My favourite uncle was captured by the Japanese at the Fall of Singapore. He was a die-hard atheist. Yet he was much better at forgiveness than I am. I never knew him to say a bad word about the Japanese. He had spent a year in hospital recovering from his ordeal. He wouldn’t talk about it. Something I now understand, having experienced a measure of PTSD myself. I only ever remember him saying a couple of things.
My uncle was in a Japanese POW camp and spent a year in hospital. He was an amazing man, somebody I truly loved and respected.
From the moment we moved into our current accomodation, the little posse downstairs had started nonsense. This is their own little kingdom and they had been used to getting things their own way. It reminded me of Sheldon’s anxiety at getting new upstairs neighours.
Repeat after me, “Change is good.”
They had done nothing but tittle tattle (Look it up) from the beginning. For a fellow PTSD sufferer- so this is how you deal with difficulties with your neighbours. I have never in my life assembled a posse to fight my battles for me. Most people I know would just calmly explain. People have tended to believe that any complaints were made by me, because I had always dealt with issues directly myself. I try to say what I have to say directly to people. You have schemed from day one. My youngsters were traumatised too and needed space to heal. You had us all walking on eggshells. Any anger you consider I might have directed, has been richly deserved and long overdue. I don’t know how you have been able to get away with your little tinpot dictatorship
for as long as you have. I am an abuse Survivor and I have not even been allowed to change the locks on my door. You all involved the concierge and when I mentioned what you had done, my anger had mainly been directed at you and not the concierge. However as with all toxic people, you managed to twist everything around. If you have heard anything you didn’t like, then Good.
A Brief Look At Committees
The Golgafrinchams – Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
I Am My Mother’s Savage Daughter – Sarah Hester Ross
A True Man of Substance
My uncle once mentioned that a medical officer had told them to kill a hundred flies a day each. My uncle said over time it had become harder to find 100 flies. He had also mentioned that the Korean guards were worse than the Japanese. Apparently there was a lot of competition to join the Japanese army among Korean men, which led to only the most ruthless being picked. ( I have some reservations about You Tube channel The Front, as from memory they claimed The Japanese were in charge of Vichy France. This is nonetheless interesting but I would suggest cross-checking the information.
Disclaimer https://familytreeourstory.com/?s=Disclaimer+
My uncle was a man of great integrity. I do remember he seemed to have a bit of an issue with the Billy Joel song My Life, which I never quite understood. I guess the soldiers who fought in wars probably never felt they could say, “It’s my life.” I have Nylon Curtain. I do know there is a very moving tribute to the soldiers of Vietnam on that. Goodnight Saigon
Apparently people showed up at my uncle’s funeral to thank him for helping them in the POW camp. I believe he worked on the notorious Burma Railway
Source: British Pathe. https://youtu.be/QlhIwYCxbP4
See also:
He worked for the airlines and had found the courage to visit Japan after the war. There were always two narrow vases on the mantelpiece which he treasured. They were given to him by the Japanese people upon his visit. He always said that he could see the Japanese people themselves were starving too.
If the war with Japan had lasted much longer, my uncle and countless thousands like him, would not have survived. I am in no way intending to advocate the use of nuclear weapons, just stating from the perspective of our family, the end of the war had come just in time. So terribly tragic the way the end of the war had finally come about.
Source;Nathan Lay https://youtube.com/channel/UCId8_OJ-9V4Whu9X-6MaXHw
Source: A Japanese Colony https://youtube.com/c/TheFront
Check this as always against other sources.
https://familytreeourstory.com/2022/06/18/disclaimer-3/
See also https://familytreeourstory.com/?s=Hiroshima
https://familytreeourstory.com/2020/08/08/check-the-facts/
https://familytreeourstory.com/2022/03/02/ramblings-on-the-end-of-the-world/
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