What do you think guys? (2 Viewers)

[modwalls]

Well said by everyone, you can't fault the older generation for feeling wronged by their foes. But yes the newer generation us, must move on get over it if we ever want to have better futures. With all the tention in the world now, and upevil in the middleeast, I hope those people can turn their goverments around, and not look for revenge. I try not to hold grudges on people who have wronged me, I said I try. It is human nature to fight back when you feel you are being wronged. As it has been said, " One mans Freedom Fighter, is another mans Terrorist". The Vets have that right in my opinion to hold whatever grudge they want, time does heal the pain. Trust in God, not in Goverments, and God Bless the World, we are all in this fishtank together.

 

[Scott]

Whenever the UK takes a hit from some sort of an "Act of God", I DO NOT feel revenged even though the British shot up both my home town in 1814 and my current town in 1775.

American: "You Brits burned Washington!"

Englishman: "Sorry, I thought the Old Boy died in his bed."

 

[Rob]

And its the same for every country with a good/bad History. I don't for instance think I can be blamed for Great Britain's involvement in the slave trade as it was a few years before I was born. I guess one atrocity my generation can be held responsible for on a global scale is the ' Big Brother' tv series, an outrage against Humanity indeed:wink2::salute::

Rob

 

[wayne556517]

And its the same for every country with a good/bad History. I don't for instance think I can be blamed for Great Britain's involvement in the slave trade as it was a few years before I was born. I guess one atrocity my generation can be held responsible for on a global scale is the ' Big Brother' tv series, an outrage against Humanity indeed:wink2::salute::

Rob

You sure mate....................^&grin

 

[Rob]

You sure mate....................^&grin

^&grin

Just about...but not by much:wink2:

Rob

 

[VIRIATO]

I guess it's impossible for most people who went through the war to be detached, unemotional, objective. Demanding that they be would probably be demanding that they be perfect, something unknown in the human race... A judge can never be a part of the case he is judging can he:wink2:?

Paulo

 

[Currahee Chris]

Well said by everyone, you can't fault the older generation for feeling wronged by their foes. But yes the newer generation us, must move on get over it if we ever want to have better futures. With all the tention in the world now, and upevil in the middleeast, I hope those people can turn their goverments around, and not look for revenge. I try not to hold grudges on people who have wronged me, I said I try. It is human nature to fight back when you feel you are being wronged. As it has been said, " One mans Freedom Fighter, is another mans Terrorist". The Vets have that right in my opinion to hold whatever grudge they want, time does heal the pain. Trust in God, not in Goverments, and God Bless the World, we are all in this fishtank together.

Very well said my friend!!

 

[jules118]

Interesting discussion point and because of my interest in Australian military history and the history of Vietnam, it's something that I do actually think about quite a lot.

Having visited Vietnam at least a dozen times and spoken to lots of Vietnamese who lived through the war (including many who were in the Australian controlled area) I often think about how forgiving the Vietnamese are considering how much they suffered as a direct result of our forces actions on the ground, not in a general military or political sense. Real people with real experiences and real trauma.

Yet it has only been on the very rare occasion that I have encountered any animosity, most times it has been the exact opposite. This often sits in stark contradiction to some of the attitudes that many Australians seem to hold towards the Japanese, despite those holding them having no personal experience in WW2 to actually warrant that level of resentment/ ill will. I can understand the veterans being scarred by their experience and finding it difficult to forgive and move on... but for the rest of us?

Ultimately, we are all human beings, with the same basic needs and desires. We all want to live, love, laugh, be happy, comfortable and have the best for our kids. Unfortunately sometimes circumstance, religion, ideology and other factors cloak those things, but the same basic needs remain. I think that we should be smart enough to look past the mythology, BS and propaganda to see things for what they are and realise that as humans we are all pretty much the same. We need not forget, but we should learn to forgive and try to develop a world where the same mistakes are not made again. Merely holding a grudge does nothing to make things better or right.

 

[Scott]

In the US we have had cases where an official apology and some restitution for living victims has been given in the case of the WW II internment of the Japanese Americans. Restitution for slavery is a tough one because there are no living slaves but there are businesses still in existence that profited from the slave trade. There is waaaaay to much resistance to any payment of $$$$ in restitution to descendants and I include myself in the corner. On the other hand the US government is the same US government back to 1787 and current elected representatives could speak for the nation in regard to past wrongs. The US has also changed laws and amended the Constitution to right past injustices and expand who are full citizens. That's progress!

 

[Rutledge]

The US has also changed laws and amended the Constitution to right past injustices and expand who are full citizens. That's progress!

I wonder about past "rights" that are as yet credited. Do we get any "props" for these? I mean surely if "we" have committed past wrongs for which "we" are to blame, there must be at least a few past "rights" for which we havent receieved credit, yes? Thus, there must be quite a few folks around the world, somewhere, that owe us something for the GOOD we have done, yes?

Or are we JUST supposed to highlight and emphasize the wrongs and say, well, "rights" are a given and what is expected/allowed, so no actual credit is due us. Doing "right" is its "own reward", perhaps.

