Obama's Hiroshima visit stirs differing views across Pacific

[yuiyoshida]

Japanese-American and U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service veteran, poses with archival photographs of himself as he is interviewed in Honolulu.

TOKYO —

Two very different visions of the hell that is war are seared into the minds of World War II survivors on opposite sides of the Pacific.

Michiko Kodama saw a flash in the sky from her elementary school classroom on Aug. 6, 1945, before the ceiling fell and shards of glass from blown-out windows slashed her. Now 78, she has never forgotten t

he living hell she saw from the back of her father, who dug her out after a U.S. military plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.

Lester Tenney saw Japanese soldiers killing fellow American captives on the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines in 1942. “If you didn’t walk fast enough, you were killed. If you didn’t say the right words you were killed, and if you were killed, you were either shot to death, bayonetted, or decapitated,” the 95-year-old veteran said. He still has the bamboo stick Japanese soldiers used to beat him across the face.

Different experiences, different memories are handed down, spread by the media and taught in school. Collectively, they shape the differing reactions in the United States and Japan to Barack Obama’s decision to become the first sitting American president to visit the memorial to atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima later this week.


http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/obamas-hiroshima-visit-stirs-differing-views-across-pacific

[Heeeeers Johnny]

1. No apologies... no regrets

I'll be very disappointed with Obama if he makes any statement that acknowledges either or.

[hunter]

3. Don't be an ass. It was a long time ago. Our empire won.

[hunter]

2. I used to work with World War II vets who'd served in the Pacific.

Overall, I think they were less racist toward the Japanese than peers their same age who had never left California, even a few veterans who had experienced terrible wartime atrocities. Quite a few of them had visited Japan later as tourists.

One sees the same phenomena among Vietnam war veterans on both sides.

For those who have experienced war seeking peace and understanding is a healthy response.

[yuiyoshida]

4. ^^THIS^^

great post!