Mustangdriver,
I'm sorry to hear you have a relative who was on the death marches. The fact that you can have known him puts him in a small percentage of survivors; those that didn't die during the war generally died within the next twenty years, and their lives were often he11*. Nevertheless, I'm more sorry to see you hold onto someone else's anger.
mustangdriver wrote:
He taught me all that I need to know about the Japanese soldier in WWII.
While you retain that attitude, you'll remain a poor historian with a strong personal view. If you wish to support the NMUSAF (for instance) as well as you can rather than as loudly as you can, you might want to try and learn a bit more. I can understand your point of view, but I can't respect it, I'm afraid. (Although I'm always interested to see what you are going to say, and it's often interesting - sometimes I do agree...)
I'm not interested in 'my atrocity story is worse than your atrocity story', but for context, I had a family member who was a member of the Royal Australian Navy, aboard HMAS Perth, sunk in Sunda Strait with the USS Houston and others. He survived, ended up in Japan, sweeping the streets - I never knew him personally - he died an alcoholic, and the family's stories about what happened to him are graphic, vague, demonstrably true and untrue. They were, on occasion used as excuses for bad behaviour towards Japanese people who were born well after the war - racism, plain simple and nasty.
That generation's attitude to the Japanese was understandable and fair enough for them. However, I'd also like to hear what life back in Australia was like for the Australian soldier who married a Japanese bride as part of the occupation forces and brought her 'home' to Aus. It's not 1950s Australia here, it's the 21st century, and thanks to a remarkably enlightened American reconstruction of Japan - miles from your relative's view - we did not have another war with Japan 20 years later. However, you aren't helping now.
mustangdriver wrote:
And for the record, I don't believe them to be heroes. That would be the same as saying that the guy that used to gas Jewish people in a concentration camp is a hero. I think not.
'Them' Which 'them' are we talking about? The soldiers on Iwo? Mostly the last dregs conscripts. Hardly the same as the guards in the vivisection camps, nor are 'they' those American-Japanese (and Canadian, too) stupidly, cruelly, and wastefully imprisoned throughout W.W.II in America and Canada. Of course it's not the same - but it was hardly 'truth, justice and the American way'; and leaving aside any moral position, it was a
dumb thing to do. One German Jew Alien in Australia was reporting in weekly so we knew what he was up to - which happened to be designing Australia's only indigenous fighter aircraft because we had nothing else to defend ourselves with. I wonder what America lost in the internment camps?
Speaking in
general - You are right because of
what you do, not who you are, or which flag you wrap yourself in or cause you 'know' to be right. Great deeds are done for bad causes, including heroism, just like terrible acts are carried out by the just. If you can't differentiate, and understand the concept of individual justice, yes, you are as bad as anything you condemn. A Japanese farm boy conscripted soldier on Iwo Jima is not the same as an SS thug. Some Japanese on Iwo were appalling, but letters was based on the true story of a man who wasn't - who
liked the Americans, knew he was fated to be annihilated, yet did his duty, even though it was in vain. Admirable? A hero? I don't know, but he wasn't the one-dimensional enemy you need so badly. How about the view of United States Marine Corps General Holland Smith: "Of all our adversaries in the Pacific, Kuribayashi was the most redoubtable" .Never mind the film, see here:
http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=21
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadamichi_Kuribayashi
Japan paid a high price for it's aggression and dreadful anti-humanitarian war. Enough or too little doesn't matter now, history is to be learnt from, and that requires learning, rather than retaining an old animosity.
You've obviously skipped most of my previous post because I've stood up and said I don't agree with you. You've not thought about what I said; fine, your prerogative. However, I'd recommend the War Diaries of Weary Dunlop or 'Hellfire' (Cameron Forbes) - both vitally important accounts of the experiences of POWs. The work of Ronald Searle is also very interesting, artistically and socially. None of these are your family member. To ignore his view would be insulting, and I wouldn't do that - he earned respect, understanding and the right to anger. However to ignore those in return is to cherish ignorance.
Do yourself a favour, see the film. At the absolute worst, you'll have wasted a couple of hours. Of course it's got biases, and tries to tell a story too simply - but so have you (And so have I although I've gone on too long.) There is more to be said, and different views are needed, otherwise we are on the road to armageddon.
Hopefully, before then, we'll be able to meet for a beer and a discussion on one of our counties, or if you prefer, I'm up for keyboards at 20 paces.
Regards,
*The POW experience was certainly not
heck.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
Even after the navy pounding there was still a lot of grass--and there was a town as well. I guess it was mostly interesting from a historical perspective, and getting to know the island...
