O.P. wrote:
My Grandfather fought in Manila. My father in law lived in Japanese occupation in Manchuria as a kid. When I was a kid I knew a guy named Orville, who survived the Bataan death march. My then parents thought it would be cool to introduce me to Orville because my name is close to his and I liked to read about WW2.
I learned about my Grampa after the fact. Joined right after Pearl Harbor. The only thing my mom said about him was "Thank god he died, so my mom didn't have to get divorced". I looked up where he was and what his unit did. Jesus effin christ, and I'm not even jesusy. Looks like some 1949 ptsd. (Yeah, my mom and grandma on that side leaves a lot to be desired)
My Father in law was a kid in Manchuria. After everyone was sent to the mines, everyone left got the sugar kicked out of them every day. Yep, that dude is a hard core commie now. Little kids and old women survived that one. Barely.
Orville survived the march. Orville got tortured, bad. He said " I told them everything, they didn't care, they just liked doing it". Orville, 40 years ago, I am his age now. That dude was in a wheelchair at 50.
This rubs me the wrong way. He did it, just nut up and say you did it and thats what you did then. No problem, I and everyone else gets it. You do what you gotta do.
This "I got Jesus" crap like the Pearl Harbor Pilot, or this losers story, don't do it for me. Sounds like a jailhouse confession.
Not being religious in any way shape or form, I really hope this kittie is rotting in his gods heck.
I lost a couple of relatives in that horrible war as well. Almost lost my dad. Many, many folks have had personal and tragic losses, so I feel for ya and I can understand your views.
I can't give you an answer on how you should feel about your relatives who endured and sacrificed back then, so all I can suggest to you is to live your own life in peace and to encourage forgiveness and peace always. If we all do this in our own lives then this is the only way to
properly honor those who sacrificed everything so we could have the opportunity to live in peace.
The world can be a horrible place at times and people can do horrible things when pushed too far. We all as humans still have a lot to learn about how to treat one another with compassion and understanding. The will to forgive is all we can hope for if we ever want to live in peace. I hope you find that peace yourself someday.