Our History
Proudly serving those who serve for 80 years
More than eight decades ago, as the world reeled from the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered a war that would reshape history. Amid the turmoil of the Pacific theater, Stars and Stripes emerged as a vital source of information, reporting the battles, the hardships, and the triumphs of American service members.
Stars and Stripes marks 80 years of delivering military news that matters across the Pacific
For eight decades, Stars and Stripes reporters across the Pacific have covered wars, revolutions, natural disasters and the political changes that marked turning points for the United States and its military overseas.
The cost of newsgathering
Pacific Stars and Stripes has lost two reporters in two wars — one a 37-year old veteran, the other a youngster only 24. I knew one only slightly and the other not at all.
Looking back on the career of Hal Drake
It still seems surreal, that we at Stars and Stripes Pacific must adjust to a world without longtime newsroom character and icon, Harold A. Drake, who died Sunday in Australia after a lengthy battle with stomach cancer.
Muroi Norio, Librarian
Preserving Pacific history: Stripes librarian spent 40 years among the archives
After wartime terror and defeat, a life rebuilt around America
Toshi Tokunaga Cooper and her coworkers listened on the radio as Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender to the Allies on Aug. 15, 1945.
Shelley Smith, Reporter
Shelly Smith, now a correspondent for ESPN’s SportsCenter, was hired by Stars and Stripes in late winter 1982, arriving in Tokyo to become the first full-time civilian woman staffer on the previously all-male sports desk.