Reflecting on the WWII story account, we [me and my wife] visited the battleship Missouri, which was decommissioned in 1998. It rests a tone’s throw away from the Arizona. On the deck of this battleship the surrender by Japan was signed, and that formally ended WW II.
As my wife and I stood on the deck of the Missouri, overlooking beautiful Pearl Harbor, the serene countryside and its gorgeous cloud-filled skies, we could not help but reflect in total amazement on man’s inhumanity to man in the World War II. We could not conceive of what possible justification existed in the minds of those fighter pilots swooping in on that early Sunday morning, to indiscriminately kill and maim their fellow man!
In 1999, the battleship USS Missouri was moved to Pearl Harbor from the United States west coast and docked near, and perpendicular to, the USS Arizona Memorial. Upon the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese surrendered to United States General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz, ending World War II. The pairing of the two ships became an evocative symbol of the beginning and end of the United States' participation in the bloodiest war the world had ever seen.
The pairing of the two ships has not been free from controversy, however. Memorial staff has criticized the placement of the Missouri, saying the large battleship would "overshadow" the Arizona Memorial of the World War II. To help guard against this perception Missouri was placed well back of the Arizona Memorial, and positioned in Pearl Harbor in such a way as to prevent those participating in Military Ceremonies on Missouri's aft decks from seeing the Arizona Memorial. The decision to have Missouri's bow face the Arizona Memorial was intended to convey that Missouri now watches over the remains of the battleship Arizona so that those interred within Arizona's hull may rest in peace. These measures have helped preserve the individual identities of the Arizona Memorial and the Missouri Memorial, which has improved the public's perception of having both Arizona and Missouri in the same harbor.
A flood of emotions overwhelmed me. My thoughts went back in time, to Sept 2, 1945. The members of my family had been incarcerated in various different Japanese concentration camps for years in WW II. On the very day that surrender document was signed on the Missouri, I was only 10 years old, a ‘boy-slave’ of the Japanese death camp slaves. I had been separated from my Mother, my Dad, and my siblings. My oldest brother was a P.O.W. in Japan. Had ‘The Bomb’— which led to Japan’s signing of the surrender — had it been dropped just a week later, I would not have made it. I was literally on ‘death’s doorstep,’ emaciated, dehydrated, suffering from beriberi and dysentery.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Arizona, an unforgettable War memorial
The history of World War II has an unforgettable place for Arizona. The USS Arizona Memorial is situated at Pearl Harbor, Hawai. It marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 by Japanese imperial forces and commemorates the events of that day. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu was the action that led to United States involvement in World War II.
This WWII memorial, dedicated in 1962 and visited by more than one million persons annually, spans the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. Since it opened in 1980, the National Park Service has operated the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center associated with the memorial. Historical information about the attack, boat access to the memorial, and general visitor services are available at the center. The sunken remains of the battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark on 5 May 1989.
The Book of World War II has a giant casket, the rusted remains of the Arizona still entomb 1177 bodies of men [son, father, or a sibling]; leaving behind family members numbering into the tens of thousands. I could not begin to imagine the heartrending emotions relatives just experience who visit the location... a location no doubt sacred to every one of them. The WW II story explains them well.
The silent, rusting remains of that sunken battleship symbolize an extended tragedy: the millions upon millions earth wide who were massacred in that ‘World War II;’ as well as those who lost loved ones, mates, parents and children. Still others who were permanently disabled, starved to death or tortured in this senseless slaughter, this most heinous of wars in human history!
Fifty years after the World War II, a UN official, considering the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, made a chilling comment that proved to be so tragically true during World War II: “People can be transformed into hating and killing machines without too much difficulty.”
This WWII memorial, dedicated in 1962 and visited by more than one million persons annually, spans the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. Since it opened in 1980, the National Park Service has operated the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center associated with the memorial. Historical information about the attack, boat access to the memorial, and general visitor services are available at the center. The sunken remains of the battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark on 5 May 1989.
The Book of World War II has a giant casket, the rusted remains of the Arizona still entomb 1177 bodies of men [son, father, or a sibling]; leaving behind family members numbering into the tens of thousands. I could not begin to imagine the heartrending emotions relatives just experience who visit the location... a location no doubt sacred to every one of them. The WW II story explains them well.
The silent, rusting remains of that sunken battleship symbolize an extended tragedy: the millions upon millions earth wide who were massacred in that ‘World War II;’ as well as those who lost loved ones, mates, parents and children. Still others who were permanently disabled, starved to death or tortured in this senseless slaughter, this most heinous of wars in human history!
