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 Frazzled wrote:
I'm glad all the German and Japanese soldiers in WWII did. The loss of civilians in the war on all sides is a terrible thing, poor innocents on all sides, just trying to survive.

Do you realized that sometime, the only difference between a soldier and a civilian is… forced enrollment?
Not saying we should not have tried to win the war, or that winning the war did not require to kill them. Not saying some of them were not terrible persons that ought to die. Just saying certainly not all of them were, and killing them, while necessary, was not something to be glad of but some necessary bad thing.
Just for reference, since you are mentioning Nanking, you certainly know that John Rabe was nominally a nazi, right? And I am saying that as a guy whose grandmother was German and Jew.
I am glad we destroyed Imperial Japan, I do think the use of the atom bombs were justified, but I am not going to say that every Japanese soldier deserved to die. Those that planned and volunteered for unit 731 certainly did, though. Yet they got immunity. Go U.S.A., I guess…

Frazzled is a Texan.

Sentiments like his are pretty standard fare over there, I'm pretty sure. Not sure what the hubbub's about.

One thing that I find facinating (please hear me out on this)

Is the way you guys over the pond get your knickers in a twist over the whole WW2 thing. Now I have family members who were bombed out of their homes, lost firends and neighbours. Other family members lost loved ones, hell even some of my family members ended up suffering in Nazi Germany.

But I never hear any brit's sound so bitter and just so angry about an event that happened so long ago.

Yes bad stuff went down (massive understatement) but seriously it was a different generation we weren't there, we have no idea what we would have done in their shoes so why get all angry about something you have no control over?

Thankfully the world has mostly learnt its lesson and nations that didn't get on seem to be at least trying to these days, however no one is going to move on very far if we all held views like those above.

Everyone is different on their hate

Daston wrote:
One thing that I find facinating (please hear me out on this)

Is the way you guys over the pond get your knickers in a twist over the whole WW2 thing. Now I have family members who were bombed out of their homes, lost firends and neighbours. Other family members lost loved ones, hell even some of my family members ended up suffering in Nazi Germany.

But I never hear any brit's sound so bitter and just so angry about an event that happened so long ago.

Yes bad stuff went down (massive understatement) but seriously it was a different generation we weren't there, we have no idea what we would have done in their shoes so why get all angry about something you have no control over?

Thankfully the world has mostly learnt its lesson and nations that didn't get on seem to be at least trying to these days, however no one is going to move on very far if we all held views like those above.

Texas.

 BlaxicanX wrote:

Daston wrote:
One thing that I find facinating (please hear me out on this)

Is the way you guys over the pond get your knickers in a twist over the whole WW2 thing. Now I have family members who were bombed out of their homes, lost firends and neighbours. Other family members lost loved ones, hell even some of my family members ended up suffering in Nazi Germany.

But I never hear any brit's sound so bitter and just so angry about an event that happened so long ago.

Yes bad stuff went down (massive understatement) but seriously it was a different generation we weren't there, we have no idea what we would have done in their shoes so why get all angry about something you have no control over?

Thankfully the world has mostly learnt its lesson and nations that didn't get on seem to be at least trying to these days, however no one is going to move on very far if we all held views like those above.

Texas.

Thats twice now you have made giant sweeping generalizations about people from/in Texas.

I would appreciate it if you would stop. I am from Texas, my grandfather fought in the tail end of WWII as an occupying force, and then in the early part of Korea. I do not hate the Japanese, or the Koreans, and as far as I am aware, neither did he. In fact: visiting Japan and S Korea are on my bucket list, I love the food and the culture.

My point is your generalizations are bad and lazy, if you want to put up some proof to back up your apparent dislike of Texas, please do so and I will shut my mouth, otherwise your generalizations are no better than those made against any other group of people out there and I am pretty sure they violate rule #1.

On topic: I really enjoy reading these types of things, it gives a more in depth view you dont often get to see, and helps to better appreciate the utter crap that both sides had to face in that war.

To the thread in general, cool it on the hate X and hate Y, as well as the disrespecting X and disrespecting Y. All of that is pretty inflammatory stuff.

IronWarLeg wrote:
Thats twice now you have made giant sweeping generalizations about people from/in Texas.

I would appreciate it if you would stop. I am from Texas, my grandfather fought in the tail end of WWII as an occupying force, and then in the early part of Korea. I do not hate the Japanese, or the Koreans, and as far as I am aware, neither did he. In fact: visiting Japan and S Korea are on my bucket list, I love the food and the culture.

My point is your generalizations are bad and lazy, if you want to put up some proof to back up your apparent dislike of Texas, please do so and I will shut my mouth, otherwise your generalizations are no better than those made against any other group of people out there and I am pretty sure they violate rule #1.

On topic: I really enjoy reading these types of things, it gives a more in depth view you dont often get to see, and helps to better appreciate the utter crap that both sides had to face in that war.

I never asserted that Texans collectively hate the Japanese or the Koreans.

In fact, neither did Frazz.

 BlaxicanX wrote:
Frazzled is a Texan.

Sentiments like his are pretty standard fare over there, I'm pretty sure. Not sure what the hubbub's about.

Dude, cool it on the whole "Most or all Texans carry hate through the generations" bit. Standard fare? My wife is from Texas and I've never heard her, or her extensive family and circle of friends say anything about hating anyone we had a war with.

Your generalizations are pretty much making you look like what you accuse people from Texas of being.

Thread sliding into a bashing round it seems

 Jihadin wrote:
Thread sliding into a bashing round it seems

Which is too bad because the subject is fascinating and the conversation could be so much above and beyond what it currently is.

Well, lets keep things interesting.

Anybody read the book this came from?

