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Post by sherwino on Aug 24, 2018 15:26:06 GMT 8
Interesting article. It's a personal perspective. There were atrocities but maybe this soldier did not participated therein. There may or will always be a few different ones from the general population.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 22:46:35 GMT 8
The Japanese officer's observation of the Filipino soldiers' demeanor towards the American soldiers may be, in some isolated cases, accurate. Filipinos at the time of the Japanese invasion were for the most part loyal towards the Americans, based on the accounts passed on to us by our elders. As correctly observed by the Japanese officer and in many other accounts, the Bataan front lines were manned mostly by Philippine Army Divisions. The Filipino soldiers of the Commonwealth Regular Army, under-trained as they were (not by choice but as a matter of circumstance), gave their all not because of their loyalty to the Americans but because of their loyalty to their motherland. It may therefore be expected that an ordinary Filipino soldier who had fought in the front lines continuously for several days without proper logistics support would have a measure of resentment against American soldiers. Another scenario that may be imagined is that the Filipino soldiers who had openly appeared hostile towards the American soldiers in the presence of the Japanese at the time of surrender may have been attempting to deflect blame for the tragedy; in other words, trying to save their own skin by painting the Americans as the real common enemy -- in the faint hope of getting better treatment. I am not a psychologists nor an expert in human behavior. However, the Japanese officer’s account seems to build that kind of scene – some Filipino soldiers going on survival mode by attempting to be friendly towards the Japanese victors while blaming the Americans for the defeat. Who wouldn’t in that kind of desperate situation?
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