Where are the apologies? I mean, where are they, dammit?.The horror of Hong Kong, the monstrous Death March of Bataan..Let me tell you something, pal … I’ve been to Luzon, in the Philippines, seen the small, very small, tourist sign, saying: This is where the march to Bataan began..We took in the festival of Lucena, in May. I have never in my life, felt such heat and humidity. Dear God in heaven. I can’t imagine it, without food and water. With menacing guards, eager to chop your head off, following a single misstep..Those poor bastards who got captured by the Japanese forces. I had no idea, none. Not until I had actually been there, experienced it and realized it. God forgive me..One summer, I had a garage sale in Citadel. In that sale, I had a book, which I bought from the Calgary Herald book sale. The review books we received — by the bushel — were put up for sale to help the Calgary Herald Christmas fund. It was, and still is, a very good cause. I don’t know why I bought this thing, I don’t. It was a thick book, very thick … of the Japanese tortures inflicted on the Allied forces..I skimmed through it. That was all I could do..There’s no way I could read it. I would have jumped off a bridge. But one torture, I remember. The Japanese would pour water and rice, into a prisoner, until he swelled. Then, they would jump on his stomach..That still haunts me. It still haunts me..Anyway you’re probably wondering. Why am I going here, dredging up all this bad stuff. Haven’t we moved past it? No … we haven’t. We can never, ever forget, the cruelty inflicted on Allied prisoners by the Japanese forces. I sold that book at a garage sale. A lady came to me, and said her father was a POW in Japan. I refused payment … I said, just take it. Please, take it. I didn’t want to look at it, again..She looked at me, long and hard, said thanks. Then she left, before she had a chance to cry.. Hong Kong cemeteryThe Canadian cemetery in Hong Kong. 11th November, 2012. .I guess what started all this was thinking about the anniversary of Pearl Harbor on December 7th..Not many of today’s generation, give a damn. But I sure do. And, it leads me to wonder … why … the Japanese have never fully apologized for their war crimes, such as to the Canadians captured in Hong Kong and ill-treated by their captors 80 years ago. Nor to the Americans ill-treated in the infamous Bataan death march. Nor the heroic Filipinos, either..What do we have instead? I’m ashamed … ashamed to tell Canadian school-children. Or anyone who cares. Annual vigils at a shrine for their war martyrs — the Yasukuni Shrine — as they see their war criminals..Which reminds me … how will the world react when the Russians lose the war in Ukraine and Vlad Putin is strung up like Benito Mussolini?.Will we do the right thing, hold them accountable, make them pay reparations? Or will we do nothing. Let bygones be bygones?.Sure as hell, my friends, Xi Jinping is watching this whole situation very closely as he makes his plans to take over Taiwan, without firing a shot..According to reliable historical sources, during the Bataan Death March, approximately 10,000 men died. Of these men, 1,000 were American and 9,000 were Filipinos..The defenders of Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day 1941, after several days of intense fighting..Over the course of the battle, 290 Canadian soldiers were killed and another 493 were wounded. All 1,685 surviving soldiers were taken as prisoners of war.. Young MakichukA young Dave Makichuk visits the Canadian cemetery in Hong Kong. (1976.) .In January, 1976, I wandered through that cemetery, at age 21. I wore a brown leather jacket, and bell-bottomed trousers. I thought I looked cool..I had taken a wrong turn, at the top of the famous Peak Tram, and decided to hike down on my own..When I hit this cemetery I thought, my God, who were all these Canadian boys, and why did they die?.The ones who lived were fed into the hell of being a Japanese POW..Many would die, in the camps. In the utmost cruelty man can devise..Today, they are buried in the Sai Wan Bay Memorial and the Stanley Military Cemetery, both in Hong Kong. Some are also buried at the British Commonwealth Cemetery in Japan..But let me close, with this..A Canadian veteran who suffered at the hands of the Japanese, visited some Calgary schoolchildren a few years back, and spoke to young students. A curious little girl had the courage, to walk up to Hong Kong war veteran Ralph McLean of Calgary. She asked him, point-blank, would he do it again. Would he still go to war, for Canada, knowing all this horrible stuff..He answered, “Yes, for you.”. Ralph McLeanCanadian Hong King veteran visits with Calgary school children. "Yes," he said. He would do it again for Canada. .Probably one of the bravest, and greatest things, I’ve ever heard, and it still chokes me up, to this day..McLean was captured on Christmas Day 1941 and held as a POW until he was rescued by American soldiers at the end of the war. He witnessed several friends die, suffered physical illness, and almost died from being transported in a hell ship to a Japanese camp..If McLean’s bravery doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what does..Where are the apologies? Where the hell are they?.It is the least they could do.
