Rape of Okinawan girl

Rape of Okinawan girl

Pak Hartono's letter in The Jakarta Post (Dec. 5, 1995) starts
by calling the rape of the girl in Okinawa by U.S. servicemen
regretful. He says he understands the Okinawans' fury, but then
devotes six paragraphs to a horrible World War II incident
involving Japanese troops and a Dutch resident of Java. The
unmistakable implication is that the incidents are somehow
connected, and that if Japanese people read about their World War
II soldiers' behavior, their view of the recent incident might
change.

In the historical sense, Pak Hartono may be correct, and from
the perspective of international relations there may be some
element of reciprocity. By all means, everyone's horizons should
be widened by reading about World War II atrocities on all sides.
But we should also keep firmly in mind that the 12-year-old
Okinawan girl had nothing to do with World War II, nor did the
three young brutes who tortured her.

Perhaps the lesson that Pak Hartono is suggesting be drawn
from any historical comparisons is that revenge is never
justified and can only lead to more destruction. Rwanda, Bosnia,
Lebanon, the Gaza strip are examples of that on a grand scale.

GARY GENTRY

Jakarta