An American serviceman poses with an Okinawan family in front of a traditional stilt-built home, 1945. Following the Battle of Okinawa and the Japanese surrender, U.S. forces established military government over the island and its civilian population, leading to frequent contact between American personnel and local families as occupation and relief efforts began. Photographs like this one, kept in soldiers' personal albums, capture the quieter, human moments of an occupation that followed one of the war's most costly Pacific campaigns. Project: 218478