Unofficial Ambassadors: American Military Families Overseas and the Cold War, 1946-1965

305 Pages·2007·1.67 MB·English

by  Donna Alvah

Unofficial Ambassadors

Unofficial
Ambassadors
American Military Families Overseas
and the Cold War, 1946–1965
Donna Alvah
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
new york university press
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2007by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alvah, Donna.
Unofficial ambassadors : American military families overseas and the
Cold War, 1946–1965/ Donna Alvah.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-0501-8(cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8147-0501-4(cloth : alk. paper)
1. Families of military personnel—United States. 2. Military
spouses—United States. 3. Americans—Foreign countries—History—
20th century. 4. United States—Armed Forces—Foreign countries—
History—20th century. 5. Cold War. I. Title.
UB403.A4692007
355.1'29—dc22 2006032854
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my mother and father,
and for Elun

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Going Overseas 14
2 Unofficial Ambassadors 38
3 A U.S. Lady’s World 81
4 “Shoulder to Shoulder” with West Germans 131
5 “Dear Little Okinawa” 167
6 Young Ambassadors 198
Conclusion 226
Notes 235
Bibliography 261
Index 273
About the Author 291
vii

Acknowledgments
I first discussed the idea for this study with Professor Roland
Marchand many years ago. From the start, Roland liked the prospect of a
project that analyzed the contributions of women and families to foreign
relations. He served as my dissertation supervisor until he passed away in
November 1997. I remain grateful for his encouragement and advice.
I must thank many other people who, in reading all or parts of the
manuscript at different stages of its creation, have offered scholarly scru-
tiny, practical advice, reassurance, generosity of time and energy, and a
good sense of humor. I have benefited from Andy Rotter’s thinking on
gender and Cold War foreign relations, and also on writing and chapter
organization, and last but not least from his and Padma Kaimal’s kindness
and friendship. From my first meeting with Karen Halttunen in 1993, I
admired her insight and sharp thinking, and knew that working with her
would be a privilege. Her contributions as a dissertation supervisor—
straightforward critiques of the strengths and weaknesses of all the chap-
ters at various stages, from the first to the last drafts; readings of confer-
ence papers; discussions of my concerns; keeping me on track to meet
deadlines; suggestions for consulting with other professors outside her
own field of expertise; and steady encouragement—were exactly what I
needed to get through. I also appreciate Jay Mechling’s suggestions on
children and American culture; Cynthia Enloe’s feedback on women, gen-
der, race, class, the military, and international relations; Judith DeGroat’s
thoughtful suggestions on a later version of the manuscript; and Steve
Rabson’s close reading of and advice for parts of the manuscript. The
comments of two anonymous readers were quite helpful.
At conferences, several scholars assisted my thinking on this project,
including Robert Dean, Catherine Forslund, Petra Goedde, Walter Hix-
son, Maria Höhn, Christina Klein, Andy Rotter, Alex Epstein, and Molly
Wood. The Cross-Cultural Women’s History group in the University of
California Davis Department of History, the Committee on Lesbian and
Gay History, and the Cold War History Group at the University of Cali-
fornia at Santa Barbara sponsored presentations of my research. I thank
ix