I understand where you are coming from - I'm a child of WWII, born right before Pearl Harbor. Believe me, I DO understand.
Now, I may get a TO, but that isn't anything new for me, I'm not at all PC. I remember a lot of bad things about the war, read a lot more about the cruelty of Japan. Prior to this I did mention Bataan death march. If none of you know, look it up. In the past few years I even turned down a trip to Japan while my son was there in the military. I wanted nothing to do with these people; I refused to feed the economy or acknowledge it in any way.
However, right now I am ambivalent. I know the tears are only 'cause they got caught and lost face. I guess falling on swords is outdated or illegal now, but I really don't know. Even so, right now, I'm trying so hard to come to terms with this and it ain't easy. I have a lot of stored up memories from WWII, and bad feelings, but I'm trying to come to terms with them. It isn't easy. Being a child during WWII wasn't easy, it was damned hard, and to hear Obama say they were our dear friends, GAG, only because they had little choice after the war (that's why they have no military), I was appalled.
I always do this, but somehow at the end of all my posts I try to sum up what I'm saying, and it is this - I do not love the Japanese people because I remember very well what happened in WWII, and it was ugly beyond belief, although most here don't know that. I am trying so hard to believe the mindset in Japan has changed, that I can relate to them as a people, not as robots of the Emperor. I want them to feel as me and you feel, I want to cry for their dead, I want to forgive and forget. I don't know if I can, totally, but I want to cry for his dead, my dead, all the pain of humanity.
Time to stop. I hope you all look into history, evaluate your humanity, and maybe, just maybe we can come together and cry. Maybe, I don't really know.
