VJ Day

[too much coffee]

I didn't intend to come off sarcastically. I'm sorry if that's your perception.
Best regards......coffee

 

[HepKitty]

I didn't intend to come off sarcastically. I'm sorry if that's your perception.
Best regards......coffee

ok just checking. thank you

 

[Doublegun]

the Nazis exterminated 11 million on their own, 6 million Jews and 5 million "undesirables" as they viewed them. does anyone have the numbers on the Chinese victims?

I've not yet seen "the Pacific" but it's on my wish list on Amazon

I stand corrected (again). :eusa_doh: You obviously have a very strong grasp of history, I hope you enjoy The Pacific. Starts out a little slow but the payoff in the is worth it (at least it was for me).

JDG

 

[HepKitty]

I stand corrected (again). :eusa_doh: You obviously have a very strong grasp of history, I hope you enjoy The Pacific. Starts out a little slow but the payoff in the is worth it (at least it was for me).

JDG

lol it's ok can you tell that I've taken too many German classes and lived in Germany? and that I watch the history channel too much?

hopefully I'll get to watch The Pacific soon...

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's impossible to know exactly how many Chinese civilians died as a direct result of Japanese war crimes, but estimates of civilian deaths between 1937 and 1945 range from 3 million on the low side to 9 million on the high side. Historian R. J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii, whose studies of the period may be the most thorough currently available pegs the figure at 4 million, and this is the figure most widely accepted. These include those directly slaughtered in the Emperor's name, such as the 300,000 men, women, and children murdered at Nanking, and the half-million people murdered in biological-warfare experiments, as well as those who died as a result of the overall policies of the Japanese occupation, which decimated Chinese agriculture and caused far-reaching famine.

 

[MolonLabe416]

>>I think there's a tendency today to downplay the significance of the Pacific War, to somehow suggest the war against Imperial Japan was "less just" than that against Nazi Germany. Many Americans, especially, tend to think the whole point of the war was "revenge for Pearl Harbor." In fact, though, Imperial Japan was guilty of incalculable horrors during the 1930s and 1940s, long before the first bomb was dropped at Pearl. <<

Well, not PC to talk bad about folks who are other than we, don't you know. The facts of the horrors inflicted by people other than we can't be mentioned.

E Pluribus Unum beats any of the modern mottos.

 

[swinggal]

Yeah well, it's not downplayed in Australia, that's for sure as we were bombed by the Japanese in Darwin, Sydney and Northen Australia.

Darwin came under attack 64 times between 1942 and 43 and around 300 people died and some 300 more seriously injured. There are some old timers who say a 1000 people were killed.

Broome was bombed in 1943 with around 88 killed. Even North Queenland was bombed.

Sydney was torpedoed by Japanese midget subs and the HMAS Kuttabul was sunk killing 19 sailors. In other sub attacks Sydney was hit by nine shells damaging property. They also earlier sank 3 ships in Australian waters.

The Japanese threat was a very real one to Aussies back in the day. The bombings were downplayed at the time so people wouldn't panic...many people don't even know this history today. Australian troops played a HUGE part in the Pacific war which is often forgotten in US movies. I was disappointed that more Australian imput was not shown in 'The Pacfic'. Kakoda, Singapore, Malaya, Papua...all places that my relatives fought.

 

[swinggal]

It's impossible to know exactly how many Chinese civilians died as a direct result of Japanese war crimes, but estimates of civilian deaths between 1937 and 1945 range from 3 million on the low side to 9 million on the high side. Historian R. J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii, whose studies of the period may be the most thorough currently available pegs the figure at 4 million, and this is the figure most widely accepted. These include those directly slaughtered in the Emperor's name, such as the 300,000 men, women, and children murdered at Nanking, and the half-million people murdered in biological-warfare experiments, as well as those who died as a result of the overall policies of the Japanese occupation, which decimated Chinese agriculture and caused far-reaching famine.

Yes, the Rape of Nanking...absolutley dreadful stuff. But then again, Stalin was just as bad as Hitler when you really study WW2 in depth. Killed Poles, jews, gypsies and his own Russian people by the millions. Wiston wasn't much better...as he remained allies with Stalin and turned a blind eye. He didn't run death camps etc...but turning a blind eye is a terrible thing. Many people also don't realise that Churchill turned fleeing jews away from the UK as well during the war...

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The Japanese threat was a very real one to Aussies back in the day. The bombings were downplayed at the time so people wouldn't panic...many people don't even know this history today. Australian troops played a HUGE part in the Pacific war which is often forgotten in US movies. I was disappointed that more Australian imput was not shown in 'The Pacfic'. Kakoda, Singapore, Malaya, Papua...all places that my relatives fought.

So much so that Australian divisions battling Rommel's Afrika Korps such as the 6th Division -- veterans of Tobruk, and the 9th Division -- which had fought at El Alamein, had to be brought back from North Africa to face the threat closer to home.

 

[Windsock]

Yeah well, it's not downplayed in Australia, that's for sure as we were bombed by the Japanese in Darwin, Sydney and Northen Australia.

Darwin came under attack 64 times between 1942 and 43 and around 300 people died and some 300 more seriously injured. There are some old timers who say a 1000 people were killed.

Broome was bombed in 1943 with around 88 killed. Even North Queenland was bombed.

Sydney was torpedoed by Japanese midget subs and the HMAS Kuttabul was sunk killing 19 sailors. In other sub attacks Sydney was hit by nine shells damaging property. They also earlier sank 3 ships in Australian waters.

The Japanese threat was a very real one to Aussies back in the day. The bombings were downplayed at the time so people wouldn't panic...many people don't even know this history today. Australian troops played a HUGE part in the Pacific war which is often forgotten in US movies. I was disappointed that more Australian imput was not shown in 'The Pacfic'. Kakoda, Singapore, Malaya, Papua...all places that my relatives fought.

