WWII vets mark Japan's surrender aboard battleship

Thursday 03rd September, 09:23 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 49 Total Comments Show All

OssanAmerica at 08:03 AM JST - 4th September

The mighty mo is a symbol of rubbing salt in a wound. The paranoia of >the 20's destroyed what could of been a very strong democracy. The >1930's and the depression brought out the worst in the mainlanders.

Utter nonsense. A strong democracy in Japan? The Japanese military were already making moves in the 1920s. How could you have a "strong democracy" when the authority of the Emperor was shared equally between the Civilian govt and the Military High Command?

The German people repented, reflected and changed and are a much better off for having covered the whole 9 yards of it with continuous diligence >to not let such a bizarre mentality exercise control over them forever >more. And how about Japan?

Utter nonsense. Americans don't have an issue with German or Japanese people who weren't even born during the war. It has nothing to do with "repenting". We've hads the Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf Wars I and II since 1945, as a nation and a people we don't drag history around like some others.
USNinJapan2 at 11:55 AM JST - 4th September

YuriOtani

The war has been over for 64 years, get a life!

How I look forward to reminding you of these (your) words the next time you post on a Hiroshima/Nagasaki/A-Bomb thread...
nipponreddog at 10:03 PM JST - 4th September

If you visit the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivors Hospital, you will realize that, for some people, the War is hardly over...
tigermoth at 10:38 PM JST - 4th September

noirgaijin - thanks for the offer; I was in London recently and developed a taste for Strongbow Cider - but was told by a true Englishman they consider it swill. I'd still take one!

If you visit the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivors Hospital, you will realize that, for some people, the War is hardly over...

And precisely the same reason that services like that held aboard the Mighty Mo take place. For most of those soldiers who fought the war sixty some odd years ago now (almost 70) it was the defining moment of their lives that they will never forget. They were just kids for the most part, pulled from their normal lives to take part in a world war not of their making and then given the huge responsibility of life and death. They made close friends and then watched them die. Most of us can only pretend to understand what effect this has on the human soul. So when they meet to pay honour to their comrades, it's not out of a hatred for a long ago enemy but a respect and, well, a love of sorts for their fellow soldiers. You often see old soldiers who were once enemies become friends and share a laugh together; it was a common experience shared by all who fought.

You don't 'get over it' - you learn from it.
SEPTIMUS at 09:21 AM JST - 5th September

The United States should be grateful to Japan for choosing to surrender. And I think SOME Japanese would do well to recognize that such ceremonies are part of American culture, rather than as a means to rub salt into a wound. America I've seen tends to reenact its battles, wars, and historical events to honor the memory as well as to remind the people of today the extraordinary price paid. That day on the Missouri is remembered by more than just the Americans.
YuriOtani at 10:06 AM JST - 5th September

SEPTIMUS, pardon me for not wanting to "honor" this event. A few days late but how about honoring the 24-August-1814? What no sense of history? It is a very historical event only not so pleasing to Americans?
USNinJapan2 at 11:40 AM JST - 5th September

YuriOtani

You yourself have no sense of history (or common sense) if you believe that the burning of Washington D.C. by the British in the War of 1812 is even remotely equal in significance to the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri marking the end of World War II.

Septimus only said that SOME Japanese would do well to RECOGNIZE this event for what it is. He certainly didn't say that any had to honor it, least of all you. You'd do well to look down on your shoulder; you may be surprised to find a large chip residing there...
YuriOtani at 06:12 AM JST - 6th September

USNinJapan2, you see the USS Missouri as a memorial of American victory. I see it as a symbol of Americas might in WWII and now. It is a symbol of warning to others that they can bring down their boot on the necks with those that disagree with them. I rather like Americans just wish they would stop their "bragging". Calling the destruction of two Japanese cities such a "great" event. These acts are still hurting people, the victims of the act and those in succeeding generations that are still suffering.
SEPTIMUS at 10:30 AM JST - 6th September

YuriOtani, 24 August 1814, that might've hurt my feelings if I was American. However, I'm sure more than one country celebrated that day on the USS Missouri. Half a world actually, the Allies.
yabits at 08:00 PM JST - 7th September

“I can think of nothing more valuable of this complex here ... to enable generations to come to reflect and understand,” said Abercrombie, a Democrat from Hawaii.

As a US Navy vet, when I reflect upon the USS Arizona and USS Missouri memorials, I think about the tragic stupidity of the attack that brought the United States into the war. The hubris of any militaristic nation causes it to believe that it can never be defeated.

But that is not all that the memorials bring to mind. When regarding the USS Missouri, I also reflect upon the completely dishonorable and criminal way in which the United States forced the end of the war against Japan. The fact that there were several cities selected for atomic bomb targets, and that those cities were not military targets of any value and so were purposely left unscathed by any attack prior to those days in August, gives every indication of a scientific experiment with ordinary innocent Japanese civilians as the guinea pigs.

If American cities had been nuked, I think I know enough about my fellow Americans to say that it is likely that we would never forgive those who could do such a thing. Primarily that is because that most of us Americans believe that we are angels of sweetness and light, send only to do good to the world. And when bad things happen to us, it can never, ever be due to anything related to our own actions.

