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
Better late than never.
Hope it is from somebody sincere and not clintonian.
Compared to the plights of Western POWs at the Japanese hands, China fared far worse with 35 million dead, and sadly the issue has been complicated today by Communist exploits of people's sentiments.
Don't forget September 18 1931!
Don't forget July 7 1937!
Don't forget the Nanking massacre!
Don't forget the 800 brave Chinese soldiers who stood guard at Shanghai for 6 months!
Japanese were the über racists of Asia back then. They mass murdered Chinese and Filipinos for fun and sport. Not to mention Caucasian POWs
A lot of older Aussies cannot forgive or forget what the Japs did to our boys...and nurses!
My father spent almost all of 1939 to 1946 in the war against the Japanese.( He was prewar navy, also on the U.S.S. Marble head). Why don't we know about the horrors the Japanese inflicted on the human race? The answer is "how would that further the lefts anti western civilization agenda"
The only thing that I think may convince these Western leftists is China. Since current China is one of their darlings, I suppose they wouldn't mind sacrificing Japan for another even more anti-Western civilizational regime.
Hello Japan...
Islam says you are next, whatch gonna do about them?
Gonna let them invade your infrastructure like in the US?
Gonna let them own your empire?
I hear they will make sushi illegal, its unclean to their beliefs.
Ever had the urge to return a nuclear favor?
Go for it! Do a modern day Nanking on any Muslim city, you have my blessing!
Wow. They apologized. I'm sure that makes it better somehow.
Japan is a homogeneous society. The slams will never take Japan.
I wonder if they got a clue, though, on August 6, 1945?
When China "erupts", I expect that we'll be hosting many new Japanese "guests". Quite probably for as long as we speak mostly English in this nation.
I saw those pictures in my childhood. My enemy is not the (modern) Japanese it is the twisted, incorrect writing of history the MSM and Hollywood do.
I worked at Ford with a couple of Marines who had fought at Iwo Jima. When Ford was working on joint projects with Mazda in the '80s these guys were slated to work on those programs. One, who worked for a more enlightened boss, prevailed on him to transfer him to another non-Japanese program. The other chose to retire such was his lingering hatred of the Japanese.
More importantly a lot of us Americans will never forget the truly heroic and compassionate actions of our Australian allies, soldier and civilian, in WWII and down to the present times.
And don't forget the widespread Japanese biological warfare experiments in China. Some of their remnants are still with the Chinese today.
A group from the British Indian Army's 152nd Para Battalion displaying the Japanese flag they captured while operating against the Japanese Army at Tangkhul Hundung. Circa 1945.
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