OKINAWA, Japan
At a Christmas party held at Camp Schwab in 2019, a tall blue-eyed gentleman greeted the guests from the neighboring communities in fluent Japanese. His Japanese was so good that he needed no translator and his demeanor was reminiscent of a Japanese native.
This gentleman was Col. Jason S. D. Perry, the current assistant division commander of 3rd Marine Division at Camp Courtney. He most recently came to Okinawa in 2018 as the commanding officer of 4th Marine Regiment at Camp Schwab.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1994 after graduating from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Japanese. His father is also a retired Marine who was in Okinawa in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.
40 At a Christmas party held at Camp Schwab in 2019, a tall blue-eyed gentleman greeted the guests from the neighboring communities in fluent Japanese. His Japanese was so good that he needed no translator and his demeanor was reminiscent of a Japanese native.
This gentleman was Col. Jason S. D. Perry, the current assistant division commander of 3rd Marine Division at Camp Courtney. He most recently came to Okinawa in 2018 as the commanding officer of 4th Marine Regiment at Camp Schwab.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1994 after graduating from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Japanese. His father is also a retired Marine who was in Okinawa in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.