 

[Gideon]

For those still alive who witnessed and experienced the Japanese as enemies, I can't for a second, blame them for their hatred and animosity. But for the later generations who live in a different world, I would say that they have no business living in the world of earlier generations of their families.

I think its arrogant for people to feel entitled to the biases of the past but, again, for those who lived through battles and atrocities - well, that was the enemy and they will always be the enemy should they choose. Who are we to tell them that they shouldn't feel that way now so long as they don't interfere with the present?

Some get over seeing the people they fought against as enemies and some don't. I suppose it has to do with the damage done to ones soul when put into circumstances like what they went through.

Does this make sense to you all?

 

[Scott]

I wonder about past "rights" that are as yet credited. Do we get any "props" for these? I mean surely if "we" have committed past wrongs for which "we" are to blame, there must be at least a few past "rights" for which we havent receieved credit, yes? Thus, there must be quite a few folks around the world, somewhere, that owe us something for the GOOD we have done, yes?

Or are we JUST supposed to highlight and emphasize the wrongs and say, well, "rights" are a given and what is expected/allowed, so no actual credit is due us. Doing "right" is its "own reward", perhaps.

It's like at work. One "black eye" cancels out two or more "feathers in your cap."

I was just telling my 15 year old daughter about the Berlin Airlift the other day. Good deeds done by Americans as groups or individuals are one case. Good deeds done by the our Government in the name of The United States are another.

 

[trooper]

Having lived through the second World War I well recall the intense hatred of anything German that prevailed at that time. A hatred that was lifted to even greater heights when the news of the concentration camps was made public. Since then I have met many Germans, some of whom are my friends, and regard them as individuals to be taken as you find them. But I must confess a distrust of Germany as a nation state and regard their actions with suspicion. ( Moderators, please don't start screaming
"Political" and erase the post) Trooper

 

[Scott]

I was only 4 or 5 in the early 1950s and only the slightest idea of WWII and that my father fought the Germans. Badly wounded to. He was a Sea Scout master and hosted some German Sea Scouts at our house. I hid upstairs! How could my father do that? :wink2:^&confuse:wink2:

 

[Mitch]

Scott...

With the greatest of respect to your father and having spoken and interviwed many WWII veterans from all sides, its a rather different issue for the POW who was brutalized by the japanese. This was something that was not as common in the western theatre conditions were tough but, nothing compared to what the brits and other allies had to endure under the mentality and cruelty of the japanese.

Far more veterans I have spoken to have readily come to terms with their german counter parts in WWII than from the troops who fought the japanese and who were POW.

There are also different kinds of people who view things in different ways. Being wounded in combat when the playing field so, to speak, is level and fair is a different issue to be barbarically treat as a POW. Being worked to death, beaten and abused, tortured, suffering severe illness and watching people beheaded who are your friends and comrades etc takes its toll on men.

That may possibly be a reason why your father could more easily accept his former foe's
Mitch

 

[Rutledge]

It's like at work. One "black eye" cancels out two or more "feathers in your cap."

Tell that to Michael Jordan. "At work", he missed many more last second shot game shots than he made. But what for, and how, is he remembered? How many times did Babe Ruth strike out?

Hmmm, makes you think, doesnt it...? ^&grin

 

[Scott]

You have a point Mitch. My father was picked up and cared for by his own troops. A sniper did shoot his canteen out of hand (so he said.) When President Reagan decorated German graves at Bitburg, a cemetery where Waffen SS troops were buried, I thought my father would object but he said that they were just men who were fighting for their country.

I have only seen illustrations done by a survivor of Japanese camps and heard some British veterans on TV. I can only imagine how bad it was. Any imprisonment that totally dehumanizes human beings because the captors do not consider them human to start has to be the worst.

 

[Jay]

Hard to say unless you've been in someone's shoes. I did work for a guy during the early 80s who had been in a bomber crew bombing Japan towards the end of the war. We wound up doing business with one of the major Japanese companies, and they flew the assistant to the chairman of the company over to meet us. The first meet was semi-formal, but during the introductions my boss was asked if he ever had been to Japan. ( I had been during a later war, and was the intermediate at the time or our meetings). He answered very diplomatically that he had never actually been there, but had flown over a few times. He finds out over a few meetings that the exec from Japan had been Zero pilot flying over Japan at the time and areas my boss was bombings. They became good friends over the year we were dealing with them, and was invited back by the exec to Japan to visit and stay with him. Both clearly would have had a good reason to hate the other but overcame the past and moved on. Still, I can't blame someone who suffered. But it should end with him, not continue for further generations.

 

[Mitch]

I think, I agree, with some of the comments about later generations letting some of the animosity go, perhaps, with just one caveat. The primary generation who faught and suffered the physical and psychological injuries did returned home, to wives etc and had families who watched them suffer these injuries or, suffered themselves, from these ''war wounds''. So, it affects them also and, if you know where the underlying problem comes from say germans or japanese or, conversly, british or US etc then I can see clearly how dislike or hatred could be transferred to generations who were not directly involved in the fighting themselves.
Mitch

 

[bromhead]

Not a problem with the recent tragedy,,except when media types mention ,"the poor japanese have had tragic times with radiation in the past",a bit obvious to some.