Where are the apologies? I mean, where are they, dammit?.The horror of Hong Kong, the monstrous Death March of Bataan..Let me tell you something, pal … I’ve been to Luzon, in the Philippines, seen the small, very small, tourist sign, saying: This is where the march to Bataan began..We took in the festival of Lucena, in May. I have never in my life, felt such heat and humidity. Dear God in heaven. I can’t imagine it, without food and water. With menacing guards, eager to chop your head off, following a single misstep..Those poor bastards who got captured by the Japanese forces. I had no idea, none. Not until I had actually been there, experienced it and realized it. God forgive me..One summer, I had a garage sale in Citadel. In that sale, I had a book, which I bought from the Calgary Herald book sale. The review books we received — by the bushel — were put up for sale to help the Calgary Herald Christmas fund. It was, and still is, a very good cause. I don’t know why I bought this thing, I don’t. It was a thick book, very thick … of the Japanese tortures inflicted on the Allied forces..I skimmed through it. That was all I could do..There’s no way I could read it. I would have jumped off a bridge. But one torture, I remember. The Japanese would pour water and rice, into a prisoner, until he swelled. Then, they would jump on his stomach..That still haunts me. It still haunts me..Anyway you’re probably wondering. Why am I going here, dredging up all this bad stuff. Haven’t we moved past it? No … we haven’t. We can never, ever forget, the cruelty inflicted on Allied prisoners by the Japanese forces. I sold that book at a garage sale. A lady came to me, and said her father was a POW in Japan. I refused payment … I said, just take it. Please, take it. I didn’t want to look at it, again..She looked at me, long and hard, said thanks. Then she left, before she had a chance to cry.. Hong Kong cemeteryThe Canadian cemetery in Hong Kong. 11th November, 2012. .I guess what started all this was thinking about the anniversary of Pearl Harbor on December 7th..Not many of today’s generation, give a damn. But I sure do. And, it leads me to wonder … why … the Japanese have never fully apologized for their war crimes, such as to the Canadians captured in Hong Kong and ill-treated by their captors 80 years ago. Nor to the Americans ill-treated in the infamous Bataan death march. Nor the heroic Filipinos, either..What do we have instead? I’m ashamed … ashamed to tell Canadian school-children. Or anyone who cares. Annual vigils at a shrine for their war martyrs — the Yasukuni Shrine — as they see their war criminals..Which reminds me … how will the world react when the Russians lose the war in Ukraine and Vlad Putin is strung up like Benito Mussolini?.Will we do the right thing, hold them accountable, make them pay reparations? Or will we do nothing. Let bygones be bygones?.Sure as hell, my friends, Xi Jinping is watching this whole situation very closely as he makes his plans to take over Taiwan, without firing a shot..According to reliable historical sources, during the Bataan Death March, approximately 10,000 men died. Of these men, 1,000 were American and 9,000 were Filipinos..The defenders of Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day 1941, after several days of intense fighting..Over the course of the battle, 290 Canadian soldiers were killed and another 493 were wounded. All 1,685 surviving soldiers were taken as prisoners of war.. Young MakichukA young Dave Makichuk visits the Canadian cemetery in Hong Kong. (1976.) .In January, 1976, I wandered through that cemetery, at age 21. I wore a brown leather jacket, and bell-bottomed trousers. I thought I looked cool..I had taken a wrong turn, at the top of the famous Peak Tram, and decided to hike down on my own..When I hit this cemetery I thought, my God, who were all these Canadian boys, and why did they die?.The ones who lived were fed into the hell of being a Japanese POW..Many would die, in the camps. In the utmost cruelty man can devise..Today, they are buried in the Sai Wan Bay Memorial and the Stanley Military Cemetery, both in Hong Kong. Some are also buried at the British Commonwealth Cemetery in Japan..But let me close, with this..A Canadian veteran who suffered at the hands of the Japanese, visited some Calgary schoolchildren a few years back, and spoke to young students. A curious little girl had the courage, to walk up to Hong Kong war veteran Ralph McLean of Calgary. She asked him, point-blank, would he do it again. Would he still go to war, for Canada, knowing all this horrible stuff..He answered, “Yes, for you.”. Ralph McLeanCanadian Hong King veteran visits with Calgary school children. "Yes," he said. He would do it again for Canada. .Probably one of the bravest, and greatest things, I’ve ever heard, and it still chokes me up, to this day..McLean was captured on Christmas Day 1941 and held as a POW until he was rescued by American soldiers at the end of the war. He witnessed several friends die, suffered physical illness, and almost died from being transported in a hell ship to a Japanese camp..If McLean’s bravery doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what does..Where are the apologies? Where the hell are they?.It is the least they could do.
