US Military behavior in Japan
Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:04 pm
The latest incident in Japan with US servicemen has me wondering where the discipline has gone. It seems problems have increased every year since my old ship USS Midway left for decommissioning in 1992 and the US Government ended a long standing policy on "homesteading" shortly after. The latest outrage is the murder of a cab driver near Yokosuka naval base.
It takes me back to the incident Tezuka had with the American soldier, though isolated and seperate incidents like this happened before USS Midway's departure, the increasing frequency and severity of incidents since threaten to undermine what has been a beneficial relationship.
The whole situation places a negative view of Americans and drowns those things we have done for the communities we are based around and as one who served a long time with people I have great affections for, I can't help but feel a sense of rage at the current Commanders and their lack of control over our servicemen.
General Douglas MacArthur's control of the occupation period was absolutely blunt, crimes and injustices by American forces of occupation would not be tollerated. 57 American soldiers were given death sentences by MacArthur for rape and murder (all commutted by Harry Truman) and their Commanders were reduced in rank or removed for failure of discipline. Perhaps the same brute instrument should now be restored upon current US troops in Japan.
The latest incident should be the last one. If they can't control their troops properly, we should close our bases and leave Japan to salvage our reputation.
It takes me back to the incident Tezuka had with the American soldier, though isolated and seperate incidents like this happened before USS Midway's departure, the increasing frequency and severity of incidents since threaten to undermine what has been a beneficial relationship.
The whole situation places a negative view of Americans and drowns those things we have done for the communities we are based around and as one who served a long time with people I have great affections for, I can't help but feel a sense of rage at the current Commanders and their lack of control over our servicemen.
General Douglas MacArthur's control of the occupation period was absolutely blunt, crimes and injustices by American forces of occupation would not be tollerated. 57 American soldiers were given death sentences by MacArthur for rape and murder (all commutted by Harry Truman) and their Commanders were reduced in rank or removed for failure of discipline. Perhaps the same brute instrument should now be restored upon current US troops in Japan.
The latest incident should be the last one. If they can't control their troops properly, we should close our bases and leave Japan to salvage our reputation.