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Article: So Long, Soldiers.(United States military presence in Asia)
- Article from:
- Newsweek International
- Article date:
- July 24, 2000
- Author:
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Okinawa's Pyramid Club on a Friday night pulsates. The disco is known among the U.S. soldiers for its late-night dancing and not-so- occasional brawls. Sweaty American GIs hip-hop underneath flashing lights. As the beats reverberate through the cavernous disco, the grunts, some sporting gang-style bandannas, play-act at beating each other down. Sometimes the theater turns real, as soldiers fight over local women, spilled drinks or which Marine is more macho. The U.S. brass in Japan have warned the GIs to behave themselves when they're on liberty. But American soldiers--many of them barely 20--will get rough when they've had a dozen-or-so drinks. "One night, all I saw was ...