Cruel War
Some shallow professor of Harvard criticized Japanese for their atrocity in Southeast Asia during WWII.
But Americans were as cruel as Japanese during WWII.
American troops 'murdered Japanese PoWs'
By Ben Fenton12:01AM BST 06 Aug 2005
American and Australian soldiers massacred Japanese prisoners of war, according to one of the most detailed studies of memoirs of the Second World War in the Pacific, published this week.
It also discloses that the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army were far from the cruel, mindless troops of popular legend, and that Gen Douglas MacArthur wanted to launch nuclear strikes on the Soviet Union from an underground airstrip in Britain.
In The Faraway War, published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima atom bomb and of VJ Day, Prof Richard Aldrich of Nottingham University has gathered the diaries of men and women from across the Pacific war front, from the common soldier to the highest general.
He said: "We have this stereotypical idea that the Japanese were all cruel and robotic while the Allied forces were tough but fair in their treatment of the enemy.
"But I was very surprised by much of what I found and had to rethink all those stereotypes."
Prof Aldrich found several examples confirming what became an American policy in some parts of the Pacific theatre not to take prisoners of war.Till the Empire of Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, 48,000 Japanese soldiers became prisoners of war taken by US troops after battles.
He quotes the diaries of Charles Lindbergh, the American aviation pioneer, who toured the Far East visiting United States units. On one occasion he commented to a group of senior officers that very few Japanese seemed to be taken prisoner.
"Oh, we could take more if we wanted to," one of the officers replied. "But our boys don't like to take prisoners.
"It doesn't encourage the rest to surrender when they hear of their buddies being marched out on the flying field and machine-guns turned loose on them."...
They were particularly concerned that the skulls of dead Japanese soldiers were often displayed as gruesome mascots by some units, while US marines made a speciality of collecting ears.
Australian troops are also shown not to like taking prisoners. Prof Aldrich quotes the 1943 diary of Eddie Stanton, an Australian posted to Goodenough Island off Papua New Guinea. "Japanese are still being shot all over the place," he wrote. "The necessity for capturing them has ceased to worry anyone. Nippo soldiers are just so much machine-gun practice. Too many of our soldiers are tied up guarding them."
Further, after August 15, 1945, 500,000 Japanese soldiers were put under the control of the US forces. Among therm, about 6,000 died for various reasons. But it is believed that there were many Japanese soldiers who were killed before they were taken prisoner.
And another issue should be checked: existence of African American soldiers in the Pacific Theater of WWII:
Did black soldiers fight along side white soldiers on the island of Iwo Jima during WW2? I ask because director Spike Lee is accusing the director of the movie (Flags of our Fathers) Clint Eastwood almost of racism for not showing black soldiers in this WW2 film. I know blacks fought honorably during WW2 but did they fight this particular battle that would make Spike Lee accusations true?
Yes they did. they were known as the Montford Point Marines. They received this title due to where they did their training.Only 1200 existed during this time, however due to personal racism many of them men stayed in the one unit. Although Franklin Roosevelt directed the de-segregation of the military, they didn't enforce it. this unit did land on almost every island in the Pacific and did play a huge part in the overall picture. Even after serving heroically during WWII, the Marines were still forced to train at a segregated camp. it was later closed on Sept 9 1949. the Montford point Marines were not used as main assault elements. they served as litter bearers, and as security for the rear elements. So it could only be logically said that blacks did fight along side whites on Iwo Jima, However they did not serve in the attack on Mount Suribachi. in fact the First Black Marine Corps Officer came from this unit.They're you go everyone the truth!!!
Source(s):Any war can be uglier when taking prisoners and generating racial discrimination.
U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations, U.S. Army officer candidate.
USMC a complete history-marine Corps Association
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Joh 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
Joh 8:16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.