"The Pacific" Part 4

[-tronski-]

I guess I'm just a bit biased by Hanks remark about how they were racists.

Thats not what he meant, his remarks are being taken out of context

 Tronsky

[guncrasher]

Read "The Rape of Nanking" and then try to equate the Americans and the Japanese.  One estimate is 30 million Chinese killed by the Japanese.

like I said, I wasn't judging.  I am not trying to criticize what we did back in ww2.  in a way I understand why some soldiers killed prisioners and and sometimes civilians.  u get in a firefight and you will shoot anything that moves, or see your buddy get killed and you want payback. we were not like the germans, japanese or the Italians who executed millions for no reason.  

semp

[DREDger]

Well, if you compare the two books the series was based on, Leckie's and Sledge's, E.B. Sledge's book is the better, and in my opinion, by a large margin.

I liked them both, funny though, I though Leckie's book was a little better.  Seemed more literary to me.

[Gooss]

we were not like the germans, japanese or the Italians who executed millions for no reason.  

semp

Whew.  I'm glad you clarified.  <S>

HONK!
Gooss

[Tango]

Thats not what he meant, his remarks are being taken out of context

 Tronsky

Kind of hard to be taken out of context when its a video of him saying it.

[Stoney]

Kind of hard to be taken out of context when its a video of him saying it.

For all the stuff he's done for veterans of WWII, you think he would actually bad mouth them?  Tom Hanks is not some stereotypical Hollywood type...

What he said was:  "“...Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different..." And in another interview:  "...The Pacific' is coming out now, where it represents a war that was of racism and terror. And where it seemed as though the only way to complete one of these battles on one of these small specks of rock in the middle of nowhere was to - I’m sorry - kill them all..."

If you read about the racism that permeated the PTO, or have spoken with a veteran of the Pacific war, you know this is a pretty accurate description.  In no way does this slander the service our Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines performed for this country during the war.

[lyric1]

What he said was:  "“...Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different..." If you read about the racism that permeated the PTO, or have spoken with a veteran of the Pacific war, you know this is a pretty accurate description.  In no way does this slander the service our Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines performed for this country during the war.

Till my fathers dieing day he never forgave the Japanese.  The comments he had always made makes all the above very tame.

[-tronski-]

Kind of hard to be taken out of context when its a video of him saying it.

Stoney has pretty much summed up exactly what I was going to say - you'll find that context is often the most important thing and tho some have seen Hanks mention racism as being "part" of the overall conflict and come away with Tom Hanks says PTO was racist ergo all veterans are racists, this was far far from the point he was making. I would've hoped his actions in regards to the D-Day Museum, and other veteran groups spoke more about the man than any misconceptions.

 Tronsky

[FiLtH]

Till my fathers dieing day he never forgave the Japanese.  The comments he had always made makes all the above very tame.

    Ya from what Ive read, racism was a key factor in why went to war, and how it was fought throughout. My great Uncle was in the Pacific, he hated everyone. I often wondered if the war made him that way or if he was just born mean.

[Stoney]

And just to expound a little...

I remember in the BoB documentary that was included with the DVD set, Shifty Powers made the comment that (and I paraphrase) "...in another situation, those German soldiers and me might have been good friends.  He might have liked to fish and I might have liked to hunt..."

There was no such identification with the Japanese soldiers from Allied troops in PTO.  Personally, I think its one of the more fascinating things about the Pacific war.

[gyrene81]

The argument isn't about who is anti-war and who isn't. Only a child thinks war is something "fun". The argument is about how to best prevent the next war or at least prevent the global conflicts that kill by the millions.

Someone from nearly every human civilization throughout history has tried to figure out how to do that and not one has been successful.

Ya from what Ive read, racism was a key factor in why went to war, and how it was fought throughout. My great Uncle was in the Pacific, he hated everyone. I often wondered if the war made him that way or if he was just born mean.

After reading through this thread I am truly amazed at the number of people who don't know U.S. history. Racism wasn't a "key factor" in the U.S. declaring war, prejudice and bigotry kept us out until December 7, 1941. Prior to that date racial segregation was a part of American life but Asians weren't subjected to it except in some extreme Southern states...afterward, anyone who even looked like they were of Japanese descent was rounded up and put into internment camps...even if they were American citizens or married to American citizens...it took legal action and sometimes political action to get them out. There were some cases of German immigrants (even Jewish descent) being rounded up and put into internment camps...because of the suspicion of spies.

If Tom Hanks had specifically stated that the U.S. servicemen were and are racist, he would have more right than wrong...if you really think that "mick", "spic", "tojo", "nip", "darky", "kraut", "daygo", "haji", "dink", "slope", etc... are all words derived from love for ones fellow man you couldn't be more wrong if you tried.

[Stoney]

Prior to that date racial segregation was a part of American life but Asians weren't subjected to it except in some extreme Southern states...

There's probably a lot of Chinese in the western states that would have disagreed with you.

[gyrene81]

There's probably a lot of Chinese in the western states that would have disagreed with you.

LOL...Stoney, I wasn't thinking about the 19th Century but good call...totally forgot about Chinatown.

[Tango]

Stoney has pretty much summed up exactly what I was going to say - you'll find that context is often the most important thing and tho some have seen Hanks mention racism as being "part" of the overall conflict and come away with Tom Hanks says PTO was racist ergo all veterans are racists, this was far far from the point he was making. I would've hoped his actions in regards to the D-Day Museum, and other veteran groups spoke more about the man than any misconceptions.

 Tronsky

The reason the Japs were hated at that time was not because they were inferior or the color of thier skin, but because of what they did at Pearl Harbor. For him to state that our soldiers were racist was wrong. He made it sound as though the whole US military was.

[lyric1]

    Ya from what Ive read, racism was a key factor in why went to war, and how it was fought throughout. My great Uncle was in the Pacific, he hated everyone. I often wondered if the war made him that way or if he was just born mean.

You only have to go back & look at the news reels of the day & training films provided to troops to see that the enemy was made out to be less than human. Why? very simple it is a lot easier to kill some one if you believe they are inferior to you. So race most certainly was a part of the war & in particular the Pacific.