Activist demands Japan revoke award for US general behind 500,000 deaths in WWII
A Japanese peace activist is demanding that Japan revoke the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, a post-war honor awarded to the late US Air Force General Curtis LeMay. LeMay masterminded the firebombing of Japanese cities during World War II, resulting in an estimated 500,000 deaths. The petition was submitted on the 80th anniversary of "Operation Meetinghouse," the firebombing of Tokyo that killed 100,000 civilians.
Gushiken Takamatsu, who has spent decades recovering remains of war victims in Okinawa, argues that LeMay does not deserve the honor, which he received in 1964 for his role in helping rebuild Japan's Air Self-Defense Force after the war. Takamatsu questions why the Japanese government would bestow such an award on someone responsible for so many civilian deaths, stating that even members of the Japanese military find the decision incomprehensible.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
A Japanese peace activist is demanding that Japan revoke the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, a post-war honor awarded to the late US Air Force General Curtis LeMay. LeMay masterminded the firebombing of Japanese cities during World War II, resulting in an estimated 500,000 deaths. The petition was submitted on the 80th anniversary of "Operation Meetinghouse," the firebombing of Tokyo that killed 100,000 civilians.
Gushiken Takamatsu, who has spent decades recovering remains of war victims in Okinawa, argues that LeMay does not deserve the honor, which he received in 1964 for his role in helping rebuild Japan's Air Self-Defense Force after the war. Takamatsu questions why the Japanese government would bestow such an award on someone responsible for so many civilian deaths, stating that even members of the Japanese military find the decision incomprehensible.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
