........my heart tells me YES to exactly what you say but then my mind reminds me that the Japanese were as brutal and so were the Germans.
Both are very important “partners” today on a wide variety of issues. I would say the Japanese much more so than the Germans. But, I’m partial as I lived in Japan from 69 to 71 and even then most Japanese just loved Americans. I never found a Japanese person that I felt was hateful towards me.
What I write here this morning reminds me too of that old saying “the best thing that can happen to a country is to go to way with the U.S.”..................lot of truth to that.
Many victims of the Japanese and Nazis has some measure of justice after the war; this was not the case in Vietnam. The “forgive and forget” attitude of the US (actually worse; we strengthened them with trade) should serve as ample warning of how fleeting our foreign policy may be - especially for those considering enlisting. A friend who served at that time describes how he answers fundraising calls from disabled veteran groups today; he asks them to devote their energies to visiting high schools and warning young people about the dangers of enlisting. They could even bring pictured of disfigured vets...