Greg Girard
Japan’s southernmost prefecture, Okinawa, hosts a concentration of US military bases unlike anywhere outside the continental United States. More than half the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan are based here. On the main island of Okinawa nearly 20% of the land is occupied by these bases. This large US military footprint, and the legacy of Okinawa’s history as a US-administered territory until 1972, means that the social and physical landscape of Okinawa is shaped by this relationship with the US military like few other places. In "Hotel Okinawa" (2017), Girard looks at this unique world "on base" and off, separate and yet conjoined, the result of decades of living in close proximity with the US military. Additionally, archival photographs, periodicals and other artefacts, some dating back to the US occupation, appear throughout the book, registering historical strands that are part of the complex fabric of Okinawa today.
Oscar Hilman
Oscar Hilman (born 1950), is a Filipino American, Brigadier General or BG, and US Army Commander of the Heavy Armor Brigade at Joint Base Balad and Logistics Area Anaconda aka Camp Anaconda, formerly known as Al-Bakr Air Base (Arabic: قاعدة البكر الجوية)in Iraq. In Iraq, he was tasked to prevent troop and allied forces withdrawals from Camp Anaconda, one of the largest US military bases in Iraq. In a series of town hall meetings, he spoke to the Filipino workers—often in Tagalog—and persuaded them to stay put by assuring them of their safety in camp. To show good faith, he gave the contractors base privileges, a move that was approved by the US chain of command.