Pigs Fly Moment: Japanese Foreign Minister Apologizes To U.S. WW2 Prisoners of War For Treatment

You know, it's refreshing to see that someone in this world is willing to throw out an apology other than the weekly one done by Barack Hussein Obama - especially when the apology is over 60 years due in the delivering.

From the article at Breitbart:

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada apologized Monday to six former American prisoners of war for the "inhumane treatment" they suffered during World War II, as they visited Tokyo on the first trip sponsored by the Japanese government.

"Each of you received inhumane treatment and suffered a lot as you were held captive by the Imperial Japanese Army. As a representative of the Japanese government and as foreign minister, I extend to you my heartfelt apology," Okada told the former POWs in their 80s and 90s, who will stay in Japan through next Sunday.

Representing the former POWs, Lester Tenney, 90, a survivor of the 1942 Bataan Death March and a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, said, "This is an opportunity to seek justice we've looked for all these years. We welcome that we are trying to start a dialogue between the Japanese administration and we POWs."

The 48-year-old Fukuyama said he can only imagine the suffering of the former American soldiers but expressed hope that their visit to Japan will be meaningful and give them some peace of mind.

The apologies by Okada and Fukuyama follow Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki's move in May last year to offer a direct apology in San Antonio, Texas, to a group of former American POWs captured in the Philippines, including Tenney.

Now, you see above the mention of the Japanese ambassador's apology last year but in my mind, that didn't count - an ambassador's role is different and that representative is NOT a member of the executive cabinet of a government.

Now, I'm not gonna get all pissy here but the fact that these American WW2 vets and POW's had to travel TO Japan to get the damn apology doesn't sit well with me and also, the fact of the matter is that there are a ton of deceased POW's that deserve the same - I'm sure they will hear it from their spots in Heaven.

LEAD: Okada apologizes to former U.S. POWs for 'inhumane' wartime treatment+



treatment+ (AP) - TOKYO, Sept. 13 (Kyodo)—(EDS: ADDING INFO ON EX-POWS' MEETING WITH DEPUTY CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUKUYAMA IN 7TH-8TH, 11TH GRAFS)
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada apologized Monday to six former American prisoners of war for the "inhumane treatment" they suffered during World War II, as they visited Tokyo on the first trip sponsored by the Japanese government.

"Each of you received inhumane treatment and suffered a lot as you were held captive by the Imperial Japanese Army. As a representative of the Japanese government and as foreign minister, I extend to you my heartfelt apology," Okada told the former POWs in their 80s and 90s, who will stay in Japan through next Sunday.

Representing the former POWs, Lester Tenney, 90, a survivor of the 1942 Bataan Death March and a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, said, "This is an opportunity to seek justice we've looked for all these years. We welcome that we are trying to start a dialogue between the Japanese administration and we POWs."

The former POWs accompanied by eight members of their families are scheduled to visit Kyoto and other Japanese cities during their stay.

At the start of the meeting that was open to the media, Okada said he expects the former POWs' exchanges with Japanese people will "become a turning point in burying their bitter feelings about the past and establishing a better relationship between Japan and the United States."

The government-sponsored trip by former American POWs is intended to promote reconciliation and mutual understanding between the two countries. Tokyo previously hosted former POWs from other Allied countries including Britain and the Netherlands in the 1990s.

Later in the day, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama also apologized to the former POWs for the "immeasurable damage and suffering" they experienced.

The 48-year-old Fukuyama said he can only imagine the suffering of the former American soldiers but expressed hope that their visit to Japan will be meaningful and give them some peace of mind.

The apologies by Okada and Fukuyama follow Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki's move in May last year to offer a direct apology in San Antonio, Texas, to a group of former American POWs captured in the Philippines, including Tenney.

Tenney told Okada that the former POWs had been frustrated because Fujisaki's apology was not widely publicized by the Japanese media.

In a meeting with Fukuyama, Tenney said he hopes the government's apology to the former POWs will be made known to the Japanese public and that Tokyo will continue its dialogue with the former prisoners, according to Japanese officials.

Tenney was among around 75,000 POWs who were forced by the Japanese military to walk for days in tropical heat to a prison camp about 100 kilometers away on the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon Island in the Philippines in 1942, following the surrender of U.S. troops.

Up to 20,000 of the POWs are estimated to have died while marching to the internment camp.

After being captured in the Philippines, Tenney engaged in forced labor at the Mitsui Miike Coal Mine in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, from 1943 to the end of World War II in 1945. In 1999, he filed a damages suit against Mitsui with a Los Angeles court but his claim was rejected.

Tenney accused private Japanese companies of not offering a word of apology to those who were subject to forced labor. "It is insulting because what is happening is that by their keeping quiet, they believe most people will die off," he said.