Posted on 09/02/2025 1:42:59 PM PDT by Retain Mike
my dad survived the battle for Okinawa and thankfully didn’t have to invade the main islands, for which i’m personally grateful—because i probably wouldn’t be here if that invasion had happened.
instead my dad was returned to Japan, and married my Japanese mother some 10 years later. so he well understood the Japanese national ‘soul’ and had made his peace with it, despite the heavy costs he incurred with his family and with his military command structure. he had his own mind in the matter, and wouldn’t be gainsay-ed by higher authority. suffice it to say, Japanese would have looked at it very differently. but my mom’s side of the family accepted him immediately. if you’re Japanese, you understand why. if you’re American, you’re probably clueless.
it was a different story in America, i didn’t understand the hatred for us as a little kid when my dad brought us back, but now i well understand it, and count it justified given what the people of America lost in that no-quarter given war, against the pitiless, warrior Japanese elites.
suffice it to say, knowing the Japanese people intimately as he did, and without the A-bomb, my dad was not confident he and his marine buddies could successfully conquer Japan. after Okinawa, it was very much still an open question in his mind.
Mind boggling.
We pacified the Japs real good.
Japan? pacified? never.
liberated is a far better word for it. we (my farm boy dad from Ohio among them). he liberated the enslaved masses of Japan from which he plucked out my mom.
Sneaky bastards.
Yep. I have read his book. One thing The Pacific could not convey was the smell.
Thank you.
Thank you.
How dare they tariff our goods. Screw the Japs.
Indeed. Less than 15 years after the war’s end, we had military bases in Japan, with personnel AND families stationed there. Mine was one of them (I was 5-6 at the time.). I’ve always found that to be quite remarkable. The Japanese welcomed and embraced Americans with wide open arms. We were there again some 10-11 years later. By then I was a teenager and loved every bit of it. We could go anywhere we wanted, on and off base, and never worry about our safety. We would take trains into Tokyo, go all over to different places in peace and comfort. Occasionally, we’d come across someone who spoke English when we needed help with directions. I always remember the people as being very kind, considerate, and in awe of Americans.
I knew a man who was a Marine aviator from the time of Guadalcanal. He flew the Corsair in time. Not long before he died quietly of cancer he told me a lot about the war. A lot about air support missions in the airstrip pattern at Peleliu. He stopped talking then. I let it sit for a bit and as gently as I could asked where he went next. Tears rolled down his face as he gathered his strength and he said, “They sent me home. Told me I was through. I was spent, no good. I had to leave my squadron, let them down. I never got over it. He was a very old, proud and successful man. I sat next to him and he cried softly. I had always admired and respected him but then he took a piece of my heart.
Excellent! Really enjoyed it-thank you!
The pastor of the church I grew up in was an army photographer. He said that all the Japanese he interacted with were friendly and helpful. Even the military, for the most part.
He was among the first Americans to visit Hiroshima. Some of the photos from there in the history books are his. Unfortunately, he died of leukemia in 1968. Likely caused by his early visit to Hiroshima.
One of my Uncles was on Iwo Jima, and made it home.
Another uncle saw fierce fighting on Guadalcanal. His buddy next to him was killed , and he was wounded himself. After he recovered he was sent to fight at Bougainville. He made it home and lived to be 101.
What a great story.
What I meant to say was it was a great story about how your Mom and your Dad got together.
Yep, war was Hell in both theaters but the grunts in Europe had some slight advantages over those in the Pacific islands.
Wehrmacht was formidable but not suicidal
Europe had rudimentary or better infrastructure of civilization in proximity (buildings, fresh water sources, roads, etc)
No poisonous reptiles and bugs to go along with tropical diseases, although frostbite was as bad as malaria, dysentery etc.
Better chance of civilians being non-hostile
Again I’m not saying the men on the ground in Europe had a cakewalk but their conditions and situation had some slight advantages.
Very true. Plus the culture gap US/German was way smaller than US/ Japanese. I’ve got a Springfield Armory Gerand built by ladies in 1943. It’s still my favorite range weapon, I don’t have to shoot it. I just sit and shoot the bull with everyone there. 😊 regards
Good grief.
I doubt you would ever call someone from Japan a “Jap” to their face.
It’s a pejorative term. Grow up and stop posting ethnic slurs. We won the war.
Nothing wrong with using the term to refer to the ones from that era. I would never use it to refer a modern-day person from Japan, though.
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