While onboard the USS Cowpens,
forward-deployed out of Yokusuka, Japan, I had the opportunity to visit Okinawa
twice. The first time was uneventful. I recall going out into town
with fellow officers, drinking a lot of beer, singing karaoke poorly,
and drawing attention to ourselves on the streets—not a scene per
se but loud enough to be obnoxious and attract stares from locals.
That was par, though. The next morning, we ate a tremendous
Sunday brunch (with subsidized prices) at the Air Force officers'
club. The second time involved more
drama. While we were out to sea, a sailor from our ship who had
previously deserted stabbed and killed a Japanese taxicab driver.
News had been released that the suspect was a Cowpens sailor and that
the Cowpens was pulling into Okinawa that weekend (Good Friday and Easter
weekend, no less). While the crime occurred on Honshu, the main
island of Japan, and not in Okinawa, Okinawans were no
strangers to crime committed by U.S.
military personnel. We were restricted to the base that weekend,
but a little murder/international incident did not stop the crew from enjoying two
nights of revelry at the base club.
The latter example is dramatic,
and one might argue that we should only blame the "few bad
apples." But, both
instances are emblematic of American-style imperialism in the 21st
century: we take for granted that we should and will be “over there,”
if we even think about it at all; we get on with our normal American
lives; and we don't know anything about the people whose land our
bases occupy.
What did the Europeans say about
American GIs after World War II? "Oversexed, overpaid,
overfed, and over here." That seems apt.
Despite these two visits and despite
my being a history teacher and peace activist, I have remained embarrassingly
ignorant of Okinawa. For instance, I obviously know of American neo-colonialism because I partook in it,
but I did not know much about the earlier Japanese colonialism. I just assumed Okinawa was always part of
Japan. Asian is Asian is Asian, to the American officers at the brunch
and the golf course.
With that in mind, I share two
relevant stories on Okinawa: first, a eulogy for former governor Masahide
Ota by Veterans for Peace and The
Japan Times; and second, an article on the ongoing
anti-imperialist struggle on the island.
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