We take our freedom foregranted but does anyone here know what its like to be subjugated by a foreign country?

Question

I have. For four years we were starved, tortured and humiliated by an Axis power during WWII in the Pacific.

Answer 1

No, Don, I do not. No one who has not marched in your boots can ever know.
I know what it is like to be the mother of an American soldier serving in the Middle East. I know that I live every day of my life in fear of the "knock" on my door, just like all the mothers did in WWII.
We both have known 'fear', and sorrow, but I can never know what your journey was like. I know that I am grateful for the sacrifices you made for me.
Well Done !

Answer 2

The is no way for most people to know what it is like because they link reality to Hollywood and thus fiction. The Japanese were brutal in Hong Kong and were as bad or perhaps worse than the Axis in other areas but younger people see Steve McQueen or other actors performing miraculous escapes but it wasn't so In Hong Kong. Where could you flee being on an island? Most younger people assume that their freedom is a God-given right and that good shall always prevail over evil...they have a lot to learn. The torture was bad (I was only beaten) but I think the humiliation was even more painful to the soul. Nakedness is not too bad but in a prison camp, nakedness takes on a new aspect of degradation. I was a child then but you seem to age, and grow old very rapidly under confinement even with your parents. There was an English naturalist there named Herklots, long since dead and he caught a bamboo snake and named it Hitler and charged a mouse to see it. He then caught a second and named it Tojo. When Tojo the snake died, the whole camp was delighted as it was a tiny sign that the war was ending. After the war ended and America came with aid, they sent 5 pound blocks of cheese to ease the food shortage.In Hong Kong, only the wealthier people had had cheese before and the rest didn't know what it was. Many thought it was a kind of soap and tried to wash with it. Did you ever wash with cheese? Yes, I do know and though it sounds cruel, I wished that others could spend even a day in the same place under the harshness, and the value of freedom would be appreciated.

Answer 3

These are stories and events that far too many children did not grow up with, nor learn to appreciate.

Its because of this that there are so many americans who despise their democracy, who complain about their freedom, who assume blindly that there is no worse place than here and that their suffering cannot compare with those who truly have known loss.

They are like spoiled children, who have always had everything, and yet are never happy.

How can these people compare bush to Hitler? or America to a communist nation? Its an unforgivable injustice and dishonor not only to those who died in those horrific conditions, but to those who laid down their lives in defense of those people.

Answer 4

If you'd like to know about subjugation under a foreign power, ask my Confederate ancestors.

Answer 5

Don, is that you? THE Don S? Where've you been? Are you saying you were a prisoner of war in Japan during WWII?

Answer 6

I haven't really, but my grandparents explained it to me, my whole family lives in Germany. My mom, dad, my brother, and I are the only ones in the U.S. How old are you to have lived through WWII? (you don't have to answer that if it's an insult)

Answer 7

We lose many of the freedoms you fought for on a daily basis; by this "papist" regime.

Answer 8

thank you so very much from the bottom of our hearts no really thank you I appreciate everything you guys have done to keep this awesome country of ours free.God bless every single one of you.

Answer 9

Americans take everything for granted.

Answer 10

Sometimes shitty things happen for no good reason. Sorry to hear that.