SQJ Taipei

UPDATE: a small addition has been added after the pictures and I added a link to the P-38

This holiday exists to remember those who have fallen in military service to the United States. It is historically and appropriately apolitical but I’m sure that won’t keep people from trying to make it so and in so doing… disgrace the memory of those who gave their life for our nation.

I currently live on a piece of land controlled by the Japanese empire from 1895 to 1945. By most historical accounts, Taiwan was spared many of the well documented horrors of that empire. Today, both Taiwan and the US can call Japan a close friend.

My late Grandpa served in the Pacific in “the War”. He was always reluctant to talk about the war and he always became agitated when the TV displayed images from WW2, whether it be actual footage or a movie. I don’t know his story, but he came home… so this Memorial Day post isn’t really about him.

One of the approximately 400,000 soldiers who did not come home was my grandma’s brother, Jack. He flew a P-38 Lightning and one day he didn’t return from his mission. There is very little information and his plane and his body were never found.

In memory of Jack…

and Grandpa…

and all…

Click to go to www.mooresmarauders.org

UPDATE: As Michael makes mention in his comment… Taiwanese most certainly did suffer a great deal during the Japanese occupation. And he is also correct that the aboriginal people suffered the most injustice. I am afraid that my initial comment about the Japanese rule of Taiwan made it sound as if Taiwan got off easy… I was not clear. I was only trying to draw a bit of distinction between the horrors that are well documented and the relatively small part of that which happened on Taiwan. After WW2, when the KMT took over Taiwan… some locals (perhaps many) seemed to long for the old days of Japanese rule. Of course those actions did not seem relatively small to anyone who suffered in Taiwan or throughout the region. Also, this may indicate more about the KMT than the Japanese at that time. If you come visit us in Taiwan and we have a chance to go to Taroko Gorge, we can show you a cave where aboriginal Christians met and worshipped together for a time during Japanese rule. They met in secret as Christianity was seen as one of the religions that detracted from the Japanese goal of the assimilation of the locals into the Japanese population.