Los Banos Raid WWII History

[intrepid]

Some good local history from WWII and not far from where I live.  This was an amazing raid/rescue and for anyone interested in WWII history its a must watch video. 

 

[OnMyWay]

3 hours ago, intrepid said:

This was an amazing raid/rescue and for anyone interested in WWII history its a must watch video. 

Amazing story!  There were so many unsung heroes in WWII, in addition to the many who did get recognition.  The end was sad with the Japanese murderer coming back to kill 1500 locals.

I am always shocked by the vicious and brutal things the Japanese did back then because now, they seem like one of the most polite and respectful societies.

[Guy F.]

Japanese proverb:

A man away from home has no neighbors.

Meaning there would be no one to gossip about bad behavior.

[fillipino_wannabe]

3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Amazing story!  There were so many unsung heroes in WWII, in addition to the many who did get recognition.  The end was sad with the Japanese murderer coming back to kill 1500 locals.

I am always shocked by the vicious and brutal things the Japanese did back then because now, they seem like one of the most polite and respectful societies.

No worse than dropping a nuke on civilians when the war was basically finished to be fair lol.

[KC813]

Historical decisions have to be viewed within the context of time they were made. 

What you say may be true, yet I personally find it hard to put myself into the minds of the ones making the tough decisions back then after they had lived through years of personal sacrifice and bloody fighting. 

I recently saw a documentary on the horrible battles and unexpected level of resistance when taking Iwo Jima, and then especially Okinawa, in immediate preparation of the Allies main invasion.  Certainly a hint for what those in power were feeling when they decided to drop the big ones 3 months later rather than invade the main islands.

 Not saying the decision was right or wrong, not for me to judge, just saying it is hard to reach firm conclusion of events in a different lifetime then ours!

[KC813]

6 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Amazing story!  There were so many unsung heroes in WWII, in addition to the many who did get recognition. 

Some pre-war structures still sit on the U.S. Embassy grounds in Manila, including the “ballroom” that was used later for war crime trials.  Around the walls in the ballroom are framed pictures, including many of mostly little-unknown people who quietly contributed to the war effort during the Japanese occupation.

A small commemorative to civilian "unsung heroes".

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by KC813

[Peaceful John]

Great post Intrepid!  Thank you

[sonjack2847]

7 hours ago, KC813 said:

Historical decisions have to be viewed within the context of time they were made. 

What you say may be true, yet I personally find it hard to put myself into the minds of the ones making the tough decisions back then after they had lived through years of personal sacrifice and bloody fighting. 

I recently saw a documentary on the horrible battles and unexpected level of resistance when taking Iwo Jima, and then especially Okinawa, in immediate preparation of the Allies main invasion.  Certainly a hint for what those in power were feeling when they decided to drop the big ones 3 months later rather than invade the main islands.

 Not saying the decision was right or wrong, not for me to judge, just saying it is hard to reach firm conclusion of events in a different lifetime then ours!

The explanation/justification I heard to drop the bomb was that it saved more lives than it took,Both allied and Japanese.

[Old55]

Same as I look at it Kevin. I can't say if was the right thing to do or not especially in hindsight. 

I read the atomic bombs were used for two reasons.

Wakeup call to the Japs that as bad as the firebombing were we had worse to share. It did have effect on Hirohito. 

The other reason was to put Stalin on notice. Turned out he knew we had the bomb many months before we used it.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Old55

[bastonjock]

Every British serviceman whom I spoke to who fought against the Japanese,  hated them with venom,  the ones who fought the European war did not hang on to their hatred as strongly as the ones who fought in the east

My uncle was taken pow at Singapore,  he made the decision to kill a couple of Korean guards ,with his bare hands , he made it back to Burma where he re joined the brit army ,he was a sergeant in the medical core , not a combat soldier , he was as hard as nails though