From a war correspondent, Tom Lea, describing a shell-shocked Marine (painted above) after the Battle of Peleliu in World War II:
He left the States 31 months ago. He was wounded in his first campaign. He has had tropical diseases. He half-sleeps at night and gouges Japs out of holes all day. Two-thirds of his company has been killed or wounded. He will return to attack this morning. How much can a human being endure?
Full correspondence here.
Let those who are in power, and those who advocate war as a solution be reminded of its so-called “glory” and “valour” as they send someone else’s sons and daughters into combat.
Let those who enjoy freedom because of the sacrifices of others be reminded of the debt they owe.
Namuamidabu
P.S. I was very tempted to remove the racial term “jap” from this quotation, especially given that my beloved wife is Japanese, and my daughter is half-Japanese. After carefully thinking about it, I felt it was better to record accurately what was said here, regardless of how I feel about it.
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile / Koreaphile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the 
Hi Gerald,
Nice post. Thank you.
I just wonder about the term ‘Jap’ being ‘racial’. It’s derogatory for sure, but probably not racial – unless you are suggesting that Japanese people form an entirely separate ‘race’.
Just a thought,
Marcus
Hi Gerald,
My dad was the chief historian of the Marine Corps , and I’ve seen that painting often in books and the USMC museum. Dad was also a WWII and Korea Marine, and served in the Japan and China occupations. Being a Marine was a central part to my dad’s life, and I’ve often reflected on the notion that his career and earnings (and therefore our family’s wellbeing generally) were all so interdependent with our history with our former enemies. His books on the war were translated into Japanese and he went back to Japan in the 90′s to meet with former combatants, and bore absolutely no ill will. Our countries and economies are also interdependent. Talk about interbeing and impermanence–it’s all right there! Maybe in another 60 years we’ll have a different relationship with the Islamic world.
Best,
Vic
Marcus: True, but either way it’s not a very nice word. Actually one thing I read somewhere is that soldiers who fought in the Pacific Theature never used the term ‘Jap’, but instead used the term ‘Nip’ (as in the ‘Nippon’ the Japanese word for Japan). Somehow you could tell where a soldier had fought by the terms used.
But I digress. I still feel guilty posting the quote verbatim, but I think it captures the mood then better, and I think anyone who reads this blog enough knows of my admiration for Japan.
Victor: Welcome to the L8B, and thank you so much for your comment. I think there are many good points here to respond to. My own grandpa was veteran of WWII, but in the European Theater as an engineer for airplanes. My great grandpa fought in the trenches of WWI, I even have this military flag he was buried with. I think what I learned from them is that soldiers are very, very much human. Not just the US soldiers of course, but all soldiers. I think it’s too easy for anti-war people to get carried away with their message and demonize soldiers as a way of lashing back at the government.
I really like the stories of veterans meeting up with the “enemy” and becoming good friends. There’s such an important lesson in that. I too hope that we can have such a relationship with those in the Islamic world, and I do sincerely it will happen someday. Everything is impermanent and subject to change, so this tension now just won’t last forever. Like you said though, we’re all inter-related and it’s so easy to forget that. My favorite war movie by far is the Thin Red Line, because the overall message is that we’re all just human beings, but we’re confused and we misunderstand each other.
There’s a part near the end, where the main hero, Jim Caviezel (sp?) is caught and surrounded by Japanese troops. One of the troops keeps telling him something in Japanese, but hte movie intentionally has no subtitles. My wife, who is Japanese, translated for me and said the soldier was saying “Put your hands up, we don’t want to kill you.” Language and culture make artificial divisions among us, when in fact the heart is the same.
So, I think when we must resort to war as a choice, it’s a tragedy all-around, which was the point of the post. I wanted to admonish people who claimed there was glory in war, or politicians who have nothing to lose, and remind them that it does involve the lives of ordinary people (i.e. the troops on both sides) and the ones they love.
At the same time, I want to make sure that people don’t forget either that those troops are brave people (human, fallible, but brave) and they deserve our respect for doing what they do.
As an aside, the Buddha had a number of soldier-disciples, and never prohibited people from defending their own country. When King Ajatasatru of Magadha needlessly invaded the neighboring kingdom of Kosala, the Buddha sympathized with King Pasenadi (of Kosala) who had to fight to save his people. But the Buddha also did his best to intervene and stop wars wherever possible too. The Buddha clearly felt war should be a last resort, because of the actual lives involved, and that I feel is the best approach.
Cheers!