1 Yes, but were any of them forced to wear panties on their heads?

2 While it's a nice gesture, this should have been done 60 years ago.

3 Are they holding any allied prisoners still at this date? Cindy

4 Historically the Japanese have gotten off very light for what they did in World War II. Between the systematic rape/destruction of Nanking and the rest of the Chinese mainland, the widespread cannibalism in their army ranks of civilians and POWs, medical experiments that put Mengele to shame, the first recorded use of bioweapons in the form of Anthrax they dropped on China, etc, etc. They did all those things and have managed to remain unrepentant about the majority of the behavior. And yet given the utter barbarity of their actions we were able to rebuild and reform them into an ally. It is part of what gives me hope that we can bring the Arab world around. Of course to bring the Japanese around we had to firebomb their cities nearly out of existence. I wonder what Curtis Lemay would have to say about our pussy footing around Persia?

5 My fater was in the Navy. I had the experience in the Philly Naval Shipyar dof living near a Marine Officer who was one of the 10% who lived through the Batan Death march and the forced labor camps. He was a mental basket case - as most of us would be after 4 years of what the Japs did. Including seeing 90% of those who surrendered die from misstreatment. The 4th Marines are the only Marine Regiment to *EVER* surrender. They only did after the Col talked directly to FDR and FDR told him to follow orders and surrender. My personal opinion is that a traditional Marine fight to the death would have been better. At least we would have taken a lot of the bast----s with us had we done it. Rod Stanton Cerritos

6 Rod-- As my Dad says, "WWCD?" (What Would Chestie Do?)

7 Rusty Chesty would have fixed bayonetts and fought til the death! After getting "booze and broads in the barracks" for the men. That is a quote from what he said to Congress after Korea. I swear to God it is correct. Chexty BTW got his first heart and star fighting the Sandinistas after Wilson gave up on the Army 86 years ago and sent in the Marines. Sandinistas in those day were supported by Bolshevicks (sp?) Actually if FDR told him to surrender he would, Marines follow orders. Rod an old Jarehead

8 "Are they holding any allied prisoners still at this date?" lol...

9 I'm not without feelings here. My father, a pilot in the Army Air Corps was killed in action in 1943. I was two. He's buried at the Presidio in San Francisco. He died in battle. I fine comfort in that. Had he died in a Japanese prison camp I would still be seeking revenge. The Japs got a slap on the wrist for their crimes. All attention was given to the Germans for the persecution of the Jews. Crimes against Americans, Aussies, Brits, Philipinos, Chinese, Koreans apparently were not as important. Just never got the headlines. The Jews were starved and gased to death. American Pow's were starved and bayoneted to death. Why one is worse than the other I'll never understand.

10 Come on Laura. You almost made me laugh along with Venom.

11 You know, there's a first time for everything, but I'm in complete agreement with greyrooster. Whenever WW2 is mentioned in the context of atrocities committed, the abuse suffered by POWs at the hands of Japan doesn't get the attention it deserves. While I have all the sympathy in the world for the families whose lives were torn apart in the Holocaust, there were many families whose loved ones died in brutal conditions imposed by Imperial Japan. I can only suppose that the "slap on the wrist" greyrooster mentioned occurred because many of the offenders committed suicide before being taken prisoner. While this list helps to bring such atrocities more into the light, it should have been done decades ago.

12 ..and Americans never committed war crimes and atrocities, that's right...My Lai, Abu Ghraib ???

13 Hello, I grew up in the former Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. Japan came to occupy the country for 3½ year. The Kempeitai killed my Dad. My mother, two younger sisters and I were in old condemned prison as Interrnees. I was in a toil and moil group, because of this heavy work I couldn't get children so I learnt after the war. My mother, my youngest sister and I had one malaria attack after the other, my other sister had jaundice. We had oedema, dysentry and tropical boils. Camp 10 (my prison) at Banyu Biru in Central Java was a real nightmare, we (women and children) had to try hard to survive in between the dirt, the bugs, the lice, the ever lasting stench, and we had hardly anything to eat or to drink. If you have any questions, please ask. Friendly regards from Holland, Elizabeth

14 James, you needn't congratulate yourself for bringing Japan around. In fact the way you brought them around then is the reason you are misguidedly trying to bring the Arab world around now. Lucky them - you bomb them flat and then make them eat Burger King. Great. Now you're after Persia (sic) because you just love bringing other countries around.

15 my husband is 83 years old and spent 3 1/2 yrs as a POW IN PHILLIPINS AND JAPAN .No one knows nor understands unless you were there or had family who was there. If there is any other living POW's living from Japan please e=mail and let me know. THANKS FOR FIGHTING FOR OUR FREEDOM YOU ARE ALL REAL HEROS.

16 my great grandfather was in World War 2 and he was a prizoner of war but his cousin helped him escape and i think it is great that you help people realize what they really whent through. thanks.

