In Hiroshima, Kerry will not apologize for atomic bombs dropped on Japan

[happyslug]

241. You are missing the POWs the Russians took...

In the Pacific campaign, it was rare for Japanese to surrender and there are reported cases of American REFUSING to take them as POWS.

Now, one of the reason for the LACK of POWs taken by American forces, while the Russians ended up with a lot, was HOW the Japanese selected soldiers to defend the islands. When taking the Philippines and Malaysia, the Japanese Army sent whole units but otherwise the troops sent to the islands had either volunteered for such duty OR been selected for such duties. If the Japanese officer corp had any concern about the "loyalty" of an enlisted rank, he stayed in the Army in Manchuria. Thus any Japanese enlistee with left wing tendencies ended up in the Japanese Army in Manchuria.

Pre WWII Japan has a very strong left, and a draftee army that drafted such lefties. They were watched and never put into a place where they could do much damage. Thus most were NOT sent to the islands to defend the islands.

Thus as more and more hard core righties in the Army left to fight defending the various islands, the enlisted ranks of the Japanese Army in Manchuria became more and more left wing. Thus when the Russians attack, fighting to the death was NOT want they wanted to do, so they surrendered in droves (also Russia's attack bypassed most of those troops and the Russians just ignored them till they surrendered, the Russians did not need to clear them out so the Japanese Troops so surrounded just sat, could not attack, and no need to commit suicide for the Russians were NOT attacking them, the Russians had enough troops to keep the by passed Japanese troops contained, many surrendered to the Russians rather then get killed by the native Manchus and Chinese.

Thus you did NOT have the massive refusal to surrender in Manchuria as you saw in the Pacific Island campaigns.

The Russians ended up with more POWS in three weeks of warfare then did the American had in three years of Fighting.