V-J Day

[davedove]

While I was living in Japan I, through friends, learned that the overwhelming feeling among the vets was; had they understood the game of football, they would have never attacked the U. S.

That is a very interesting statement. I too would like to know more.

[Mike n NC]

That is a very interesting statement. I too would like to know more.

Their basic reasoning was something like this, it doesn't translate exactly but I got the gist of it.

Any animal (people) that would engage in such savage combat and call it a sport, played for fun, is crazy and should not be challanged. (Don't mess with a mad dog.)

Like I said the translation is rough but that was the basic idea I got from them. One point that I will make about the Japanese Veterans is that, much like our own, most felt that they were just doing what their country needed them to do. Being somewhat familliar with their feudal system and having studied some history while I was there, I try not to judge their actions by modern standards.

Mike

[macwilkin]

Yamamoto was the Japanese Naval Attache at the embassy in Washington DC for a number of years, and was a well-known gambling addict who loved poker. As Mike said, he did object to the Pearl Harbor raid. If I remember right, the Pearl Harbor raid was based on a raid by Japanese torpedo boats on Russians ships at Port Arhtur, Manchuria, in 1904.

There are many documented instances of Japanese officers in the Philippines who were educated in the US before the war intervening to same an American officer's personal effects or even life, but that does not discount the cruelty of other Japanese. The late Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking", John Toland's "But not in shame" and Tim Carew's "The Fall of Hong Kong" documents in graphic detail what Japanese soldiers did to British, American and Chinese soldiers and civilians.

My grandfather saw American POW's from Manchura (including Gen. Johnathan "Skinny" Wainright, the commander of Correigdor) after they were liberated and flown to the American airbase at Chengtu, China. He said they were "walking skeletons".

T.

[Archangel]

My son has returned from a brief visit to Japan last month. He's an artist and was very involved with the artist community there. One thing that's happening there that is both beautiful and sad involves the veterans. Of course, they have very little support from the government and people. Their stories are not being heard. In desparation, these old men are crawling into sewers and subways. When they find a blank wall, they start writing out their stories. Their memories are being found and read by the young who are trying to find places to do grafitti. The memorials are being treated as sacred places.
I'll have to see if he has any links to these writings.

[sav]

Archangel,
Wow. Reading your last post really got me...It's so sad that these veterans have to resort to such extreme measures...

[Jerry]

There was a show on yesterday (I believe on the History or the military channel) about Japan's attempt to develope an Atomic bomb. I didn't get to watch much of it, so I don't know the full story, but it seems that they were close to developing their own when Hiroshima was bombed. If this was true, WW II could have become a full out Nuclear war, if it had lasted much longer. One interesting part I did manage to see before I had to go out was the Japanese scientist who had actually worked on their weapon's program. He described the difficuties they had in just coming up with a vessel to contain the U 235. It was so corrosive that it just ate right through most materials in a matter of seconds. It was at that point that I had to leave. Did anyone else see any of this program?

[Verlyn]

I try not to judge their actions by modern standards.

Mike

If only this were practiced by more people. While there were certainly atrosities, and there always will be in warfare, I see too many examples of past behaviors being judged by modern standards. Certain things have always been wrong; won't argue there. But, there are situations in which the frame of reference makes for a very different decision process and modern PC society all too often judges the past on current understanding.

[Archangel]

There was a show on yesterday (I believe on the History or the military channel) about Japan's attempt to develope an Atomic bomb. I didn't get to watch much of it, so I don't know the full story, but it seems that they were close to developing their own when Hiroshima was bombed. If this was true, WW II could have become a full out Nuclear war, if it had lasted much longer. One interesting part I did manage to see before I had to go out was the Japanese scientist who had actually worked on their weapon's program. He described the difficuties they had in just coming up with a vessel to contain the U 235. It was so corrosive that it just ate right through most materials in a matter of seconds. It was at that point that I had to leave. Did anyone else see any of this program?

You'll find the full history in an essay in the previously mentioned book, Dower's Japan in War and Peace. The show, I believe, is a result of some sensationalist news from 1978. The actual story is that it was a truly puny and pathetic project that had no hope of fruition. It's been years since I read it but the actual project was basically set up so that a particular group in a lab did not have to go to war. This project gave them protected status. I remember something about a submarine load of dirt from which they planned to extract the compounds. It never arrived.
I've just quickly thumbed through the essay and didn't see any mention of the corrosive material. The essay does list famous Japanese physicists who were involved in nuclear research but they're not really part of the two teams on the bomb project. There were probably about fifty people all told (compare/contrast the US project) and they were not above making things up to keep the military from drafting them.