JAPANESE ATROCITIES
The Japanese were a proud people, regarding themselves as descendants
of the gods, a superior race, destined to bring light into a darkened
world. Should any wicked nation dare to impede or to obstruct their
Emperor in carrying out his celestial undertakings, Japan would
fight-by the command of the Japanese gods to reunite all nations under
the rule of the Japanese Emperor.
The Imperial Rescript of the Emperor to his military powers included
the following statement: "Should any emergency arise, "Boot hills were
at Camps O'Donnell & Cabanatuan, written by Ed "Tommie" Thomas while
in the hospital at Cabanatuan with diphtheria. The burial details went
by the barracks each morning as he watched, wondering if he would be
on one of those litters the next morning.
offer yourself courageously to the state, and thus regard to maintain
the prosperity of our Imperial Throne, Coeval with Heaven and Earth."
As late as 1877, the ancient custom of making trophies of the heads of
the enemy soldiers was still in effect in Japan.
Japan violated the Geneva Convention in 1931 when she invaded
Manchuria, and again in 1937 when she invaded China both without a
declaration of war. The world shouldn't have been surprised when the
Japanese bombers made their sudden attack on Pearl Harbor without a
declaration of War, further violating the Articles of Code 1929.
Actually, the Japanese had never approved the Geneva Convention,
either in theory or in practice, especially concerning P.O. W. s.
To the Japanese, surrender was a violation of military morality. In
any defeat, a loyal Japanese soldier would commit hari kiri.
Discipline in the Imperial Army was enforced by frequent slapping,
beating and kicking of junior officers and enlisted men for rather
minor offenses. For serious crimes, discipline was more complex. The
victim could be turned over to a Judo expert for suitable punishment.
He could be given the water treatment. He could be tied to a fence
post, and slapped beaten or kicked by each passing soldier. He could
be used for bayonet practice by recruits. Severe crimes called for an
officer to unsheathe his samurai sword and behead the criminal. The
head was displayed to others, tied to a bamboo pole, so the observer
would learn that crime does not pay. Enlisted men with little or no
rank, had no one to slap, beat or kick, so a captured enemy filled an
important gap in their system. In the minds of the Japanese, they
were. Not barbarians or savages, but merely loyal and patriotic
personnel administering a just punishment to those who dared to defy
authority, the Emperor or the Gods.
Atrocities were committed on many work details, including the farm.
Some were for the punishment of rather minor rules and others were for
the amusement of the guards, who enjoyed watching the Americans
performing super Herculean tasks.
Once a month, I had to carry hundred pound sacks of rice from the gate
to mess halls. This could have been easily accomplished by carts, but
the Japanese thought that the Americans should "pay the price!" As a
result I developed three hernias, which became a considerable handicap
in completing my tour with "the Sons of Heaven."
The Japanese seemed very little concerned that more Americans and
Filipinos died as their prisoners, on the "Death March," in prison
camps, on labor details, hell ships, and working in coal mines and
munitions factories, than died at the hands of the Japanese on the
battlefields. Those of us, who were guests of the Nipponese Emperor,
have little doubt that some of the treachery was learned from the
German Kulture.
We, who were captives and prisoners of the Japanese, will never be
able to forgive them, but knowing their background did help to explain
some of their vicious actions. However, it did not make their
barbarous, brutal, cruel savagery any easier to endure.
Very few ex-P.O.W.s will ever drive Toyotas, Datsuns or Mazdas.