thedrifter
08-17-09, 06:19 AM
Town holds on to celebration of V-J Day
Some see honor in V-J Day events; others see animosity
By Alan Gomez - USA TODAY
Posted : Sunday Aug 16, 2009 14:04:03 EDT
MOOSUP, Conn. — At first glance, the parade is like any other in patriotic New England. Red-white-and-blue bunting lines the route. Firetrucks and old military vehicles roll along. Fife and drum corps, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, war veterans and pageant winners wave and throw candy along the way.
But the annual parade through this tiny Connecticut town is unusual for what it celebrates: Victory over Japan Day — from World War II.
The 48th annual V-J Day Parade last Sunday is one of the last in the country to celebrate the day that the Japanese surrendered in 1945, ending the war. Parade organizers and many in Moosup call the parade nothing more than another opportunity to honor America’s war heroes.
“It’s patriotic,” says Joe Katusich, 70, a retired Navy master chief who served aboard submarines in the 1960s. “A lot of people gave their lives in World War II, and people forget about it.”
Others, including some participants in the parade, say it’s offensive to Japanese Americans and to a country that now is one of the United States’ closest allies.
Donald Guay, 68, who served in the 101st Airborne Division before the Vietnam War, joined his military vehicles collectors club in the parade for the sake of the “kids and the younger people.” He wonders, though, why the town celebrates a single military victory when there are no similar celebrations for the Civil War, World War I or other campaigns.
“I feel bad for (the Japanese). We had to drop the bomb over there and now ...” Guay says, his voice trailing off.
Joe Davis of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States says V-J Day is being neglected while commemorations for other campaigns have lived on.
Memorial Day began as a commemoration for Civil War soldiers but was later expanded to honor all Americans who died in battle. Veterans Day started as Armistice Day to honor the end of World War I but was later expanded to honor all those who serve in the armed forces. Davis says the end of World War II should have a similar remembrance.
Archie Lapierre of the American Legion post that organizes the parade says only one Japanese American has complained about the parade since he became post commander three years ago.
Ernest Plantz spent 1,297 days held captive by the Japanese after his submarine was damaged and forced to surface surrounded by Japanese warships in the Pacific Ocean.
Plantz says he was beaten regularly in captivity. He says he weighed 175 pounds when he was captured and came out weighing about 75 pounds. Plantz says the V-J Day Parade is simply a day to honor what he and his fellow servicemembers fought for.
“I’ve got nothing against the Japanese people,” says Plantz, 89. “If I could get a hold of some of the people who beat me, I’d have something against them. But (the Japanese) have been maybe the best postwar allies we’ve had.”
Joseph Lenard, a former Marine sergeant who served in the Korean War, says Moosup’s parade becomes more important each year because the United States’ collective memory of World War II is fading.
“After two or three generations, the memories get a little duller,” says Lenard, 77.
Floyd Mori, executive director of the San Francisco-based Japanese American Citizens League, says celebrating such a victory, as opposed to a solemn commemoration, hurts attempts to get beyond the lingering animosity that some people feel toward Japanese Americans, and Asian Americans in general.
“Certainly there are a lot of people that still have a lot of memory of World War II. I don’t think we can fault them for that,” Mori says. “But I think for a lot of Asians, it’s kind of embarrassing that this kind of thing is celebrated.”
A similar controversy lives on in neighboring Rhode Island. The state is the last with a state holiday dedicated to Victory Day, which marks the surrender of Japanese forces on Aug. 15, 1945. The holiday is on the second Monday of August.
Small commemorations for fallen veterans were held in a few locations throughout the state Monday. A park in Providence that features memorials for both World Wars and the Korean War was nearly empty.
“To me, it’s just because the state wants a day off in August,” says Bethany Foster, 37, who was reading a book in the park. “I don’t really care that much.”
Although the holiday has officially been Victory Day since it was created in 1948, state librarian Thomas Evans says people have misidentified it as V-J Day for decades.
“Rhode Islanders don’t even know what it is,” says Phil Abate, a bartender at Hemenway’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar in Providence.
Roger Gross, owner of the Franklin Rogers Ltd. clothing store in Providence, says the holiday boosts resorts and other tourism businesses along the coast.
“It’s an arbitrary excuse for a holiday, or else there’d be a holiday for every other country we beat up over the years,” Gross says. “It has nothing to do anymore with the victory over Japan.”
