And the example of which you speak was during World War II, while I sympathize with your grandmother and the other nurse and I believe what happened to her is wrong, but the occupation force was there because the Nazi's and allies were attempting to sieze control of the world, of course there will be an army there.
EDIT: On on the subject with your comparison of California and Germany, that is ludicrous. If American had claim on Germany's economy it wouldn't be plummeting into the ground while Germany's is on the rise. It would be the other way around.