D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944 — there are fewer of us now who actually remember that day. Subsequently, it was depicted in the motion pictures “The Longest Day” and “Saving Private Ryan.” America paid a heavy price for success that day. The European campaign in World War II has received much review and notice since.
I have not seen much in recent years about the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese opponents had a different mindset and appeared to be more resistant to being overcome. The American plan was to stop any invasion of Australia and proceed from there to methodically move across the Pacific Ocean via islands for air bases as U.S. forces edged closer to Japan.
A courageous President Harry Truman successfully saved American lives by bringing Japan down with the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those cities have since been restored.
President Obama recently visited Japan and many people wondered if he was going to apologize to the Japanese for those bombings. It was reported that he did not.
And talk about apologies, the Japanese have never apologized for their savage butchery in many areas and their horrible treatment of prisoners of war noted, for example, in the “Death March” on the Bataan peninsula when they overwhelmed U.S. forces in the Philippine Islands. It has been said that the Japanese have been so ashamed of their conduct that they do not discuss World War II.
Let us forgive, but not forget.
Thomas Shields, Auburn
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