In a meticulously researched study including oral history accounts from both U.S. and Okinawan sources, Short composes a compelling narrative to explore constructions of race and identity amid the wartime and postwar encounters between the American military and Okinawans. The archival evidence she engages with reveals the multi-layered individual stories of a twice-colonized people. Short argues that Okinawan culture permitted the people to reclaim an identity distancing themselves from a defeated imperial Japan, while also negotiating an uneasy relationship with their new American occupiers that continues to evolve.---Annika A. Culver, Associate Professor of East Asian History, Florida State University

Courtney A. Short holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and specializes in military, American, and Japanese history, as well as race and identity studies.

Introduction | 1

1 Identifying the Enemy: US Army Wartime Occupation Policy | 21

2 US Marine Discipline: Strict Directives in Wartime
Marine Military Government | 32

3 “Japanese” Warriors? Okinawan Preparation for Battle | 45

4 The US Fights Overseas: Americans Charge
toward the Battlefield | 51

5 Having a Say: Okinawan Constructions of Identity | 59

6 Policy into Action: The US Army Hits the Shore | 74

7 Benevolent Captors? Okinawans Encounter the Americans | 90

8 No Initiative: Unbending Policy, Rigid US Marine Action | 102

9 The US Navy Period: Navigating the Transition to Peace | 124

10 New Visions, New Interpretations of Identity:
The Expansion of US Navy Military Government | 140

Conclusion | 155

Acknowledgments | 163

Notes | 167

Bibliography | 223

Index | 237

Photographs follow page 58