Fifty years after the World War II, a UN official, considering the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, made a chilling comment that proved to be so tragically true during World War II: “People can be transformed into hating and killing machines without too much difficulty.”
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Pearl Harbor
This part of the WW II story explains about the Pearl Harbor. It is well known in the book of World War II. While we were enjoying beautiful vacation, my wife and I took time out to visit the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of O’ahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941 brought the United States into World War II.
The decommissioned battleship Missouri lies tied up close by. Groups of tourists visit here daily. As it turned out, our visits to the two Memorials proved to be an unexpected, emotional experience for me. First we visited the Arizona Memorial; one of the battleships sunk in Pearl Harbor on that fateful day which was called by President Franklin D. Roosevelt “a date that will live in Infamy”— December 7, 1941.
Early on Sunday morning, that December 7th, Admiral Yamamoto sent his 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes towards Oahu in a sneak attack. The victorious battle cry: “Tora, Tora, Tora!”. Their Japanese death camps in Ambarawa were horrible. The carnage was stupendous. The human toll was 388 killed and 1,178 wounded. Twelve ships sunk, another nine damaged. One hundred sixty-four U.S. planes destroyed and another 159 damaged. From a twisted military point of view, this attack by Japan might be called an absolute success…Also the death camp slaves suffered a lot in the Indonesian death camps like Ambarawa Camp Seven etc.
It was impossible for me to picture those hundreds of airplanes swooping in like so many killer bees on that Sunday morning, wreaking such havoc and destruction. How many thousands of Mothers, Fathers, and grandparents lost their sons, daughters and loved ones that day? … And why? For the United States, “Pearl Harbor” marked the start of its participation in World War II; a struggle with huge armies and material pitted against each other, killing and being killed, wounding, destroying, raping and torturing of innocent men, women and children, all without a shred of mercy. The World War II had indeed made a deep scar upon mankind.
The decommissioned battleship Missouri lies tied up close by. Groups of tourists visit here daily. As it turned out, our visits to the two Memorials proved to be an unexpected, emotional experience for me. First we visited the Arizona Memorial; one of the battleships sunk in Pearl Harbor on that fateful day which was called by President Franklin D. Roosevelt “a date that will live in Infamy”— December 7, 1941.
Early on Sunday morning, that December 7th, Admiral Yamamoto sent his 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes towards Oahu in a sneak attack. The victorious battle cry: “Tora, Tora, Tora!”. Their Japanese death camps in Ambarawa were horrible. The carnage was stupendous. The human toll was 388 killed and 1,178 wounded. Twelve ships sunk, another nine damaged. One hundred sixty-four U.S. planes destroyed and another 159 damaged. From a twisted military point of view, this attack by Japan might be called an absolute success…Also the death camp slaves suffered a lot in the Indonesian death camps like Ambarawa Camp Seven etc.
It was impossible for me to picture those hundreds of airplanes swooping in like so many killer bees on that Sunday morning, wreaking such havoc and destruction. How many thousands of Mothers, Fathers, and grandparents lost their sons, daughters and loved ones that day? … And why? For the United States, “Pearl Harbor” marked the start of its participation in World War II; a struggle with huge armies and material pitted against each other, killing and being killed, wounding, destroying, raping and torturing of innocent men, women and children, all without a shred of mercy. The World War II had indeed made a deep scar upon mankind.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The pain of a 'boy slave'
Just imagine the life of a small boy, separated from his mother at age 10, and taken by Japanese Army truck to an unknown destination? What emotions and pain gone through his mind and heart? Rather than play and go to school, his lot became that of a ‘Boy Slave,’ in what came to be known as a death camp. The WW II story which is explained in the book of World War II is mostly filled with lot of suffering aspects, but we should take it as inspiring ones. Here below you read the story of that pain of a small boy little by little who underwent and witnessed many atrocities as a young boy. He reflects about it from his present situation.
In September 2, 1945, Japan’s Foreign Minister Shigemitsu and general Yoshijiro Umezo both signed the surrender document of the WWII. General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz signed the document on behalf of the United States. Representatives of eight Allied nations added their signatures. The bloody conflict was finally over! And after 60 Years later World War II officially came to an end.
This brief ceremony represented momentous turn of events in the Twentieth Century — the finale of a war that was so utterly senseless, so costly in human lives, so depraved and destructive that it is well described as Total War. In every respect, that war with its estimated 55,000,000+ dead and many more millions wounded and displaced, mirrors the description of the ‘Ride of the horsemen’ in the book of Revelation, or Apocalypse.
