I was washing the sardine juice out of my single glass bowl [this prevents a buildup of dishes, having only one of everything] next to my roommate, who I asked if I could keep the Japanese officer’s diary from among his uncle’s papers long enough to transcribe it.
Sure, keep it as long as you need it. I inherited his letters home. They weren’t allowed to write where they were. So I thought it would be fun to try and determine what campaigns he was on.
It [the diary] isn’t exactly propaganda is it?
War is an entirely different think without the “Tarantino Effect.”
My other uncle fought on the Western Front in France. He told me about this German sniper who had killed one of their guys. They were pissed and yelled back, “We’re going to get you, Fritz!”
Well, one day they got Fritz, put a bullet in him. They were all elated and couldn’t wait to get their hands on his stuff. Then one of them pulled out his wallet and they saw the pictures of his wife and kids. He described it as very sobering, that at that moment they realized that he wasn’t just some evil Kraut that needed to be killed, that he was a poor bastard like them with family at home. He said that changed him for the war.
A Bright Shining Lie at Dusk
A Partial Exhumation of the American Dream
link › jameslafond.blogspot.com
In Viet Nam there was a famous female VC sniper called the Apache. She had over 60 confirmed kills. She said she was looking through her scope at these American kids in green one day and they were looking at pictures of their wives and kids. She quit right then and there. Just couldn't do it anymore.
Read "Marine Sniper" by Charles Henderson, the story of SGT Carlos Hathcock USMC, who is credited with 93 confirmed kills as a sniper in Vietnam, to find out what happened to the notorious VC sniper known as the "Apache Woman".