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/619508.html


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also enjoyed reading this yesterday

http://www.nettally.com/jrube/genjirou/genjirou.htm

Completely different feel from the late war diaries.

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
@OP if you like that sort of stuff, try and find a copy of 'No Surrender" by Onada. It's the memoires of the last Japanese solider to surrender in the Philippines in the early 70s. The book is probably out of print, but a library might have a copy about.

I defiantly know of this man and his story, however I have not read his book. I have heard its bias but im sure its worth the read if I can find it. I may very well look for that tomorrow

He is pro-Japanese to the end. He is so pro-Japanese he is ashamed of Japan when he comes back, he moves to Brazil to farm.

 Khornholio wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
@OP if you like that sort of stuff, try and find a copy of 'No Surrender" by Onada. It's the memoires of the last Japanese solider to surrender in the Philippines in the early 70s. The book is probably out of print, but a library might have a copy about.

I defiantly know of this man and his story, however I have not read his book. I have heard its bias but im sure its worth the read if I can find it. I may very well look for that tomorrow

He is pro-Japanese to the end. He is so pro-Japanese he is ashamed of Japan when he comes back, he moves to Brazil to farm.

After spending as long as he did fighting for it, in those conditions, id imagine he would be very annoyed to find it was all for nothing. I probably would move to Brazil after all that too haha

Relapse wrote:
Your generalizations are pretty much making you look like what you accuse people from Texas of being.

Which is? Inquiring minds would like to know.

 BlaxicanX wrote:

Relapse wrote:

 BlaxicanX wrote:
Frazzled is a Texan.

Sentiments like his are pretty standard fare over there, I'm pretty sure. Not sure what the hubbub's about.

Dude, cool it on the whole "Most or all Texans carry hate through the generations" bit. Standard fare? My wife is from Texas and I've never heard her, or her extensive family and circle of friends say anything about hating anyone we had a war with.

Your generalizations are pretty much making you look like what you accuse people from Texas of being.

What do I accuse Texas of being?

Can you just leave?

You know full well what you meant, you also seem to just be aggravating people and randomly stating someones country of origin "for no reason...".

So unless you have something useful to add, please bugger off. Someone might put something interesting up here like the civil war guy, but instead its polluted by people like you with broad generalizations and how apparently being from texas excuses someones behavior or something.

In short, unless you are gonna say something on topic, please bugger off my thread and stop annoying one of the people who actually contributed to the conversation.

What would you like to discuss? I've read your link. Is there anything else you'd like to say about it?

 BlaxicanX wrote:
What would you like to discuss? Posit something.

Reading the OP is a start

There is a link there, some thoughts and even incorrect facts to check out!

Check my edit, yo.

It was an interesting read. Reminds me that I need to re-watch Letters of Iwo Jima and Flag of our Fathers one of these days.

 BlaxicanX wrote:
Check my edit, yo.

It was an interesting read. Reminds me that I need to re-watch Letters of Iwo Jima and Flag of our Fathers one of these days.

Thats better

I really enjoyed some of the Iwo Jima film. Especially the bit where is friend died from dysentery. It reminds people that bullets and bombs arent the only way soldiers died.

Indeed. In fact, iirc dying nominally from like... war stuff, is a rather new development for us. For most of our history, disease has killed far more troops than the actual warfare part ever has.

Yep, and in the 2nd world war this was rampant in the backwards armies. Imperial soldiers spent a lot of the later stages starving and full of disease.

I suppose it would have been worse as travel times get longer going backwards in time. Long marches with rationed food, surrounded by heaps of dirty people and some lack of medical knowledge is sickness heaven really.

Relapse wrote:

 BlaxicanX wrote:
Frazzled is a Texan.

Sentiments like his are pretty standard fare over there, I'm pretty sure. Not sure what the hubbub's about.

Dude, cool it on the whole "Most or all Texans carry hate through the generations" bit. Standard fare? My wife is from Texas and I've never heard her, or her extensive family and circle of friends say anything about hating anyone we had a war with.

Your generalizations are pretty much making you look like what you accuse people from Texas of being.

Exactly. He's full of bs. I don't know anyone who hates entire generations of people (exception for those who may have been in an actual war of course). Maybe in your part of the world people do that, but not here.

Except for Leichtensteinians of course, but they are truly History's greatest villains.

To the point, many of the conditions for Japanes soldiers on the islands and in mainland Asia, could best be described as exceedingly poor. Even without being cut off by the US navy, their supply train was extremely limited. Watching World At War series, and the segments about Rangoon have Japanese soldiers describing their extremely poor conditions, and there was nothing stopping supplies getting to them.

Daston wrote:
One thing that I find facinating (please hear me out on this)

Is the way you guys over the pond get your knickers in a twist over the whole WW2 thing. Now I have family members who were bombed out of their homes, lost firends and neighbours. Other family members lost loved ones, hell even some of my family members ended up suffering in Nazi Germany.

But I never hear any brit's sound so bitter and just so angry about an event that happened so long ago.

Yes bad stuff went down (massive understatement) but seriously it was a different generation we weren't there, we have no idea what we would have done in their shoes so why get all angry about something you have no control over?

Thankfully the world has mostly learnt its lesson and nations that didn't get on seem to be at least trying to these days, however no one is going to move on very far if we all held views like those above.

Britain seems to have made a huge effort after the WWs to reconcile what happened.
I now live in Coventry, which has twinned with towns all over the world. Its first was Volgograd (then Stalingrad). One twinning is with Dresden, which also had a massive amount of the town bombed in retaliation.
It turns out my grandparents lived here during the bombings, after moving out of London, and getting out of Guernsey just in time. My family may not have seen it anywhere as bad as a lot of others, but was certainly affected by the war.

This is probably why anything said against a country or its population is shouted down so much over here.