An Iwo Jima Relic Binds Generations

September 18, 2009 3:09 PM

An Iwo Jima Relic Binds Generations. (SLNYTTJ - single-link new york times tear-jerker.)
posted by alms (7 comments total)

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posted by Joe Beese at 3:18 PM on September 18, 2009

This isn't the sort of post I usually get too involved with, but this one touched a lot of nerves for me. I am sure others will discuss the emotional aspects of the story, but I have often wondered why no one compares post-WWII japan with some of our latest overseas adventures. When we occupied Japan after WWII they were a culture completely foreign to us, complete with a divine emperor and suicide bombers happy to carry out his wishes (as interpreted by the generals). Within a decade the groundwork had been laid for Japan to become the modern economic powerhouse that it is. That strikes me as a huge contrast to the current efforts in the middle east, where brute force is rationalized with "they don't understand western democracy". The point I am meandering toward is that I wonder if in a few decades the children of Taliban fighters and Marines sent to Afghanistan will be able to sit down together like this. I don't think the architects of our foreign policy even take this sort of thing into consideration.
posted by TedW at 4:40 PM on September 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

You're going to find even more stories and articles and even books on this sort of thing in the next few years. One of the more interesting is Louise Stein's The Souvenir.
posted by IndigoJones at 4:54 PM on September 18, 2009

I started reading this piece determined not to have my tears jerked, but jerked they were.

Thank you.
posted by kcds at 5:52 PM on September 18, 2009

Good post, but sad.
posted by Daddy-O at 7:39 PM on September 18, 2009

Happy Birthday New York Times. Their very first front page from September 18, 1851.
posted by netbros at 7:07 AM on September 19, 2009

Great post, thanks.
posted by languagehat at 7:23 AM on September 19, 2009