Posted on 02/18/2006 2:45:31 AM PST by Aussie Dasher
JAPAN'S ambassador to the Philippines today apologized to the nation for the destruction of Manila towards the closing stages of the World War II.
Ryuichiro Yamazaki spoke at a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 61st anniversary of the Battle for Manila that left over 100,000 Filipinos dead and destroyed the city once known as the Pearl of the Orient.
"The terror that each Filipino man, woman and child must have experienced in Manila 61 years ago is beyond the imagination of any sane human being," he said at a memorial to the dead in the Intramuros part of the city.
"With this historical fact in mind, I would like to express my heartfelt apologies and deep sense of remorse over the tragic fate of Manila," the ambassador said in an emotional speech.
"About 100,000 Filipino civilians were killed, many of whom suffered atrocities by the Japanese military," he said.
The Battle for Manila began on February 3, 1945 and lasted 28 days
As an anecdote my uncle was held at Santo Thomaso as a POW for 5 years. He was an Augustian Father who was at the school as a missionary. I will spare the details, but it took 50 years for him to sit down with a tape recorder and talk about it while he was still lucid.
The point of this is he at one time said, " I swore I would love the Japanese JUST ENOUGH to get into heaven"
Watching the continuing decline of hollywood profits, at some point business people may take over and insist on responding to market forces. I know, I won't hold my breath, but we can hope.
I;ll hope with you ...Unlikely though ..There are still enough morons around to watch that crap that comes out of Hollywood.
I hope that he is sitting at the feet of God. Bless him.
There are things in the past of all powerful countries that we wish had not occurred. To be politically correct, our governments often apolgoize for those things long after the event. Thankfully, in the last few years our local newspapers have quit running the sob stories about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the anniversaries of those events. I don't recall ever hearing of any official apology from the Japanese government for Pearl Harbor, brutal treatment of prisoners, the rape of Nanking. And, who would want their damned apology anyway? I believe it is criminal that Hirohito was allowed to escape his role in all of these things. He should have paid with his life.
My Uncle, Vincent Casey died the night after I posted that at Maryknoll in Maryland. Prayers.
All the best to you in this difficult time.
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