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Veterans

In reply to the discussion: Was my dad wrong? [View all]
 

Chainfire

(17,757 posts)
24. People are a product of their times. Of course we tend to judge them all
Mon Feb 21, 2022, 06:17 PM
Feb 2022

by the standards of today. (which may or may not be the standards of tomorrow) I don't know how that is to be avoided.

A lot of the issue with American Pacific Combat vets and a lasting hate of the Japanese comes from such a vast difference in the two cultures. The Japanese were seen a particularly brutal, by Western standards, of course. In fact, the Japanese were brutal, by our standards, with each other too. Sargents were brutal to corporals, corporals were brutal to privates, Lieutenants were brutal to Sargents, and so forth. In training in particular and in service in general, the Japanese beat the crap out of each other for minor breaches of conduct, or apparently, in some cases just for the hell of it.

Most of the people who had actual combat with the Japanese at least respected their ability as fighters, but they viewed them as treacherous, sneaky, heartless and a little crazy. They did not play the war game by the same rules as Americans. Suicide pilots, suicide charges, mass suicide rather than surrender just shook the American troops to their core. American troops never could wrap their heads around how a man could intentionally kill himself in order to strike the enemy, or to avoid capture. It just didn't grok...

As soon as the war ended and the fighting troops went home, and the occupation troops took over, that attitude changed abruptly. A lot of American post-war troops brought home Japanese wives. The big surprise for the American leaders and troops was how cooperative the defeated Japanese were with the victors. Senior American leadership expected a lot of post-war violence and it never materialized. Almost as soon as the surrender, American troops were safe in the streets of Japan.

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Was my dad wrong? [View all] Lydiarose Feb 2022 OP
I've always said that a war is never over until the last man that fought in it has died Walleye Feb 2022 #1
Well said JustAnotherGen Feb 2022 #6
Same attitude to Germans? ret5hd Feb 2022 #2
It is all in the eyes I reckon. nt DURHAM D Feb 2022 #4
See my post below JustAnotherGen Feb 2022 #7
My Pappaw had a German last name underpants Feb 2022 #13
He personally fought the Japanese Lydiarose Feb 2022 #14
it is all impossibly complicated. NewHendoLib Feb 2022 #3
I don't know JustAnotherGen Feb 2022 #5
Your dad's hatred of Russians Lydiarose Feb 2022 #25
Some vets have been able sarisataka Feb 2022 #8
People are a product of their times. Of course we tend to judge them all Chainfire Feb 2022 #24
Interesting take Lydiarose Feb 2022 #26
Given his experiences, whathehell Feb 2022 #9
I have been known Busterscruggs Feb 2022 #10
You don't see the difference? ret5hd Feb 2022 #16
I have stayed far Busterscruggs Feb 2022 #17
But the diff between what/how a person says, does, acts... ret5hd Feb 2022 #18
I guess Busterscruggs Feb 2022 #21
And that's the same as being "caught off guard" by someone being Asian? ret5hd Feb 2022 #22
and many who served got over stopdiggin Feb 2022 #11
War changes who people. Having said that, racism is racism. LakeArenal Feb 2022 #12
Yes Effete Snob Feb 2022 #15
There was a lot of anti-German and anti-Japanese propaganda produced during WWII No Vested Interest Feb 2022 #19
Some Native Americans today despise whites Kaleva Feb 2022 #20
He is not the only one, for sure. Chainfire Feb 2022 #23
You have had some good answers DashOneBravo Feb 2022 #27
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