The five years of the book of World War II, from 1940-1945, have had an immeasurable impact on human society that is felt even today, sixty years later, and will no doubt continue to affect life on this earth for decades to come.
Yet, in spite of its magnitude and impact on mankind, relatively few people today seem to have any real grasp, any realistic concept of the real horror and extent of the conflict. Names such as Hitler, Hirohito, and Stalin are as alien as Nebuchadnezzar, Nero, and Attila the sun. Admittedly, the majority of people alive today were not even born when that historic surrender document was signed on the deck of the battleship Missouri; but should the heart-rending lessons of our recent history be lost so quickly?
During February 2001 my wife and were in Hawaii for the wedding of our oldest grand-daughter Ellice. It was a joyful occasion, and I was privileged to conduct the wedding. The ceremony took place at sunset, on a catamaran off the coast of Waikiki. To see those two young people, with bright eyes looking towards the future with happy anticipation, was indeed a delight. It is our sincere wish as well as the wish of their parents that they will be spared experiences like those of WWII story.
In September 2, 1945, Japan’s Foreign Minister Shigemitsu and general Yoshijiro Umezo both signed the surrender document of the WWII. General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz signed the document on behalf of the United States. Representatives of eight Allied nations added their signatures. The bloody conflict was finally over! And after 60 Years later World War II officially came to an end.
This brief ceremony represented momentous turn of events in the Twentieth Century — the finale of a war that was so utterly senseless, so costly in human lives, so depraved and destructive that it is well described as Total War. In every respect, that war with its estimated 55,000,000+ dead and many more millions wounded and displaced, mirrors the description of the ‘Ride of the horsemen’ in the book of Revelation, or Apocalypse.
The five years of the book of World War II, from 1940-1945, have had an immeasurable impact on human society that is felt even today, sixty years later, and will no doubt continue to affect life on this earth for decades to come.
Yet, in spite of its magnitude and impact on mankind, relatively few people today seem to have any real grasp, any realistic concept of the real horror and extent of the conflict. Names such as Hitler, Hirohito, and Stalin are as alien as Nebuchadnezzar, Nero, and Attila the sun. Admittedly, the majority of people alive today were not even born when that historic surrender document was signed on the deck of the battleship Missouri; but should the heart-rending lessons of our recent history be lost so quickly?
During February 2001 my wife and were in Hawaii for the wedding of our oldest grand-daughter Ellice. It was a joyful occasion, and I was privileged to conduct the wedding. The ceremony took place at sunset, on a catamaran off the coast of Waikiki. To see those two young people, with bright eyes looking towards the future with happy anticipation, was indeed a delight. It is our sincere wish as well as the wish of their parents that they will be spared experiences like those of WWII story.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
War murderers!!!
This collection of Nazi, as well as of Japanese vermin has indeed gone down in history, but neither with honor nor dignity. Lot of atrocities were done unto them. They were silent victims in the chamber, hanging ropes etc. But the end of these war murderers was very pathetic. Their hands were washed in the innocent blood and the curse of these innocent blood was fallen upon them. This WWII story is explained through a kid’s view on WWII by Mr. Ralph and Cathy Brink. Their names have merely been added to the long list of names of other criminals: mass murderers such as Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Mobutu, and a host of other killers among whom are even supposedly ‘Christian’ slave traders, as well as the clerical Inquisitors of the Middle Ages whose actions, to this date, are emblematic of the most fiendish of tortures. The Japanese death camps in Ambarawa were horrible. The death camp slaves suffered a lot in the Indonesian death camps like Ambarawa Camp Seven etc.
Many precious lives were slaughtered, many bright brains were jammed, many fighters for the cause of truth were massacred. However, this brief account does not solely concentrate on the world war II and the sufferings experienced by so many. It also points to a source of hope that has been able to sustain millions in this violent 20th century. This WW II story which is explained in the book of World War II is mostly filled with lot of suffering aspects, but we should take it as inspiring ones.
Many precious lives were slaughtered, many bright brains were jammed, many fighters for the cause of truth were massacred. However, this brief account does not solely concentrate on the world war II and the sufferings experienced by so many. It also points to a source of hope that has been able to sustain millions in this violent 20th century. This WW II story which is explained in the book of World War II is mostly filled with lot of suffering aspects, but we should take it as inspiring ones.
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