Very well put SW, far better said than I could ever imagine, thanks.
The Pacific and Asia are our backyard and many have family histories as a part of it so this saga has special significance for us. We do however also posess a wide appreciation for the bigger picture.

So much so that Australian divisions battling Rommel's Afrika Korps such as the 6th Division -- veterans of Tobruk, and the 9th Division -- which had fought at El Alamein, had to be brought back from North Africa to face the threat closer to home.

True, I can only wonder at how they came back, were re-trained for a totally different environment and went in and did it all again. One Uncle and two Great Unlces, one Primary School teacher, all passed on before I was old enough to fully appreciate their hardships.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yeah well, it's not downplayed in Australia, that's for sure as we were bombed by the Japanese in Darwin, Sydney and Northen Australia.

Here in the US the whole Pacific war defintely tends to be minimized. I was discussing this with a college senior I know, and her only awareness of the Pacific war at all boiled down to two things: Pearl Harbor and the atomic bombs, and the understanding was given by her teachers that the latter was purely intended as vengeance for the former. Whether this is the result of teachers with agendas, or just plain inept teaching I can't say, but I know that even when I was in school thirty years ago this trend toward pushing the Pacific theatre into the background was well underway.

I told my young friend to educate herself, as I had to do. Iris Chang's book on Nanking is a very good place to start.

 

[Rookie1]

I was just at a local WW2 Vet meeting and the speaker was a B29 pilot. It was fitting seeing how he was in the Pacific and VJ day was the other day. On his 35th and final mission he bombed a marshalling yard and was unopposed. He thought it was odd that nobody fired a shot at him. On the return trip he heard the Japanese had stopped fighting. He landed at Iwo for refueling and he said the island was quiet,he thought there would be celebrating going on but it was somber. I thought that was an interesting story.

 

[1961MJS]

Here in the US the whole Pacific war defintely tends to be minimized.

Hi, the War in the Pacific has always been minimized, probably because everyone already knew Hitler from news reals and from Charlie Chaplin's movies. I don't believe that our fixation on the Nazi's was intentional even though we DID go after them first. I didn't have that fixation.

There are still 4 WW2 vets in my parents neighborhood back in Illinois (town of less than 1,000). Dad was a weather forecaster in the South Pacific (Fiji, Noumea, Wallis Island, and Guadalcanal), our next door neighbor was on Saipan earning a silver star, two bronze stars, and two purple hearts (94 and still going), the guy two doors down was on New Guinea with the Artillery for most of the war, and another local was a Corsair pilot. I don't know if Frank shot anybody down or not.

Later

 

[HepKitty]

Yeah well, it's not downplayed in Australia, that's for sure as we were bombed by the Japanese in Darwin, Sydney and Northen Australia.

Darwin came under attack 64 times between 1942 and 43 and around 300 people died and some 300 more seriously injured. There are some old timers who say a 1000 people were killed.

Broome was bombed in 1943 with around 88 killed. Even North Queenland was bombed.

Sydney was torpedoed by Japanese midget subs and the HMAS Kuttabul was sunk killing 19 sailors. In other sub attacks Sydney was hit by nine shells damaging property. They also earlier sank 3 ships in Australian waters.

The Japanese threat was a very real one to Aussies back in the day. The bombings were downplayed at the time so people wouldn't panic...many people don't even know this history today. Australian troops played a HUGE part in the Pacific war which is often forgotten in US movies. I was disappointed that more Australian imput was not shown in 'The Pacfic'. Kakoda, Singapore, Malaya, Papua...all places that my relatives fought.

this never made it into our history books. I had no idea Japan attacked Australia. thank you for the enlightenment!

 

[HepKitty]

I was just at a local WW2 Vet meeting and the speaker was a B29 pilot. It was fitting seeing how he was in the Pacific and VJ day was the other day. On his 35th and final mission he bombed a marshalling yard and was unopposed. He thought it was odd that nobody fired a shot at him. On the return trip he heard the Japanese had stopped fighting. He landed at Iwo for refueling and he said the island was quiet,he thought there would be celebrating going on but it was somber. I thought that was an interesting story.

that is interesting. I love to hear WWII vets tell their stories, it's so sad there are fewer and fewer around to share them

 

[dhermann1]

The main reason the US invaded Guadalcanal was to head off an attack on the Australian mainland by Japan. There is some debate whether Japan had anything like the wherewithal to pull off an invasion of a huge island like Australia, but the threat could not be discounted. The Japanese presence in New Guinea was a real Sword of Damocles. Looking at the map just now, I was stunned to see that the distance between the southernmost point of New Guinea and the northernmost point of Australia is barely 100 miles.
That would be like having the Germans in Nova Scotia for the US.

 

[Vintage lover]

sorry to butt-in guys, i just love this picture.
xxx

It's great isn't it? To my knowledge they still don't know who he was or is for sure

 

[Rookie1]

that is interesting. I love to hear WWII vets tell their stories, it's so sad there are fewer and fewer around to share them

I love to hear their stories also. That is why I take the day off from work and go to the meeting. The city that hosts it records the meeting for their historical society.

 

[Windsock]

In the words of War Correspondant Damien Parer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WZURx5w0Ps

Cinematographer and photographer Damien Parer received an Oscar for his documentary on Kokoda. He was killed in 1944 while filming a United States Marine advance under fire in Peleliu on the island of Palau.

 

[Smithy]

Yes, the Rape of Nanking...absolutley dreadful stuff.

My wife is currently reading a book about the Rape of Nanking. She is simply numb from the details. Quite frankly despicable behaviour and acts of cruelty, and an absolutely appalling level of atrocity.

An episode in history which is a very dark stain on what humanity is capable of.