OT - March to Hunan human atrocities

[LiveMusic]

WARNING: graphic description of violence I don't know the right title. I caught bits and pieces of a conversation recently and they were talking about either a book or a movie. It was something like "March to Hunan" or "Road to Hunan." It was about how terribly brutal the Japanese? were against the Chinese? I am unfamiliar with this. Anyone know? They were saying something about how brutally mean one was against the other. Like taking bets as to the gender of a fetus inside a pregnant woman and then slitting open the womb of the woman to find out. Taking infants, tossing them into the air so they came down landing on a bayonet. It was a gruesome conversation. They were discussing how brutal humans can be to one another.

[Tedster]

If you've ever seen documentaries on "The Rape of Nanking" or is it "Nanjing" (I've heard both)...you'll know exactly what they're talking about. In WWII...before we joined the war, might have been '39 or early '40 (could have been even earlier, possibly as early as '37)...the Japanese invaded China (Manchuria). What they did to the population defies description. Call me a bad person, but, in light of some of the atrocities I've heard described, let's just say I have a little easier time sleeping at night, with a bit less guilt about us having dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And those that point the finger at the US for being so cruel as to drop such a horrific weapon need to read those Nanjing accounts. That wasn't one small bomber crew at FL300 pushing a button...that was a mass of barbarian animals drunk with human blood and relishing every second of it. Enjoying their power to inflict suffering. That said...this is sure to ignite a huge flame war, with all the feel-gooders talking about how US policy before WWII led the Japanese to invade China, and how it's all our fault (a possible valid argument as to how Hitler rose to power...but not with the Japanese). It is indeed a dark chapter in human history.

[Chris Everett]

About 100 million people were killed during WWII. Less than 25% of those deaths are well documented, at least in the west. The horrific actions in Russia, and in China, are largly unknown in the west. The atomic bombs were _nothing_ compared to what else was going on at the time.

[spigotsaol.com]

[quote]Originally posted by Chris Everett: [b]About 100 million people were killed during WWII. Less than 25% of those deaths are well documented, at least in the west. The horrific actions in Russia, and in China, are largly unknown in the west. The atomic bombs were _nothing_ compared to what else was going on at the time.[/b][/quote]I don't know much about that, but I loved the way you used to win at Wimbledon.

[Chris Everett]

[quote] quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Chris Everett: About 100 million people were killed during WWII. Less than 25% of those deaths are well documented, at least in the west. The horrific actions in Russia, and in China, are largly unknown in the west. The atomic bombs were _nothing_ compared to what else was going on at the time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't know much about that, but I loved the way you used to win at Wimbledon. [/quote]hehe... First time anyone here brought that up... Shes a lot better lookin' though.... :-)

[Tedster]

[quote]Originally posted by Chris Everett: [b]About 100 million people were killed during WWII. Less than 25% of those deaths are well documented, at least in the west. The horrific actions in Russia, and in China, are largly unknown in the west. The atomic bombs were _nothing_ compared to what else was going on at the time.[/b][/quote]Thanks, that was exactly my point.

[Sylver]

Man's brutality to man knows no bounds. Some day, we need to learn that attrocities breed more attrocities. How much blood has been spilled "getting back" at the enemy? Everyone thinks that killing is justified if the other side started it. Yes, you must defend yourself if threatened. But we as a species seem to take glee and delight in the act of revenge. We are only steps away from being savages. Put anyone in a jungle with a gun with other people shooting at you, and after three months of living like that, I bet that just about anyone left would be dancing over the bodies of thier enemies, bathed in thier blood. How many US citizens did we hear in the days following Sept 11 say, "I think we should level Afganistan, kill them all!" I'm sure there was no one reading this who didn't hear similar words, or utter them themselves. Hey, it made us all feel rage, but all I could think was, why should innocents die horrible deaths at the hands of our solders because the Afgani GOVERNMENT was harboring a group of cowards? Attrocites? How about the US interference in vietnam? Don't get me wrong, what the US soldiers was horrible and many brave people servered thier country without question. But a lot of those soldiers broke down and commited the types of attrocites that are always seen in war. Rape, torture and mindless destruction was a fact of life. Seeing a 6 year old girl with a granade under her arm blow up your best friend who was just trying to give her something to eat is enough to make about anyone snap. Attrocites? How about leveling Cambodia with carpet bombs simply because your enemy could hide across thier ungaurded border. How about the US sitting back when the Kamir Rouge came out of the jungle and opportunistically enslaved the all ready devestated country. Burned all the books(that should have been a clue right thier), killed all the lawyers, most of the doctors, anyone with an education and forcefully seperated families. Then when they were liberated (By Vietnam, BTW), the US stood by while millions of people starved. Estimates are that between the Kamir Rouge and famine that at least 10 million people and as many as 20 million people were dead. So, I guess my point is that "they" are "us", just under different circumstances. Bottom line: We all need to stop killing each other. Period.

[KenElevenShadows]

Tedster's description is accurate. The Japanese occupied much of the Chinese coast. The Hunan Province is a province within China. The Japanese were extremely cruel towards the Chinese, and the hatred that the Chinese feel still runs deep in many parts of China today. Much of this is reflected in films of the time, and even now. My father was born in South China in the Guangdong Province. Less than a mile from his house is the remains of a Japanese fort. His earliest memories when he was 2-3 years old are of walking down the street, and ducking under the eaves of buildings to avoid being seen by Japanese Zeros flying overhead. That said, rather than learning not to do that to others, the current Chinese regime is rather adept at inflicting torture on their occupied territory (Tibet) and many of their "minority" cultures within their borders (Uighurs, other Muslims, many in the Hunan Province others) and those who express dissenting views.