I sort of thought I was, more or less, done wih this topic, but Rich
Jones's posting gave me pause.
 
Caveat emptor, eh?
 
I've mentioned a few of the people I've known who were at war against the
Japanese.
 
Today, I finished working on a scrapbook kept by a gunnary officer on the
USS Indiana; a battleship.
 
Included with the the daily orders, photographs, and news notes, was a
scrap of fabric from a Kamakazie plane which attempted to take his ship
out, and a letter which he wrote to his mother, August 6, 1945.
 
The Indiana was part of the fleet which was scheduled to take part in the
invasion of japan.
 
His letter reflects the relief which he and many of his colleagues felt
at not having to invade Japan.
 
Later, as a banker, he supervised Japanese students.
 
There is one common element connecting the people whom I have met and
talked with who have been involved in one aspect or another of man's
inhumanity to man, and that includes the WW II Japanese officer to my
right in a photograph taken in Georgia in 1988.
 
They do not hate each other, and they do not have the same degree of
respect for their respective governments as they had as youngsters.
 
Caveat emptor?  No.
 
Ask rather, does the emperor wear clothes.
 
When museums begin to ask questions about what society has been taught to
believe in furtherance of national goals I will begin writing letters to
my congressman and senator about NEH, NEA, and NSF (Oops.  Sorry about
including NSF; that's part of the defense/black bag budget.)
 
Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Lab
Portland, OR
 
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