Japan foreign minister apologizes to US POWs

The Associated Press ^ | September 13, 2010 | Eric Talmadge

[2ndDivisionVet]

TOKYO — Japan's foreign minister apologized Monday for the suffering of a group of former World War II prisoners of war visiting from the United States and said they were treated inhumanely.

The six POWs, their relatives and the daughters of two men who died are the first group of U.S. POWs to visit Japan with government sponsorship, though groups from other countries have been invited previously.

"I offer my deep, heartfelt apology for the inhuman treatment you suffered," Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told the group.

[Tainan]

A "day late and a dollar short"...but this is a major reversal of the standard policy for Japan.



Now about that Chinese bit of nastiness...and the treatment of POWs on Taiwan...and those "medical experiments"....:chirp chirp chirp:

[mmercier]

it is about time an official apology was given to living survivors of that particular man made nightmare.

i am no fan of ‘reparations’ of any sort; excepting when those who desire such are still living and have proof of the wrong done them. these guys have a case.

i am sure this has nothing to do with the fact that china intends to crawl up japans but and out its mouth in the next decade.

[Palter]

What goes around comes around. Now China is gonna rape Japan, like Japan did to China.

[mmercier]

what is happening in asia will not end well.

china is pushing hard for regional military and economic dominance via their ability to project military force in the region.

they intend to intimidate us allies and peel them away into their axis.

if the chicoms are not as politically dysfunctional as present us governing structure things can be peaceable resolved. one slip on one boat on either side and there will be a shitstorm of global proportion. we will all know within hours.

taiwan will be smoked in an hour, just to prove the point. the one will stammer, hem, haw, and millions will needlessly die. then it will take a year for the retards running things to come to opinion on a response. i can envision the reality of chinese ground forces establishing a beachead in la before such opine is reached.

the price paid for a weak leader of the free world.

[mmercier]

from me to me...

an overreach of early morning rumdum thinking. there would never be a chicom invasion into ca.

our military is presently too effective to permit such.

it would simply end in a small nuclear exchange somewhere between hawaii and elay.

hawaii will welcome the chicoms as liberators... none the less, we will put their boats down like shooting fish in a barrel.

tis what we still can do.

[mainsail that]

“What goes around comes around. Now China is gonna rape Japan, like Japan did to China.”

Not so fast. China maybe be bigger but Japan is big enough to wipe China’s armed forces out and then some. Of course they need to revamp their stupid constitution and arm themselves to the teeth. Their technology is top notch, they just need to start showing some Samurai videos on Japanese TV to get the people ready :)

Oh, and then you have India, Vietnam, Taiwan and at least Philippines that hate China’s guts. So Japan is not alone, eve if we watch from far away.

[mkjessup]

Wait for the liberal scumbags to start whining about how America should now “apologize” for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Give it time, the Usurper-in-Chief will get around to it.

If God doesn’t light his azz up with a lightning bolt first.

[mkjessup]

China maybe be bigger but Japan is big enough to wipe China’s armed forces out and then some.

Care to elaborate on that?

Consider that:

a.) China has mucho nukes in it's inventory RIGHT NOW, and

b.) Japan has NONE.

Even in conventional forces, the PLA has more than enough to handle Japan if hostilities were to break out.

If however, you've got more current data, please share, I'd love to read it.

[mainsail that]

$$ is power, unless we are talking about a small nation that has limited manpower. Tech will win the war, but Japan can easily marshal millions of troops if needed.

Japan has no nukes now given the history, but if anyone can do it in record, they and the Germans can. Ultimately, I think that the Japanese will outsmart the Chinese and more than match the Chinese resources.

[sushiman]

” Ultimately, I think that the Japanese will outsmart the Chinese and more than match the Chinese resources.”

I live in Japan with my wife and daughter . I do not share your optimism re: the Japanese . They ( govt. ) are not stupid , but the young people are utterly useless for the most part . If Japan gets nukes they have a chance to survive . Maybe they already have some who knows . But the Bushido spirit of yesteryear is virtually non-existent .

[VR-21]

My father had the misfortune to be a 20 yr. old Sergeant on Corregidor, and spent most of his captivity at Hoten Camp in Mukden, Manchuria. I grew up knowing a several of the men of Bataan and Corregidor and they were all very close-mouthed about the experience, my father so much so that most of what I know about it came from my own research. The funny thing to me is how while the men I knew were reluctant to talk about it themselves, it was always apparent to me that it was painful to them that their story wasn't better known. I think my dad and his friends would have been pleased that Japan finally did acknowledge what she did, but they're all gone. There are very few of those PW's left.

[2ndDivisionVet]

My 5th grade teacher in Chino, California, Mr. Charles Lamb, was a former Bataan Death March survivor, as was a family friend later on in Iowa, Mr. Roland Swanson. I know Mr. Swanson is long gone from this world and assume Mr. Lamb is, as well.

[VR-21]

God rest Mr. Lamb and Mr. Swanson, and know that ther are a few still who know their story, and have the greatest reverence for what they endured for our country.

I was an enlisted aircrewman in the Navy (VR-21) back in the very early 70's, and spent a lot of time at Subic Bay at Luzon. Special Services there provided trips to Corregidor (in Higgins Boats), and I made it a point to go there and have myself photographed sitting in the remains of Cheney Battery where my dad commanded an anti-aircraft gun. I'm sure that the last time he was there, he didn't think he'd have any offspring, much less one speaking english. We never talked about the picture in later years, and like I said, there was very little said about Corregidor, Cabanatuan 3, the Tottari Maru or Hoten Camp. The insignia I sent in my last post was a hat device worn by his outfit on Corregidor, the 60th Coastal Artillery (AA). Their motto 'Coelis Imperamus' means "Guard The Heavens." They were always my parting words to him whenever we parted during the course of my life. I miss him terribly, but in a way I'm glad he doesn't have to see what has happened to the country. I'd burn with shame if he knew. Were it in my power, I'd beg forgiveness (on my knees) from Mssrs. Lamb and Swanson for the fact that so many Americans know about Abu Ghraib, while so few know about Camp O'Donnell, and Unit 731.

[2ndDivisionVet]

[VR-21]

Thanks Vet. I know your patch well. It's the only one that's as large as the 1st Cav. and it's history is a very proud one. Some years ago I looked at your profile, and from that I knew that you were an intelligence officer. I've often wondered what that might have to do with the provocative articles you often post. Thanks again.

[mmercier]

if china intends to rape japan they will have a lot of american forces parked in the area to overcome first...

we have significant assets in the region, specifically japan mainland.

no one flys or swims within miles of these assets without a vclass sub up its bum and a predator over its head. the japanese will deny, but many of our boats carry, and i don't mean condom dispensers.

[Ciexyz]

Remembering the sacrifice of those brave veterans with respect.

[mmercier]

Respect.. Honor... Pride.... virtutis.....