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I think there's some video of some of the hangings on You Tube. Yes they committed crimes and were guilty as charged. But you have to wonder what anyone in their position would have done if they were bombed and neighbors were killed and homes destroyed.
I think there's some video of some of the hangings on You Tube. Yes they committed crimes and were guilty as charged. But you have to wonder what anyone in their position would have done if they were bombed and neighbors were killed and homes destroyed.
Enemy combatants were frequently captured by civilians in WWII and the proper procedure was to turn them over to the military. A lynch mob is a lynch mob, even in war.
I think there's some video of some of the hangings on You Tube. Yes they committed crimes and were guilty as charged. But you have to wonder what anyone in their position would have done if they were bombed and neighbors were killed and homes destroyed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quietude
Enemy combatants were frequently captured by civilians in WWII and the proper procedure was to turn them over to the military. A lynch mob is a lynch mob, even in war.
It raises an interesting ethical question: When you heavily bomb a civilian population and kill thousands of people how should the people who drop those bombs expect to be treated if they are captured?
Ultimately, I think our military had to send a message. The message was that anyone who harms an allied flyer would be dealt with in the most severe way possible. Its a question of trying to deter people from harming those who serve our country.
Perhaps, the actions of the civilian population might even be sort of understandable given what they were going through. Such actions still cannot be tolerated by a country attempting to give its servicemen as much protection as possible.
There’s a quote attributed to General Curtis Lemay who commanded the forces that fire and atom bombed Japan that if the enemy won and he fell into their hands he would be tried as a war criminal. Victors justice.
A reoccurring theme is Luftwaffe personnel (usually AA crews) and local police racing to beat the local populace to downed U.S. Airmen. Since U.S. crews were more likely to bail out in daytime and be seen as they descended, they were most often the victims of citizen violence. When a U.S. airman was captured and it was found that his leather jacket had painted on the back "Murder Inc." it did not help things. By late August 1944, civilians were fed up with the Luftwaffe's inability to protect their country and more likely to take matters into their own hands.
As a sidelight, the Allied bombing campaign and destruction of transportation means was responsible for the prisoners in Luftstalag camps not getting Red Cross Parcels. (The U.S. chartered Swedish full-rigged sailing ships to take Red Cross Packages to Europe as all other shipping was war-effort related)
It raises an interesting ethical question: When you heavily bomb a civilian population and kill thousands of people how should the people who drop those bombs expect to be treated if they are captured?
Ultimately, I think our military had to send a message. The message was that anyone who harms an allied flyer would be dealt with in the most severe way possible. Its a question of trying to deter people from harming those who serve our country.
Perhaps, the actions of the civilian population might even be sort of understandable given what they were going through. Such actions still cannot be tolerated by a country attempting to give its servicemen as much protection as possible.
All sides bombed civilians, just check out the London Blitz and the battle of Britain. The Japanese rape of Nanjing. The Battle for Manilla when the US retook it resulted in countless civilian casualties.
All sides bombed civilians, just check out the London Blitz and the battle of Britain. The Japanese rape of Nanjing. The Battle for Manilla when the US retook it resulted in countless civilian casualties.
Total war isn't pretty.
Modern warfare is the annihilation of an entire group of people both combatants and civilians by every means available. It is the absolute breakdown of civilized behavior and breaks every concept of morality and religion. Thus the idea of war crimes trials for the victor is an absolute paradox and nothing more than a primal instinct for revenge.
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