After the Japanese finally surrendered, the younger brother spent two years on several islands getting Japanese soldiers out of the jungles and caves who did not know the war was over. The older brother was put in charge of building housing for occupying U.S. troops on the Japanese mainland. He told me that every old man, woman and child that he encountered had been issued and trained with sharpened bamboo spears to use against U.S. soldiers if we had invaded. They did not have the word “surrender” in their vocabulary. Yes, dropping those bombs was brutal, but it ended the war, saving hundreds of thousands of people, both Japanese and American.

Both brothers are gone now, but I will always remember the stories they told me about their experiences there.

Charles Karnes

Durango