Identifying the Enemy

Analyzing the complicated relationship between Okinawa and Japan, U.S. Army planners recognized that they had to gauge the reaction of the Okinawan population to a foreign force invading their land. Assessing the civilian temperament correlated directly to the practical military planning considerations of provisions and security, yet also required the planners to interpret the level of allegiance that the Okinawans felt toward Japan. The Americans, therefore, made determinations about the Okinawans’ identity that influenced the construction of military government policy. The U.S. Army planners who devised military government policy and the commanders and soldiers who executed that policy thus carefully considered practical military matters in their decision-making; however, contemplation of the complex ethnic and political situation in Okinawa as a prefecture of Japan stood as a paramount element of policy construction. The U.S. Army concluded that the actions of the Okinawans could not be accurately predicted. The U.S. Army’s consideration of race and ethnicity produced logically reasoned policies instituted to ensure the success of the combat mission.