The clash of cultures on the Japanese prefecture, where locals interact with thousands of U.S. service members:
“Eve had started dating Americans at age nineteen, when she was a student at Okinawa Christian Junior College. She and her friends hung around clubs, parks, and beaches and practiced speaking English with American guys. The men struck her as more attractive than local guys—the way they looked, acted, dressed, spoke English, put ladies first. American men had big hearts, like in Hollywood movies. To her, they were movie stars, perfect and romantic and thrilling.
“She realized the truth — American men were ‘the real thing’— the hard way.”
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