17 And yet, after all this is said and done, I wonder what the Japanese would say about all this. The final year of war saw 14,000 Americans killed, and more than 680,000 Japanese killed, as well as about 1,500,000 left homeless. Everyone dignifies this with, "But what about what they did to us?" Yes, well, what about what we did to them? This is hardly depth of what was done to the Japanese in the terms. Even now, Japan still has censorship laws from America placed on them. Do we have anything? No. A few rambling Generals who are insane after the Japanese treatment, but what about the Japanese after our own doing? 1,500,000 left homeless, and I wonder how many survived the next year, let alone gained the kind of power/money that the US's weapon developers gained. Poor Einstein lived in a life of mystery and guilt at what he had unwittingly done. The poor man probably resisted suicide for no reason other than to try and let the public know how sorry he was. There's no question that what the Japanese did was wrong, but I think you're being one-sided. America has nothing to show from WWII that isn't positive. The companies are richer, the people more proud... And what does Japan have? They have a bunch of Foreign things, most of which they don't even want. They have McDonalds. They are -FORCED- to learn English in school. Christianity is now so supported that it's almost required, their government is RESTRICTED to American Democracy (Cough Capitalism) and they even have things as deep as censorship laws. (If anyone here has ever seen Japanese movies or mature-rated shows etc, the reason they're always censored or unshown (Example: In anime, characters don't have nipples) is because of their surrender laws). And you say they got off lightly? They were only as bad as we were, yet they are quelled, quietened, and even restricted from freedom in their art? And even still they rarely complain? As admirable as their silence is, Japan needs to step forth. The time of war is over. The penalties post-war were harsh, but there is NO way Japan needs to -still- have agreements placed on them. As for 'Bringing countries around'? I'm only glad that more countries haven't been 'brought around', because if more countries were like America it would be a sad, sad world.

18 the only reason that the japanese got off so lightly was because they didn't sign the geneva convention treaty!

19 Remember the rape of Nanking? Thousands of Chinese men, women, and children killed wholesale? The pictures of Chinese people bayoneted numerous times? The game was to see how many times a body could be pierced by a bayonet and not die, yet still feel pain. The stories of Japanese soldiers fighting between each other to see who had the best technique for beheading prisoners. How about the Bataan Death March? March, or die, often shot, beaten, or bayoneted to death. Look up Hell Ships. Allied prisoners were herded into cargo ships for transport to Japan, without the vessels being refitted for humans. Tankers with residual oil were stuffed with POWs who received no medical treatment and only scant rations in transit. The temperature in those holds reached well over 100 degrees, and they quickly filled with a noxious layer of oil, sweat, vomit, urine, and diarrhea. Standing shoulder to shoulder, men began to go mad. The weaker ones would faint and slip beneath the surface of the evil soup to a final death. The saying was, 'When a man goes mad, he doesn't scream...he howls'. Mortality rates on such ships reached 80% at times. The survivors were pressed into slave labor, oftentimes into abandoned coal mines deemed too dangerous for Japanese workers. Others were used to test new anti-personnel munitions or medical experiments. The problem was that the Japanese regarded solders who surrendered as having no honor, and were thus less than human. This fanatical, slavish devotion to 'honor' led to entire garrisons of Japanese soldiers fighting to the death on Iwo Jima, and other of the island fortresses. Those who were not 'fortunate' enough to be killed in battle for the Emperor, suicided. Allied planners were predicting better than 250,000 US casualties if a conventional invasion of Japan were executed. So, why again were nuclear weapons dropped on Japan? One word should be sufficient to explain it. But as an Occidental, I'm not sure I can grasp all the subtleties of it. That word is bushido. Bushido, the code of the warrior. Death before dishonor. Better still, ask anyone who had lain in the hands of the Japanese as a POW. I rather expect they would support the policy. Ending the war with all speed. Faced with utter ruin, the Emperor had no other choice, other than watch as cities disappeared one by one. Remember, payback's hell. The war ended, and Japan was occupied by the Army under MacArthur. He eventually lifted the boot heel off the necks of the Japanese people, and help restore their dignity. In desperation, MacArthur called back home, requesting 5 million Japanese New Testaments. The God of the United States had defeated the Sun God-Emperor of Japan. Alas, they were NOT sent. Thus, the Japanese began to worship instead mass production and Kaizen, becoming salarymen. The United States did not succeed in evangelizing the Japanese people, unfortunately. Despite that, never in the course of human events have so few people had so much power and abused it so little. Perfect? No. A shining beacon of hope to a world where there are still dark places? Absolutely.

20 I don't mean to offend anyone, as it is purely what you've been brought up learing that scopes your education on the matter - but I get really irritated by the notion that the US fought the war by themselves and secured freedom for everyone. I'm from England. My Grandfather was a POW in Japan - transported on one of the hell ships mistakenly bombed by a US submarine due to the lack of red cross on the ship to signify POW transportation. He was in the war from day one in 1939. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but the US didn't show up until Pearl Harbour - so before everyone gets down on their knees and worships the USA, (don't get me wrong, their role was vital in the progress of ending the war) give a thought to the people who watched and suffered the slaughter from the beginning.

21 After living in Japan for several years, and getting to know several people that lived through the firebombing of Tokyo, don't think that anything but the atomic bomb would stop the war. The Japanese were not ready to surrender or even thought they were losing. When the a-bombs were dropped many in Japan just got mad and were more deterimined than ever to keep fighting. It wasn't until the emporer himself got on the radio and told the people it was over that the Japanese realized how bad it was. Remember that dying for the their emporer was the ultimate honor and honor was everything. It took a total destruction of two cities that finally turned things around and nothing else.