Posted on 03/18/2013 10:18:04 AM PDT by robowombat
God Bless our Brave Warriors past and present.
I had read of this before, and reading it again made my day.
There is good in the world, and I’m beginning to believe that there’s a heck of a lot more good in military folks on both sides than there is in our government.
(Note: Islam excepted, of course. Sorry, but that’s the way it is.)
I’ve always been disgusted by chests full of medals — none of them for valor. I’d like to see more distinction made between the BS medals and the Valor medals. Commanding officers would never qualify for a medal awarded for the valor of those under him.
My father got three valor medals in WWII, and a couple rows of tourist medals.
I feel awkward saying this, but failing to shoot down a bomber that is bombing your cities is not chivalry. It is dereliction of duty and treason.
“...losing your humanity...”?
It’s only a problem if you HAVE any humanity to begin with. Some foes of the US have none and never did have any!
The bomber in this story was not bombing anything. It was severely shot up and simply trying to return to home base. I would say that shooting it down would be comparable to shooting an enemy soldier who was already wounded and unable to defend himself.
A true warrior does not kill needlessly. I too would have allowed this bomber to proceed.
Stigler wasn’t just motivated by vengeance that day. He also lived by a code. He could trace his family’s ancestry to knights in 16th century Europe. He had once studied to be a priest.
A German pilot who spared the enemy, though, risked death in Nazi Germany. If someone reported him, he would be executed.
He knew that, and did it anyway.........
Much has been written about the Japanese that the US Army, US Navy and US Marine Corps fought against in the Pacific during WWII.
The code of "Never live to experience shame as a prisoner" by the Japanese fighting man cost many lives on both sides.
In his book Saburo Sakai said that he followed a disabled American fighter at Guadalcanal. He said he flew near it and put a single cannon round into it’s engine.
The pilot bailed out.
I have no way of knowing if he was telling the truth or not.
You are correct, nevertheless, one is moved by Stigler’s compassion.
Ping to an important insight on the warriors’ code.
Uh uh...
I hope someday your mind heals.
Guess there is a lot some people will never understand.
It was a vulgar corruption of true Bushido, fostered by megalomaiacal monsters running the Japanese government.
The next afternoon the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Ikazuchi, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Shunsaku Kudo, spotted the survivors and closed in on them. Despite the very real risk of being torpedoed by one of the many Allied submarines lurking in the area, Kudo ordered his ship to come to a halt and for his crew to begin pulling the dazed Allied sailors from the water. By the time they were finished, Ikazuchi was laden with 442 Allied survivors, more than double the ship's 219-man crew. Although they had to endure the horrors of the Japanese POW camps for almost three-and-a-half years, the men of the Encounter and Pope considered themselves fortunate because there were a number of Allied ships sunk during the Battle of the Java Sea whose survivors were abandoned or machine gunned by the Japanese.
Today in Japan, Commander Kudo is considered by many to be the last samurai.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.