Preface This book describes the experiences of American civil affairs officers on Okinawa during the years 1945- 1950. It follows these often idealistic men as they planned, trained for, and executed their important and unusual military government mission. In a series of stages they moved from the serenity of America's universities, through the front lines of the battle for Okinawa, and into the turmoil of a devastated and distant island society requiring almost total reconstruction. In describing these accomplishments and failures I stress the programs and projects that, taken as a whole, constituted the agenda for military government in the Ryukyu Islands. The present account, therefore, is to a large extent an administrative history. I have, at times, briefly overstepped the closing date given in the title in order to demonstrate the full impact of policies and programs begun in the regime's last months. In a sense it is appropriate that the narrative at times looks ahead, because the civil affairs officers who served during the military government years, through their actions and their programs, had a profound impact on the United States Civil Administration in the Ryukyus. That particular administration, the heir to all that the military government personnel accomplished-as well as to all their failures-lasted until the islands reverted to Japanese administrative control in 1972. The book makes no attempt to ignore those areas where military government activities were disappointing, most notably in their efforts to reach a timely and lasting solution to the land issue on Okinawa. At the same time, these defects in no way detract from the very real accomplishments the American administration wrought in the years 1945-1950. During that brief period of time military government transformed the island society by creating a political and economic environment that enhanced the Okinawans' capacity to cope with postwar world realities. Throughout much of the narrative, the book traces the tensions that existed between those charged with the military government mission and the tactical forces whose larger purpose was served by that mission. When it came to the allocation of finite resources of shipping space, material, and land-especially land-reasonable uniformed officers often disagreed about how these resources should be distributed. The recounting of these disagreements, the frustrations, and the inevitable compromises, is central to this volume.
The reader may find other features of the story unpleasant, notably the account of how certain American servicemen outside the military government effort threatened the success of the civil affairs program by undermining Ryukyuan-American relations. In the fina l analysis, however, this element was more than offset by the behavior of most American servicemen, whose friendly attitude toward the local population contributed to a reservoir of goodwill that fac ilitated the work of the American occupation forces. In many ways the early American experience in the Ryukyu Islands was unique, yet at the same time this case study in military government trial and error remains instructive for the student of civil affairs, regardless of time or location. Because of the universality of the civil affairs experiences and the subsequent lessons learned, the volume includes a number of representative documents that underscore some of the problems faced by military government officers in the field, as well as others that highlight American initiatives and policies designed to improve the lives of Okinawa's citizens. Several of the participants in this story freely shared their knowledge and experiences with me, as my footnotes and note on sources attest. Two of these men, who also agreed to review the text of the manuscript, deserve special mention: Professor Emeritus Shannon McCune of the University of Florida and Edward O. Freimuth. Paul Neuland, whose own experiences with the American administration of Okinawa date from a later period, was nonetheless familiar with the details of the military government period and was also kind enough to review the manuscript. I want to note the contributions of Edward O'Flaherty, whose partial draft on American military government on Okinawa addressed the subject before tny own interest in it, and Alfred M. Beck, who likewise preceded me and who conducted a portion of the research needed to produce the final manuscript. Edward J. Boone, Jr. and Ellen Folkama of the MacArthur Memorial Archives in Norfolk, Virginia, were most helpful in facilitating my research at that institution. Eddie Reese of the National Archives' Modern Military Branch, and Bernard Cavalcante of the Naval Historical Center's Operational Archives Branch also willingly assisted my research. I am grateful for the patience and skill demonstrated by my editor, Mary F. Loughlin. In preparing this study I received the welcomed assistance of several colleagues at the Center of Military History. Morris J. MacGregor, then Chief of the General History Branch, deserves special mention for his general supervision of the manuscript and for his numerous helpful suggestions. David Trask, Chief Historian of the Center, and Lt. Col. Richard O. Perry, Chief, Histories Division, were the primary reviewers of the manuscript, along with Robert Ross Smith and (then Col.) James W.
Dunn. Their suggestions, along with those of John Elsberg, Editor in Chief of the Center, and Barbara Gilbert of the editorial staff greatly improved the document during its progress toward publication. Linda M. Cajka prepared the graphics. Gina D. Wilson faithfully and patiently typed the various versions of the draft manuscript, and LaJuan Watson ably assisted in typing the documents. Finally, a very personal expression of gratitude goes out to my wife, Dorothy, for her patience, insight, and encouragement during the years I worked on this volume. Despite the generous contributions of others, the author alone must bear the responsibility for the interpretations and conclusions expressed in this study, as well as for any errors of fact it may contain. Washington, D.C. 24 April 1987 IX ARNOLD G. FISCH
