Japan is a funny country.
After the Emperor agreed to the surrender, the first B29’s to land in mainland Japan were armed with napalm in case they were attacked. Instead, the Japanese brought the crews tea and acted glad to see them.
They literally turned on a dime from hating Americans to liking them.
USS Franklin suffered over 800 killed and missing and USS Bunker Hill suffered 396 killed and missing. These were the first and third largest loss of life on damaged or sunken American aircraft carriers during World War II.
Sneaky bastards.
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.