And so, I think the memorials of the USS Arizona, Hiroshima and Nagasaki (among other sites on all sides) are very fitting in that they keep in mind the victims of the tragedy and stupidity of war. But keeping around a physical symbol and reminder of one nation's victory over another nation might serve to glorify war in the eyes of some, and so it smacks of a very crass gesture by a nation that, quite frankly, is not very mature or wise.
funkymofo at 06:32 PM JST - 8th September

Yuriotani,

People aren't bragging, they're commemorating the end of a war that killed millions. Japan was attempting an extraordinarily vicious imperial expansion and the world is happy that they were stopped. As others have mentioned, it's not just America that commemorates this day. If you're angry because others are 'bragging', perhaps you need to re-examine the reasons for the conflict in the first place. Let's talk about who was bringing the boot down on whom in the 30's and early 40's.

Millions of people will continue to commemorate victory in the Pacific. Japanese will continue rolling around in black buses broadcasting imperial military anthems. Perhaps you'd like to ask some Chinese about rubbing salt into wounds the next time your politicians visit Yasukuni. It's all rather relative, isn't it?

A large part of the reason these days are commemorated is to draw attention to the lessons of war, that they might help us make different choices in the future. It's therefore imperative in my opinion that these sites are remembered and preserved, especially in the light of the Uyoku and nationalistic elements in Japan, and others in many other countries seeking to ignore and rewrite history.

do not expect to be thanked for killing millions of Japanese Nationals

No-one expects or wants your thanks. Lives lost are lives lost. Many people do however expect and want Japan to take a look at it's own actions, beyond whitewashing them with statements like 'Japan did a lot of very bad things' followed by how terrible retaining the ship where a despicable regime was at least partly called to account is.
BigInJapan at 10:28 AM JST - 9th September

it is the final days of the war in which America was the first and only country to nuke innocent civilians from the air. Millions of Japanese were killed to satisfy the bloodletting and to me the mighty mo is a symbol of America's revenge.

Who cares? It was 64 years ago. Get a life. By the way, there were no millions of Japanese victims, check any historical source. Even small Eastern European countries like Poland had much bigger loss in civilians.
palisadez54 at 11:08 AM JST - 9th September

yuriotani,

Millions of Japanese were killed to satisfy the bloodletting...

Your statement is full of crap. Less than a million Japanese civilians died compared to the almost 15 million Russian civilians that lost their lives. You really need to check your history books.
Klein2 at 08:31 AM JST - 10th September

Have to comment about YuriOtani's world view. I see a lot of this in different countries around the world.

How about this? The countries of the world of 2009 are not the countries they were in 1945.

Japan was a crude thug of a nation with very little concern for the sovereignty of other nations, or human rights. China was in disarray and civil war. The US was fighting for freedom and democracy and against imperialism. The Soviets were fighting for their lives, and then to expand communism. France barely existed. Italy was in ruins and disgraced. Korea was one nation.

For some of those countries, it was their darkest period, and for others it was their finest hour. It is no exaggeration to say that EVERYTHING has changed. Japan has become a genuinely peace-loving nation. China seems to be moving strongly in one direction. The US is stumbling, to say the least. Europe is united. Russia seems genuinely and generally disinterested in communism.

Whatever feelings you might have of a US jackboot since, say, the 1960s, that was not the case in 1945. And whatever you might think of Japanese now, they were certainly not harmless in the early 1900s. Let's call it the pre-Mario jidai. In short, your opinions of Japan being a helpless victim unable to control its own destiny sound more like Japan of... oh... 2000 than Japan of 1945, or 1941, or 1936.

We are supposed to learn from history, but the lesson is certainly not that our world is a static crust. Clinging to flags and slogans and old photographs, rather than just looking at them as artifacts, will make you less able to understand the world of today.

Moderator: Back on topic please.
Klein2 at 08:58 AM JST - 10th September

"When regarding the USS Missouri, I also reflect upon the completely dishonorable and criminal way in which the United States forced the end of the war against Japan. The fact that there were several cities selected for atomic bomb targets, and that those cities were not military targets of any value and so were purposely left unscathed by any attack prior to those days in August, gives every indication of a scientific experiment with ordinary innocent Japanese civilians as the guinea pigs."

Gee Yabits. I don't want to get all inflammatory, but the US nuclear effort got a big boost when the Navy was not getting the job done. I think your comment betrays some pretty thick rose-colored glasses sitting on your nose.

I fail to see how the war could have ended with less loss of life, given the circumstances, and I certainly do not see how the Navy could have done it. And nobody even considers the cost.

This "experimental" nature of the bombings shows that the US was not convinced that they were going to end the war, frankly. The US only had enough material for two bombs, and did not know if they were going to work, and if so, how well. US scientists were ready to take photo data and get back to the drawing board. They were planning ahead. Planning for worst case scenarios, hoping for success. War has ALWAYS been that way. If it seems so unbelievable to you, even as a Navy veteran, then there is hope for peace. Then, there were a lot of smart people in Los Alamos with a very simple goal. In wartime, it made a lot of sense. 65 years later, here you are playing woulda, shoulda, coulda. I guess US military leaders should have spent more time considering Japanese people's feelings 65 years in the future when they made their decisions about war.

In summer 1945, Truman did not put the cart before the horse. He finished the war and life went on. The results have been very good.