Letters from Iwo Jima scene 6.5

[s4ndler97]

Why didnt the machine gun squad at 0:57 shoot that lone soldier...?

[Snooperking]

@xlRevanlx thats a good movie

[Juicythespider]

@Thwacker71

Your argument goes both ways. Some Americans were very violent toward the Japanese. "you'd have to promise them ice cream and a 3 day vacation to the mainland before they'd take a prisoner." everyone thought that the Americans were innocent but are just as guilty as the Japanese.

[puremana22]

@Juicythespider EXACTLY, in every war there is the good and bad soldiers on both sides.

[fellrow12]

I cried that despite the bloody war still made by Army Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi be friends with an American soldier because he was proficient communicative maybe even his enemy yet. And maybe because he has happy memories in America then there he was.

[fellrow12]

I cried that despite the bloody war still made by Army Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi be friends with an American soldier because he was proficient communicative maybe even his enemy yet

[bananaonmilk]

well, have you actually met every Japanese soldier? how would you know?

[Tony63909]

The biggest joke of the whole movie is a Japanese officer ordering his men to risk their lives to save a wounded American and then give him medical treatment to boot. Clint Eastwood was just being politically correct in this scene so as to not offend his Japanese audience.It's all alot of bull shit.

[Thwacker71]

@Tony63909 The point of this scene is that Nishi, who has met Americans, is not totally brainwashed into thinking Americans are animals. Clearly you aren't so enlightened.

[Tony63909]

@Thwacker71 . The Japanese were about as cruel as any people in the history of civilization during WWll. This is not debatable. If Eastwood wants to make a realistic film about Iwo Jima or about the typical Japanese soldier, he would have omitted this rediculous effort at making him seem to be compassionate. If understanding and compassion are not qualities that seperate humans from "animals" , then the Japanese soldiers during WWll were highly civilized. LOL!!!!!!!

[Thwacker71]

@Tony63909 I never said the average Japanese wasn't cruel, but not all were. Most Japanese considered Americans as inferior (due to propaganda) and therefore felt justified in killing POWs. Tthe Japanese had a very similar attitude to the Germans in Russia. But some would know better, like Nishi.

Eastwood included this scene to contrast with the earlier scene of an American POW being bayoneted to death to show the cruelty of many Japanese but also the humanity of the remarkable few.

[Tony63909]

@Thwacker71 Your final sentence is powerful. Perhaps my thinking was wrong.

[t0ny0ngBayawak]

Baron Nishi have friends with some Americans because he lived there for some quite of time and he won a gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics that's why it's possible for him to do it. : )

[abrymacc]

japanese doesn't have medics that's why they lose.

[pauta9]

@abrymacc They had very few medics throughout the war. They figured they didn't need them... imagine that.

[nddavi58]

a dog being disruptive of army communications??? lol

[whythewar1]

Jesus they made the american soldier look like a friggin holocaust victim.

[nddavi58]

@whythewar1 well back in those days the average soldier only weighed around 140 lbs or so

[askjiir]

I kinda doubt, japanese soldiers helped american soldiers like they do here.  I imagine they would rather bayonett them or something.

[elhacko1]

@askjiir somewhere hunor bound so they would i think

[askjiir]

@elhacko1

They would most often kill them or torture them, so I doubt this is true.

[metallicafan979]

@askjiir well as in this ovie the commanding officer is showing respect for a fallen oilder because he believes the others might do the same.

[askjiir]

@metallicafan979

Yep. One of the few. Much respect.

[whythewar1]

@askjiir No actually this is a famous myth through out history. Kirabayaashi's staff were very much fair.

[WarDawg1986]

@whythewar1 Was this movie based on letters that were written by him? I also know that kindness in the war does happen but rarely. Go invite me as a friend, you seem like someone who is very sympathetic toward mankind.

[fellrow12]

@WarDawg1986 yup thats right in spite of this bloody war the true kindness of a man is there.

[whythewar1]

@askjiir 

[c00lb0y10]

@askjiir you should check out Japanese battleship Ikazuchi and how they rescued 442 British sailors who were shipwrecked. Yea i knw they're not Americans but thats not the point.

[onigoroshi442]

@c00lb0y10 I was reading about Shunsaku Kudō who was the Lieutenant Commander of destroyer Ikazuchi, and noticed that crews from the US Navy destroyer USS Pope were also rescued by Ikazuchi. I think people believe it only rescued British stragglers because it was Sir Sam Falle, a British diplomat, was the one who brought this story to public.

[c00lb0y10]

@onigoroshi442 oh wow is that true? I think that's amazing.

[onigoroshi442]

@c00lb0y10 Sorry, I am not certain, but at least it tells so on Wikipedia, and I also believe that 442 crew members are just too many for one or even two destroyers to carry, so I think it is very much possible for survivors of USS Pope were rescued by Ikazuchi along with British crews as well.

[onigoroshi442]

@c00lb0y10 I dug up little more, and found out that crews who were rescued by Ikazuchi were either on HMS Exeter or HMS Encounter. I am not sure why some pages on Wikipedia suggests that USS Pope had anything to do with them, but at least USS Pope seemed to be sunk along with those two ships, and that might threw off the editor. I don't have much information regarding to this, but I will keep digging.