Why should I have to celebrate VJ Day?

Question

According to my grandparents VJ day is coming up (some boring history thing) every year they celebrate it by singing the American national anthem, by lighting candles for the allies killed (yet none for the Axis) and then going to Normandy for the day.

This year they want me and my parents to go to Normandy but I don't want to go; they are here right now planning it.

I told them I am 16 and 16 is the age of consent and that they can't physically make me go; my nana says "So you don't want to pay respects to those young men who lost their lives just so you could be free?" I said "No I don't want to celebrate the atomic bombing of innocent Japanese civilians and besides it's not like I asked those men to fight is it?" With that my nana smacked me across the legs with her walking stick, I fell to the floor in tears and in agony; my parents just went into the kitchen with my grandparents and left me alone crying and began to plan the trip.

So why should I have to go? I am not really proud to be American and I could care less about history.

Answer 1

Would you rather be forced to celebrate Setsubun and the Emperor's birthday, as a second class citizen in the Japanese empire?



That would be the reality if Japan had won WW2, and there was no VJ Day.

Answer 2

Your nana must be quite accomplished with the cane, if she was able to put you into agony with a mere smack.

If you are a pacifist, you can legitimately refuse to celebrate a military victory. Even then, though, you might pay respects to all the people who died in the war. And even a pacifist can surely see the distinction between democracy and tyranny.

Look up the circumstances of those bombings. Japan had been effectively defeated, and they knew it. But the upper echelons, citing a perverted version of the Samurai code, refused to surrender. There were only 2 options, in their view: victory or death. They wanted to fight "to the last man," until every Japanese had died in defense of the country or had committed honorable suicide.

This was not the desire of the people in general, who preferred to live.

To finish the war, the Allies would have to make a massive invasion of Japan, killing and losing hundreds of thousands of people. So it was decided to use the atom bomb, to overwhelm the Japanese leadership's will to resist.

And it didn't work. After the first Bomb, Japan still refused to surrender. So the second was dropped, and had the desired effect. The war was ended. Hundreds of thousands of lives, both Allied and Japanese lives, were spared.

It was a horrible choice to have to make; but that is what war is like sometimes.

Answer 3

VJ Day and VE Day are not some boring history thing.

By the way- VE day is May 8th and VJ Day is August 15th. Both are over for 2009. Are you referring to NEXT year?

You are whining over a holiday for next year? You get to go to Europe for a vacation and you're complaining?



Thousands upon thousands of young men died to save Europe and the world from the Axis powers. You are free to complain to your Nana because of the sacrifices these people made for you.



Sorry you are not proud of your heritage and that you don't care about history. Even though you say 16 is old enough to decide what you want to do, you are not mature enough to make those decisions.You are disrespectful and ungrateful. You have a lot of growing up to do.

Answer 4

16 is the age of consent for what? Sex? You are a minor. You do what your parents tell you to do. When you are no longer being supported by them and don't live in their house you can do what you want. No way would I go on a vacation and leave a 16 year old home without me. And what's wrong with you anyway? Most people would give their eyeteeth to go on a vacation to Hawaii. Because that is what it would be for you and your parents. A vacation. And, by the way, Normandy is in France which is in Europe and is hardly a "day" trip. I'm sure that you know that VJ day stands for Victory over Japan. Yes, it's pretty terrible that we had to bomb two cities in Japan in order to stop the war but you do what you have to do. Those men and women in Hawaii didn't ask to get get bombed by Japan either. You do not have to "honor" the men and women who died in WW2 but you should at least be ashamed of yourself for not honoring your grandparents by demeaning them and their values.

Answer 5

You fell to the floor in tears and agony? You poor thing!



Of course, your Nana and her generation actually lived through that time. They probably weren't able to become enlightened like you are because they were too busy either fighting in that war or had family members and friends who died in it so you can feel superior today.



Since your family already plans to be in Europe, I'd highly suggest a side trip to Poland so you can visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau site. Of course even that probably wouldn't bring you out of your self-absorbed pity party.



Oh, and define "Age of Consent" for us.

Answer 6

I'll put this in terms even you should be able to understand......



You should celebrate the sacrifices those people made long before you were born because they made it possible for you to be free to express your outrageously self centered, selfish, and totally ignorant opinions without having to pay for it more than just getting a whack on the leg from your grandmother's cane.



YAY NANA!

Answer 7

thats fine that you dont care about history, and no u didnt ask them to go fight, u also werent alive in that time when norht americans feared a japenese or nazi invasion, and come on u get to go to FRANCE thats kickass, i would love to go to normandy and stand on juno beach. altho i do agree that ur not proud to be american, i mean what have you done ot make it better, nothing u have no reason to be proud...btw u can learn alot from history ;) its really interesting

Answer 8

It is people like you that make me feel that my service to my country was for nothing. I wish that I, and those like me in the United States, and the British Empire and their allies had not served in the war against the Nazis, Japanese and later against the Communists. People like you would have deserved what you got.... you are not worth the blood that was spilled. I can only wish you ill, and pray to the gods that you suffer for being so worthless.

Answer 9

you may not care about history but be thankful you live in a war free country that you do not have to starve or go without water for months

that you have a roof over your head & not living in a shed or in a tent with no running water , hydro or tv or stereo or ipods or NO COMPUTER

its because of these brave young men who fought for our freedom that we have today that we HAVE to be thankful for

I thank them every day, that I am safe & so is my family

Answer 10

Some of us---myself included---had relatives who fought and died on

the beaches of Normandy.



The American who died at Pearl Harbor didn't ask to be attacked.



Sorry, but I find your childish, bratty, self-centered viewpoint

impossible to sympathize with.

Answer 11

You are legally an adult; they cannot force you to do anything you don't want too!



I hate been American too!