Ellie
Some see honor in V-J Day events; others see animosity
By Alan Gomez - USA TODAY
Posted : Sunday Aug 16, 2009 14:04:03 EDT
MOOSUP, Conn. — At first glance, the parade is like any other in patriotic New England. Red-white-and-blue bunting lines the route. Firetrucks and old military vehicles roll along. Fife and drum corps, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, war veterans and pageant winners wave and throw candy along the way.
But the annual parade through this tiny Connecticut town is unusual for what it celebrates: Victory over Japan Day — from World War II.
The 48th annual V-J Day Parade last Sunday is one of the last in the country to celebrate the day that the Japanese surrendered in 1945, ending the war. Parade organizers and many in Moosup call the parade nothing more than another opportunity to honor America’s war heroes.
“It’s patriotic,” says Joe Katusich, 70, a retired Navy master chief who served aboard submarines in the 1960s. “A lot of people gave their lives in World War II, and people forget about it.”
Others, including some participants in the parade, say it’s offensive to Japanese Americans and to a country that now is one of the United States’ closest allies.
Donald Guay, 68, who served in the 101st Airborne Division before the Vietnam War, joined his military vehicles collectors club in the parade for the sake of the “kids and the younger people.” He wonders, though, why the town celebrates a single military victory when there are no similar celebrations for the Civil War, World War I or other campaigns.
“I feel bad for (the Japanese). We had to drop the bomb over there and now ...” Guay says, his voice trailing off.
Joe Davis of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States says V-J Day is being neglected while commemorations for other campaigns have lived on.
Memorial Day began as a commemoration for Civil War soldiers but was later expanded to honor all Americans who died in battle. Veterans Day started as Armistice Day to honor the end of World War I but was later expanded to honor all those who serve in the armed forces. Davis says the end of World War II should have a similar remembrance.
Archie Lapierre of the American Legion post that organizes the parade says only one Japanese American has complained about the parade since he became post commander three years ago.
Ernest Plantz spent 1,297 days held captive by the Japanese after his submarine was damaged and forced to surface surrounded by Japanese warships in the Pacific Ocean.
Plantz says he was beaten regularly in captivity. He says he weighed 175 pounds when he was captured and came out weighing about 75 pounds. Plantz says the V-J Day Parade is simply a day to honor what he and his fellow servicemembers fought for.
“I’ve got nothing against the Japanese people,” says Plantz, 89. “If I could get a hold of some of the people who beat me, I’d have something against them. But (the Japanese) have been maybe the best postwar allies we’ve had.”
Joseph Lenard, a former Marine sergeant who served in the Korean War, says Moosup’s parade becomes more important each year because the United States’ collective memory of World War II is fading.
“After two or three generations, the memories get a little duller,” says Lenard, 77.
Floyd Mori, executive director of the San Francisco-based Japanese American Citizens League, says celebrating such a victory, as opposed to a solemn commemoration, hurts attempts to get beyond the lingering animosity that some people feel toward Japanese Americans, and Asian Americans in general.
“Certainly there are a lot of people that still have a lot of memory of World War II. I don’t think we can fault them for that,” Mori says. “But I think for a lot of Asians, it’s kind of embarrassing that this kind of thing is celebrated.”
A similar controversy lives on in neighboring Rhode Island. The state is the last with a state holiday dedicated to Victory Day, which marks the surrender of Japanese forces on Aug. 15, 1945. The holiday is on the second Monday of August.
Small commemorations for fallen veterans were held in a few locations throughout the state Monday. A park in Providence that features memorials for both World Wars and the Korean War was nearly empty.
“To me, it’s just because the state wants a day off in August,” says Bethany Foster, 37, who was reading a book in the park. “I don’t really care that much.”
Although the holiday has officially been Victory Day since it was created in 1948, state librarian Thomas Evans says people have misidentified it as V-J Day for decades.
“Rhode Islanders don’t even know what it is,” says Phil Abate, a bartender at Hemenway’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar in Providence.
Roger Gross, owner of the Franklin Rogers Ltd. clothing store in Providence, says the holiday boosts resorts and other tourism businesses along the coast.
“It’s an arbitrary excuse for a holiday, or else there’d be a holiday for every other country we beat up over the years,” Gross says. “It has nothing to do anymore with the victory over Japan.”
Ellie