I'm not sure any other posters have seen or remember this photo from Life, the one with the skull of a Japanese soldier propped up on the hull of a burnt out tank, but I do. I saw it in a photo gallery somewhere else on the net, and just sort of dismissed it as another example of the cruelty of the war in the Pacific. At any rate, here is a link to the photo, and the story behind it by the guy who actually took the shot. Goto: Guadalcanal, 1942: Rare and Classic Photos From WWII - LIFE
Clint, what a strong and meaningful post. The skull is indeed gruesome. Hard to believe a few years before it belonged to a healthy young man. Many a Japanese, American, German, Brit, even Sikh, ended up like that. I ask a veteran of WW2 ,when I was young, what happen to the bodies of those inside a tank that brewed up. I was not being morbid, just curious as to who had to handle such. I was vaguely aware of graves registration and the question applied to ships and planes as well. He had been an infantry Captain with no direct knowledge but remembered seeing water and steam hoses washing out vehicles...Indeed gruesome. The reason for the salute is the story behind the picture and how film got processed as well as the wonderful links to other Life stories and photographs. Seeing London Olympics in 1948 was an added plus. My grandmother stored old Life magazines in the attic of her Victorian house. I drug boxes of them over to a tower with windows and spent many hours going through old Life's from WW2. Fond memories from my youth. From a sociological point of view the behavior of many Japanese and Germans in that era is hard to fathom, many of the leaders being well educated and what what I have learned is that all people under the right circumstances can and will behave terribly. I live in a university town with many Japanese and German faculty, bright, funny, courteous , folks, with all the quirks of mankind but I cannot imagine any being imperialist or Nazis under any circumstances. I have a great German friend that collects die cast WW2 planes. His favorite plane is a B-26 Maurauder and I sent him a 1:48 one last year. The world does heal itself in strange and interesting ways. That image you posted brought up lots of thoughts about us , homo sapiens, and how we treat each other.
Interesting story. Life magazine had some tremendous photos. It's nice to read the story behind the pgoto, grisly as it is. It's interesting to note that it was probably the Japanese who did this. I have no doubt, however, that Americans were just as brutal as their Japanese counterparts. Do any reading on the Pacific war and you'll see how quickly both sides saw the other as less than human.
I agree, Tommy. I read Sterling Mace's book as well. The photographer's story illustrates very well what Mace had to say. Both show what Americans and the Japanese were capable of in extreme circumstances.
Somewhat coincidentally, Sterling Mace has a few posts on the social media site Reddit and is doing an excellent job of connecting with some of today's youth and giving many who might not otherwise have exposure to a living vet a chance to see that these were real people. reddit.com: search results
Tracy, thanks for sharing this. Mr Mace is a hero of mine and I took the liberty of hi-jacking his photo which includes info for this great man.... Recent image by Sterling_Mace on Photobucket Read this thread from a #$&#@ Bag that slammed Mr Mace and see how a real hero handles this punk !! Sterling_Mace comments on Can anyone help me find a film of another marine and I dancing in front of a marine film crew after we beat the Japanese on Ngesebus Island, September 29th, 1944?
