My grandfather fought the Japs at Peleliu.

I was with him and my grandmother at the World's Fair in 1984. When we got to the area where all the different countries had their exhibits, he looked up at the Jap flag, turned to grandma and said "Let's go" and we left.

He couldn't believe they allowed them to fly that thing over American soil. To the day he died, he couldn't stand the sight of those people.

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Posted by soccerfüt

Location: A Series of Tubes

Member since May 2013

65873 posts

Posted on 4/27/22 at 6:39 am to reverendotis

quote:
My grandfather fought the Japs at Peleliu.

I was with him and my grandmother at the World's Fair in 1984. When we got to the area where all the different countries had their exhibits, he looked up at the Jap flag, turned to grandma and said "Let's go" and we left.

He couldn't believe they allowed them to fly that thing over American soil. To the day he died, he couldn't stand the sight of those people.

Props to your gf for his service in that hell hole.

I can see how he felt that way.

My old man fought on Okinawa.

After the Japanese surrender, he went in with the occupation forces and spent more than a year there. He developed an appreciation for Japanese people and culture. We were the first folks in our ZIP Code to own a Toyota.

I knew a Bataan survivor who had the same feeling towards the Japanese as my dad did in his later years. The last car he owned was a Toyota Avalon. His quote about Japanese soldiers was “They were just doing their job.”

Not flaming your grand dad, just pointing out that different folks reached different opinions.

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Posted by Ricardo

Member since Sep 2016

4906 posts

Posted on 4/27/22 at 6:44 am to reverendotis

quote:
He couldn't believe they allowed them to fly that thing over American soil. To the day he died, he couldn't stand the sight of those people.

Can't say I blame him. They got their comeuppance though. Getting nuked and having their emperor bow to us was a big part of burying the hatchet.

I knew an old WW2 sailor. Was my friend's grandfather. He (sailor) would raise the flag every day and salute it. He never really said a lot to me, but the look in his eyes and the manner he held himself exuded patriotism. A humble man, but a dignified one. I admire and respect that kind of devotion. To be honest, he kind of admonished me (fairly) for not paying proper respect to the flag. (I had draped it over my shoulders.)

The older I get the more I realize the importance of paying respect to the flag. You're not paying respect to a piece of cloth. You're paying respect to the men that died defending it. This isn't a country of soil. It's the people. Without people willing to die for it, all of our symbols and traditions are meaningless.

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Posted by Godfather1

What WAS St George, Louisiana

Member since Oct 2006

79881 posts

Posted on 4/27/22 at 8:40 am to reverendotis

quote:
My grandfather fought the Japs at Peleliu.

I was with him and my grandmother at the World's Fair in 1984. When we got to the area where all the different countries had their exhibits, he looked up at the Jap flag, turned to grandma and said "Let's go" and we left.

He couldn't believe they allowed them to fly that thing over American soil. To the day he died, he couldn't stand the sight of those people.

I knew a lot of old guys who fought the Japanes and felt that way. It was a far more savage war than even what was going on in Europe.

I had a distant cousin who was severely wounded in the hills of Peleliu. He survived to become the police chief of Baker.

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