instances of honoring one's enemy (England, Japanese, Russians, president)
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I could not read post #8 without tearing up...……..how is it possible to imagine the feelings on both sides that day...…….
good thread by the way...…..
Last edited by jeffdoorgunner; 02-10-2020 at 08:42 PM..
Leaving aside the issue of whether taking a man's daughter is honoring him, I'm pretty sure this was done for political propaganda. He was trying to create a hybrid ruling class to legitimize his conquest. He also forced his officers to take Persian brides.
At the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, the Gardes Francaise faced their British counterparts, the Brigade of Guards, whereby a British officer greeted them & invited the French to fire first. Initially refusing, they did fire first and the replying volley from the British decimated their ranks. Still, it was French victory, due to the leadership of Marshal Saxe, and the inaction of the Allied cavalry, which could have turned the tide.
In 1968, the Soviet boomer K-129 was lost in the Pacific Ocean. Literally, lost; the Soviets had no idea what had happened to her or where she rested. Soviet naval behavior tipped the U.S. off to the fact that they were missing a sub, and data from a vast array of acoustic monitors allowed the U.S. to triangulate the resting place of K-129. The CIA concocted an attempt to raise the vessel, using a cover story of a Howard Hughes project to mine manganese from the sea floor in order to not reveal to the Soviets what they were doing. The attempt was partially successful; a giant mechanical claw grasped the Soviet boat lying three miles below the surface and began pulling it up. During the retrieval the wreck broke, and two-third of it fell back away. But the portion recovered contained multiple Soviet nuclear devices... and the bodies of six sailors of the Soviet Navy.
In 1974, the United States held a memorial service for those six sailors. Each body was wrapped in a shroud bearing the red star of communism and the hammer and sickle. The Soviet national anthem was played. The ceremony was held below the displayed flags of both the United States and the Soviet Union. The service included a speech honoring the bravery, sacrifice and the heartfelt service to their nation of the Soviet sailors. It was conducted in both English and Russian. The sailors were then buried at sea.
The ceremony was videotaped. In the 1990s, the video was provided to the Russian government, and later released to the public.
On April 11, 1945, a Japanese kamikaze pilot named Setsuo Ishino crashed his plane on the battleship USS Missouri. When crewmen found his mangled body, Captain William Callaghan ordered that it be wrapped up in a Rising Sun flag and buried at sea, with full military honors. As the body was consigned to the deep, the crew on deck saluted, and the Marines fired their guns in salute.
On April 11, 1945, a Japanese kamikaze pilot named Setsuo Ishino crashed his plane on the battleship USS Missouri. When crewmen found his mangled body, Captain William Callaghan ordered that it be wrapped up in a Rising Sun flag and buried at sea, with full military honors. As the body was consigned to the deep, the crew on deck saluted, and the Marines fired their guns in salute.
I was a bit surprised that something like this can happen at the Pacific Theater of WWII. Where did get get a Rising Sun flag anyway?
I seem to recall reading somewhere that during the Battle of Samar when one of the American destroyer escorts was sunk one of its crew noticed that the crew of the Japanese destroyer that fired on them was saluting them.
Well it's ages ago, but the story of Archimedes comes to mind for me during the fall of Syracuse to the Romans.
I don't recall him being especially honored by the Romans. In any case even though his invention was used during the defense of the city I doubt the Romans saw him as an arch enemy.
I just learned that during the Great Northern War, when Sweden's Charles XII died his archenemy Peter the Great of Russia ordered a week of mourning. Are there other, more recent instances of leaders making similar gestures to honor their enemy?
It was in the spirit of the time. During the battle of Poltava, when the Swedes were already defeated and many of the generals were captured, Peter immediately invited them to feast in his tent to celebrate his victory. And he always called Charles XII "My brother Charles".
Although during WW2 there were cases when the Germans buried with military honors the dead Soviet soldiers, saluting their courage.
Last edited by Zimogor; 02-12-2020 at 08:16 AM..
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