‘I must add, Keiko, that the American Raid on Tokyo on 18 April 1942 was followed by a similar triumph in Europe by the forces of the United Kingdom…’
SCENE from the Global Thursday Forum of 07 April 2022: 21:34:13 Keiko (Direct Message): Ok, yet for what purpose may I ask?
21:34:33 Me (Direct Message): 80th anniversary of Bataan Death March
21:36:01 KEIKO (Direct Message): Yes, the terrible deed by Japanese army… so what is your implication?
21:36:37 Me (Direct Message): 80th anniversary
At this point, Keiko appears to have left the reservation with a terse: “So you are punishing me?” Final word by me: “Just sharing. This is a forum on history.” Background: It was the 8th Forum for 2022, featuring Dr. Falk Pingel (Germany), Former Deputy-Director for the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig, tackling “The European Union’s Agenda for Foreign and Security Policy: Can the EU Act as a Global Player in Conflict Mediation?” And I, as a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Thursday Forum, was the moderator. Since Dr. Pingel has written on World War II and it was two days before this year’s Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), I shared on the chat box this article: https://malaya.com.ph/news_opinion/into-the-vortex-of-war/.
That triggered Keiko. Why? Only Amaterasu and Keiko herself would know. In that column, I concluded: “Stand Fast In Perilous Times! Remember Erlinda! The spirit that made Bataan stand – ‘a beacon to all the liberty-loving peoples of the world – cannot fail!’” Stand Fast is for the Filipinos of the 21st century, while “Remember Erlinda!” was the war-cry of the Defenders of Bataan. And clearly, April 9, 1942 has been lit as “a beacon to all the liberty-loving peoples of the world.” Which apparently is lost to Keiko.
A Japanese lady aghast at a commemorative article on Bataan in a Global Forum on Peace and History hosted by the History NGO Forum for Peace in East Asia based out of Seoul, Korea?!? If there be any humans apt to be peaked by the Bataan Death March and its aftermath, then it is likely that they are Filipinos: “Am still alive. Have been here for two days. How long I will stay only God knows. Many are dying here. Right now, somebody just died. He is Teofilo Yldefonso, champion-swimmer, thrice captain of the Philippine swimming team to the world’s Olympics. The wound he sustained in Bataan developed gangrene. Few pills of sulfa-thiasol might have saved his life, according to a medical officer. But the Japs do not permit medicine for prisoners. The doctors are now covering Yldefonso’s corpse with newspaper. Later, he will be buried with the other corpses piled high in the adjoining camp.
Right now I can hear someone shouting deliriously: ‘Water, please, water!’ He has stopped shouting. They clubbed him. Now he is unconscious. If the guards had heard him, he would have been bayoneted. This is not a prison camp. This is a graveyard of living corpses, breathing skeletons…” [Diary of Felipe Buencamino III. April 16, 1942. Capas, Tarlac. Filipino Concentration Camp]
Keiko should note this as well: “Four-page pictorial on this Sunday’s Tribune regarding the historic defeat of the Fil-American defenders of Bataan. In the front page is a candid shot of Lieut. Gen. Masaharu Homma, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces.
Ironically, the background of the picture is Jose Rizal’s monument. On the lower portion of the page is a picture of Major General Edward King, Jr., Commander of Bataan, with members of his staff. They are seated on wooden chairs. General King has his arms crossed and he looks aloof. The aide beside him looks thin, haggard, lonely. The next page shows several shots of Japanese tanks breaking through jungle vines and dusty, winding roads.
Also pictures of USAFFE troops marching towards Orani, some carrying white flags. In the center of the page is a heart-rending picture of troops closely hemmed in a small area with pieces of cloth tied on their heads to protect themselves from the sun. You can that see they all look gaunt, skeletal, weary, sick.” [Diary of Victor Buencamino; https://philippinediaryproject.com/1942/04/19/april-19-1942-2/]
If that does not tickle Keiko, then she ought to take a load of this: “The Japs have left us fairly well alone today for some reason. We had an air raid alarm a couple of times but I don’t believe any bombs were dropped here, although some were dumped on Fort Hughes…We heard this afternoon that Tokyo was bombed for four hours today. It is amazing how a report like that boosts the morale of everyone.” [Diary of Lewis C. Beebe, April 20, 1942]
The American general was referring to the Doolittle Raid: “The greatest of the propaganda exploits in the dark days of 1942 was the first bomber raid over Tokyo, led by Colonel (later General) James H. Doolittle from the naval aircraft carrier Hornet. That feat was particularly the project of the President, who knew what a powerful effect on morale it would have on our enemies and on our friends. And both effects were sorely needed in those days!” [The public papers and addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1942 Volume. Humanity on the defensive: compiled with special material and explanatory notes by Samuel I. Rosenman. NY: Harper & Brothers, 1950]
The US President himself said: “For every advance that the Japanese have made since they started their frenzied career of conquest, they have had to pay a very heavy toll in warships, in transports, in planes, and in men. They are feeling the effects of those losses.
It is even reported from Japan that somebody has dropped bombs on Tokyo, and on other principal centers of Japanese war industries. If this be true, it is the first time in history that Japan has suffered such indignities.” [https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/april-28-1942-fireside-chat-21-sacrifice]
So, Keiko, my tip for you includes “Revenge For Pearl Harbour: The Story Of The Doolittle Raid” (Wings Of A Warrior-Timeline); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kadf1PiUgig. And “Last Mission to Tokyo documents WWII’s extraordinary Doolittle Raiders” (CBS Mornings); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhK4_czihCQ. Or “Chronicles of Courage: The Doolittle Raid” (Vulcan Productions and NBC News Learn); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEhdhVbs_Fs.
I must add, Keiko, that the American Raid on Tokyo on 18 April 1942 was followed by a similar triumph in Europe by the forces of the United Kingdom: “We must plainly regard the attack of the Lancasters on the U-boat engine factory at Augsburg as an outstanding achievement of the Royal Air Force. Undeterred by heavy losses at the outset, the bombers pierced in broad daylight into the heart of Germany and struck a vital point with deadly precision.” [Winston S. Churchill, A Great Daylight Raid: A Message to Air Marshal Harris, Chief of the Bomber Command After the Great Daylight Attack by the R.A.F. On Augsburg, April 20, 1942]
When will you learn?
