"Clive George" wrote in message
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":Jerry:" wrote in message
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"Clive George" wrote in message
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"Roger" wrote in message
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The message
from "ARWadsworth" contains
these words:

What term would you use for your Grandad when you have to take
him shopping
for electrical goods and he refuses everything from Germay and
Japan and
wants to see the English stuff.

Hero?

If he fought in the 2nd world war (or even just lived through it)
then
he has a right to feel aggrieved about the way in which the
counties
that thankfully lost the war have now won the peace.

Don't think so. It would be rather better to be happy that the
countries which demonstrated such bad behaviour have put all that
behind them. The people in those countries are no longer the same
people he fought - there have been 2 or 3 generations since.

Sorry but it doesn't work like that for those who experienced it
directly, my father would not (knowingly) have Japanese stuff in
his house for many years, he had lost far to many of his mates to
the Burma–Thailand Railway ('The Railway of Death'), the only
reason he survived that ordeal was that he joined up under age in
'39 and was prevented from travelling (overseas) with his then
regiment to Singapore and straight into POW's. He was though able
to 'accept' what the Germans did to him in North Africa and later
his regiment at Arnham. He did eventually come to terms with what
certain people did in the name of Japan and their Emperor but I
don't think he ever forgave either Japan or Germany though - for
his experiences and wounds of the war troubled and stayed with him
to his death bed.

Just because there are people who think that way doesn't make it any
better. It is stupid to blame the children and grandchildren of
those who caused you harm, especially when those children and
grandchildren have done a good job of not repeating the sins of
their ancestors - that way lies vendetta, which is a notoriously
foolish thing.

Indeed, but it's for the generations that follow to do the forgiving,
you just simply can't expect those who could well still be suffering
to do so.


I do realise that it can be hard to accept this - but it doesn't
make it any less true.

However in the bit you snipped, I did say "but at this stage in his
life I
wouldn't necessarily be trying to reeducate him".


But it wouldn't have been right to do that 40 years ago either, you
can't expect people who have experienced what they have to just wipe
their minds of what's go before - if it was that easy victim support
would be a doodle....