The vast majority of such war stories with which most of us are familiar were told to us by individuals who served the Allied cause, of course, since most everyone on this board is a native speaker of English (ludwigm excepted).
As some of you know, I'm a huge World War II nut and have been one ever since age 16 or so. I'm at the point where I respect and admire anyone who answers his country's call and serves in wartime, regardless of the side on which he serves (provided he doesn't voluntarily engage in atrocities, but that's another thread). Soldiers on both sides suffer great privations and endure desperate, life-threatening situations.
When I was in Japan, I almost made it a point to listen to veterans whenever the opportunity arose, since theirs was a perspective you just don't get too often when you live in America. First off, The vast majority of the Japanese World War II veterans I met served in China. That's because the order to surrender came while they were still manning their posts, as opposed to the ones who fought the Americans, British, and Australians on the Pacific Islands where they tended to be wiped out altogether.
That having been said, here are the folks I can recall offhand:
- In my last area was a member--a convert, of course--who had been an officer (a Lieutenant Junior Grade, to be exact) in the Imperial Japanese Army in China. He still had his samurai sword. Normally you don't think of "Officer of the Imperial Japanese Army" and "Mormon" in the same sentence, but this guy was both (although not at the same time).
- In my third area we became rather good friends with a certain family. The wife's father lived with them (a typical arrangement over there) and he'd fought the British in Singapore. He told us how as the war progressed, fewer and fewer transport ships made it through, and they were eventually reduced to boiling wood bark and eating that in order to survive.
- In this same area was a father-and-son barbershop team. The father had been captured by the Russians in Manchuria and had been a prisoner of war of the Soviets for five years. During all that time, neither his son nor any other member of his family had any idea whether he was alive or dead. Imagine the joyous homecoming!
- We were tracting one day and this guy we talked to asked me if I liked Russians. Quite the oddball question, eh? I replied that I didn't know any, so I couldn't really answer, then he told us about what they did when they invaded Manchuria. He said that they routinely went into Buddhist shrines, ripped statues of the Buddha out of their places, then dragged them through the streets. He was obviously pissed off about it still.
- In my last area, we were out tracting one night and met a guy who declined our message. He seemed to be of veteran age, and at the very last minute I had the strong impression that I should ask him whether he served in the war. I did so, and he reported--get this--that he had been a kamikaze pilot. I thought he might've been jerking our chain, so I persisted and he said that his unit had been based in Shanghai, so the American fleet never got close enough for, ah, his services to be required. Was he just messing with us? You decide, but he said this without a lot of fanfare and only after prompting from me, so take that for what it's worth.
- Another time we were in a nursing home of sorts for whatever reason, I forget. Anyway, our guide indicated one of their residents who had fought the Americans. The guy had had both of his legs blown off. I was expecting a rather chilly reception from him, both of us being Americans ourselves (and me in particular being a Marine, although there's no way in Hell I was going to admit that to him), but he was the epitome of friendliness. Not a trace of bitterness in him, even though he'd been without legs for almost half a century. I'm still inspired by that.
Does anyone else know or has anyone else met a war veteran who served on the OTHER side? If so, what was his story?