urban_reject

bleh. went to this battle sights tour all across the island of okinawa today. talk about some depressing shit. its a little known fact that the battle for okinawa was the bloodiest battle fought in World War II. you just dont see movies made about it like normandy because of the politics involved and we probably never will. part of the tour included going through the complex tunnel system where the japanese were dug-in when the US forces arrived. eventually they were overran and many of them commited mass suicide inside of the tunnels. as a matter of fact, the walls were still peppered with shrapnel where they took their own lives with grenades. i dont know, it felt weird being in that room. later on that day we went to this place called suicide cliff where hundreds of okinawans jumped off to their death to escape the horrors of war. a sobering experience, we often look at the losses of our troops, and the japanese likewise, but the innocent civilians probably recieved the worst of the battle, and theyre the most overlooked. and this got me to thinking.....on the japanese island of okinawa there are 8 marine corps bases throughout it. so basically, we come here, bring death and horror to this once peaceful island, then take their land and inhabit it for years to come. something just doesnt seem right about it......and i dont know what to think anymore.