World War 2

In 6^th form one could say I was a world war 2 buff, I found the war the battles the struggle somewhat interesting. As such I went out of my way to read articles and watch documentaries about it. Today, for the first time I was shaken. I mean near the point of tears, and that is allot for me. It was history channel documentary on the part of the war that involved Japan and the US.

Over the years I have not come across much with regards to it. I have always held the US in some contempt with regards to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, but never had I truly thought about the horror.

Even typing it now and replaying the images in my mind makes me pause at the sheer horror and futility of it…

This documentary unlike most others I had seen held nothing back. I mean war in all its Grotesque fury was on display. I saw Soldiers empty a revolver into a seemingly dead body because they could not risk the Jap being alive. I saw an interview of an American soldier who mater of factly spoke about the battle for Okinawa where they took no prisoners. He, in a very calm and steady voice, spoke about interrogating those captured and then shooting them in the head, or if they were to close to enemy lines they cut their throats. I could have cried, not for the prisoners only but for that and the many other young full of life youths like me who joined or were drafted who had to be bathed in blood and scarred to the point where to slit another mans throat and have his blood on your hands literally had to be fact of life.

I cannot begin to describe to you how much this documentary has made me despise war. And the hard part is all these ppl had to die because some guys in an air-conditioned office said they had to do it.

How does such a man who has seen horrors and done atrocities that not even TV could show rejoin society and live a normal life?

For whatever reason they attacked Pearl Harbor, the Japs only killed soldiers, but here were the Americans forced to fight a war they did not want because these Japanese hurt them as individuals and as a country. They were violated in the as bad a way as any country could be violated. As expected they wanted revenge, perfectly normal and so they went to hurt them as much or more than they had been. Again I cannot wrong them for this.

But the Japanese were different when defending their homeland; you see they love their country, and even taught school children how to kill American soldiers. In the end the Americans wanted to hurt a ppl that would fight to their last breath to defend their homeland. All so futile Soldiers who felt the need for revenge and a ppl who would die to save their country.

2 Sides bent on killing each other.

There was no way out, American honor and need to avenge the violation of their country compiled on individuals who saw this never ending wave of Japanese soldiers come in and kill their friends over and over again. And to the Japs who all they wanted to do was to protect there homeland, whose honor would not allow an American to set foot on their homeland while they drew breath… sigh…

And today I ask myself have the japs forgiven the Americans truly? Have they forgiven the sea of dead fellow countrymen, women and children who blood covered their country? Forget that, How do you for give Nagasaki and Hiroshima.. I tell you I couldn’t… Children babies Mothers fathers’ daughters whose skin was stripped from their flesh…. I couldn’t forgive that…

And I ask about these soldiers that came back from the war that sparked the baby boom, these were broken men re-molded in a inhumane world, what sort of upbringing did they give their children, what did they teach what could they teach…