine; I have mixed feelings. I think I would feel that something so sacred has been taken away from my island and would be upset, but I also feel like a lot of places have such a welcoming nature and if I were one of those people who lived in those places I would be that way too. Great post! Keep up the good work!
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I enjoyed reading this post, because it touches on something that I wasn’t even sure was an issue as you find. I like how you connected your internship experience and how it helped you explore the U.S. troops in Okinawa further as a result. Throughout the years, the U.S. involvement in many foreign countries have been such a big discussion since so many people don’t know if they should continue their involvement or withdraw their troops. It goes beyond saying that the U.S. has a purpose for involving themselves in foreign affairs, but it may not always be in the interest of the locals living there. As a result, there is a discrepancy between what the U.S. hopes to accomplish and what the local people wish the U.S. could actually do. Some may not even want the U.S. in their home countries, but this message does not always come across because the U.S. is too concerned with their own matters. Great job on this post!
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