IWO JIMA Marine on HATING the ENEMY

#military #history #avc #militaryhistory #ww2 #marines #iwojima
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[stevegoldson]

Guys, when he says he was brainwashed into thinking the Japanese were super evil, I think he was saying he was brainwashed into thinking every single Japanese person was super evil. Or he was just emphasizing how much he was brainwashed into thinking the USA were super duper good.

[jimnewl]

I'm a retired Marine who was married to an Okinawan. I met her grandfather before he died, who had survived the invasion of his island, and he loved Americans. Why? Because the Japanese--his own countrymen--threw fleeing civilians out of their fortified caves and back into the rain of bullets and bombs during the combat, while the American soldiers patched them up, kept them warm, and fed them. I never felt prouder to be an American than when I heard that.

[Excessive_complaining]

I think Nanjing would say they were pretty evil

[SurJurz]

My great uncle a USMC WW2 veteran held a burning hatred for Japanese his entire life. To him the horror of that war never ended

[joshuapowell]

"Wars are fought by young men who know nothing about each other." This was something my grandfather said in an interview about his time on a minesweeper in WW2. After the surrender, they got a Japanese signalman on their ship to help coordinate with Japanese minesweepers in Tokyo bay. Said he was a very nice and friendly guy. And just a week prior, they were trying to kill each other.

[bryanscott]

My Grandfather was from Guangzhou, he hated the Japanese for what they did to the Chinese at Nanking and all of the medical experiments they did!

[sertank]

Calling the Japanese in WW2 “super evil” is fairly accurate in my estimation.

[Kevin-rso]

I think soldiers more or less have to think this way in order to carry out their duties. It's sad. You're still a hero Sir. Thank you.😞👍🇺🇲

[pamelabartholomew]

They were evil. My Dad was a pow for 3 and a half years. He was mentally and physically affected his entire life, even on his deathbed. Having said that, he didn't hate the Japanese people in general, just the ones he was incarcerated by. One local young man and his grandfather from outside the camp often risked their own lives by slipping food to my Dad.

[thomasskrappy]

Ask the Chinese how the Japanese treated them. My dad, a WW2 combat vet, said that he just could not get over his disgust of them.

[rhunteri]

My dad [a Navy veteran in the Pacific had a friend who was a survivor of the Bataan Death March, survived being a PoW of the Japanese for 3-1/2 years. Only met him once, but all 3 of us had dinner together, and he said, "Dying ISN'T the worst thing that can happen to you...trust me. At least when you're dead, they can't hurt you anymore." I'll NEVER forget the look he had when he said that; I just knew enough to know NOT to ask details about what that meant; he was pushing 70 at the time, and it was just as fresh as if it happened last week.

Then I learned about Unit 731; and about the "comfort women"; and I had read Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking".

None of that was posters, or movies, or propaganda. And they WEREN'T going to stop until somebody BIGGER, MEANER, and MORE VIOLENT STOPPED them; same is true for the Nazis in Germany. They HAD to be STOPPED; no matter HOW much it cost, or HOW ugly and traumatic it got.

We owe those men, and that generation SO MUCH😢

[tw]

I love these videos of the older veterans. These men share their experiences and wisdom. They often tell it like it is, the hard truth, the complicated truth, what they've learned, just straight up, no b.s. They don't have any thing to prove to anyone because they've proved their mettle winning the war. And they're aware they're on their way and just say what they think is of value to the younger generations who do well to hear them.

[Tom-evrg]

The Japanese felt that anyone who wasn't them should be considered inferior, which led to some truly horrific acts on their part.

[greenbayben]

The Japanese thought that surrendering was cowardice and all prisoners should be treated as cowards. They were also told that Americans don’t take prisoners and marines were recruited from jails. Many Japanese took their own life to avoid capture just for the survivors to be treated well and shocked. They truly were a horrible enemy.

[poogy]

The Japanese treated our pow's like maggot poop.

[ryanhogge]

The Japanese did some terrible things. But war itself is a terrible thing. We also dipped our fingers into some ugly acts. This man is allowed to have feelings about what he did in his time. Don't dare tell him that he is wrong. He was there, and we weren't.

[michaellaros]

Heard of the Batan Death March? I'd call that evil

[bingobongo]

No one is immune to propaganda. Not then and not now. People must keep an open mind and learn to be true free thinking and caring people

[yourway]

It's a psychological fact that each conflict requires the dehumanization of the opposition. It makes them easier to destroy with the least amount of moral conflict.

[cacampbell]

I don’t know where you found this man, but I have no words to express how much he and his words mean to me.