>http://obonsociety.org Would you ever return a war trophy?

Depends on the trophy. Letters and Dog tags? Probably. Weapons and jewelry? Probably not.

>>34872415

Depends on what it was.

If it was a symbol of the nation like that flag, then probably not. That's just conquest and a sign of victory.

If it was something personal, like a diary or family photo, then I might, if only symbolically (since that dude is probably dead if I have it). Taking something personal is usually for (negative) personal reasons, so that's not something I want to think I would hold onto, no matter what kind of shitty place I was in when I took it.

>>34872415
No. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

Sounds like a good opportunity for reconciliation, which is probably a good way for some veterans to come to terms with past events. However, like others have said, it depends on the item in question. If it is likely to have some kind of personal importance, then probably.

>>34872506
>get drafted
>"haha fuck you. should have stayed home"

>>34872415
Depends. If I respected them I would. Germans, Vietnamese and Japanese sure. North Koreans, Chinese and Muslims hell no.

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>>34872415


I'd keep a flag, for certain. Since it doesn't belong to any particular person.

As for personal items, it'd really depend on what it is. Pictures, letters, dog-tags I'd be more than willing to send back. Maybe personal jewelry, if it was a wedding band or engraved, or a locket.

>>34872415
Thats real comendable. That flag has his buddies names that died.

I'm part of a group in Europe dedicated to give back dogtags of fallen soldiers, either from people that had them from their parents/grandparents or from people that randomly found them digging around. We try to track down relatives and then contact them. Dogtags are often the only thing left of a soldier, though sometimes we find other personal stuff.

Do it for the families.

>>34872415
no.

>>34872576
dug stuff isn't trophies

>>34872599
About half of the dog tags we take care of come from soldiers that took them as war trophies, then passed them down to their sons. Extremely common with russians in particular to take german dogtags.

>>34872510
>>34872560
These.

Unless it's a gun that wasn't an heirloom. If I took some last ditch Nambu from a surrendering Jap he ain't getting it back. That's US property now.

>>34872466
what if the flag was a personal item?

>>34872627
Guns are different. Japanese vets couldn't even take them if they wanted. That kibd of stuff is safer with Americans unless they want to be a faggot and sporterize it.

Don't take anything to war that you aren't willing to lose.

>>34872415
if I picked a gun up off someone I killed it's mine
that's how it works, I get to keep what I kill.

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>>34872560
Yeah, but it isnt anything so romantic or a thing of camaraderie or anything.

Asian military culture always has it that soldiers have to write their names and maybe one or two sentences on a flag before they head out to battle. It is kinda like taking a battle-oath before heading out for an offensive, swearing to complete the mission at all costs. Mostly, this is accompanied by consuming battle stimulants and/or emptying a bowl of hard alcohol.

Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Viets etc. all do that as part of military ritual.

Pic: Chinese assault troops writing on a flag before heading out to a night-raid operation in the Sino-Vietnamese border wars of the 80s.

>>34872808
We did the same thing in Afganistan when we were leaving in 2014. Just wrote our names and a little message before getting split up.

>>34872808
so
>>34872506

>>34872415
the American Legion in my town returned some Japanese war trophies a few years back, IIRC it was a few good luck flags, a katana and some other personal items. I had a chance to hold the katana while it was part of a vet's personal collection, it wasn't a mass-produced one made out of smelted rail.

>>34872808
>assault troops
oh here we go again. the only thing that defines an assault troop is that it's used for ASSAULT! black plastic, detachable mags, foldable stock, none of these things are necessary for an assault troop, nor do they make a troop an assault troop.

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>>34872981
Well, they carry weapons that are exactly that.

And they even have evil integral silencers.
And shoot 1200 rounds a minute.
And shoot 7.62 Tokarev police-body-armor piercing rounds.

Everything about them just cries Assault.

>>34872466
>>34872541
Inscribed Japanese flags like the one in OP very often are dedicated to a specific soldier and bear prayers from their family and friends, so in that specific case it is a little more than just the national symbol.

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I work for an auction house, and we've had a few personal relics come in that I've felt bad about selling, but the worst are the body parts like the dental bridge that a Marine smashed out of a dead Japanese soldier's mouth on Iwo Jima.

The absolute worst, though, was this guy. We ended up selling him privately, but I felt super guilty about doing the photography for it, and wish we could have jut sent the poor bastard home.

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>>34873091
Another angle.

>>34873101
>sorry!

Canadian eh?

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>>34873101
And one more.

>>34873091
i realize its uncouth to ask, but would you mind sharing how much this piece went for? just curious.

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>>34872506
the true army answer

>>34872415
no

>>34873121

I didn't handle the sale, just the photography. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500, though.

Feels just a little wrong to put such a comparatively paltry dollar amount on a human fucking skull. Especially one from a culture that puts as much spiritual importance in human remains as the Japanese do.

>>34872415
Nope.

>>34873158
Well maybe they shouldn't have been cutting the heads of prisoners and shooting the wounded.

I doubt you'd find many soldiers taking Nazi skulls, because even as bad as the Nazis could be, they were generally respected and respectable on the actual field of battle.

The Japs were fucking monsters on and off the battlefield, they pissed a lot of US soldiers off, hence no mercy after awhile and you're boiling skulls.

Hell no.

You bested a person in combat, you take his weapon as your own.

>>34872415
>started by nips
Anyone who does that is a traitor.

>>34873158
damn shits fucked

it's probably in the man cave of some retired pog gunney who tells everyone his grandfather brought it back from the islands. Fuggg just let the dead rest.

>>34872415
My uncle had a scull at his home but gave it to the mother that needed something to burry her son.
During the war he took the head and kept it among ants than cleaned it.
I for one wouldnt return anything. A trophy has only one owner

>>34872539
Weaboo

>>34873210
Fair point. I've read enough and seen enough evidence in this job to understand just how terribly the Japanese treated literally anyone who crossed them, to cause the American soldiers in the Pacific to respond somewhat in kind. I can't say I wouldn't condone it if I was a Marine on Peleliu.

But I'm not. I'm just a millennial history major working for a bunch of life-long civvies. I just don't think it was really our place at all to decide what happened to this guy's mortal remains besides sending him home for a proper burial, let alone selling him to some jagoff collector or dealer.

>>34873420
Was the writing on the skull original or did some marine bring it back and later write on it?

>>34873460
Was the writing on the skull original or did some marine bring it back and later write on it? (Original post deleted for some reason)

>>34873473
Deleted 'cause I managed to misspell "Peleliu".

I don't honestly know. I think it's more likely that it was done in theater given the specific date.

>>34873330
So I have to ask: if you were in your uncle's place, would you have refused to return that skull and denied that mother her right to bury her son?

Depends what the item is
>guns, swords, general massed produced stuff and equipment
Keep, no one is gonna miss it and it's of no cultural value
>personal items with names and stuff on them
Return them to the family if posible, the guy you took em from put up a good fight, at least return that shit as a sign of respect
>body parts
Returned to country of origin or family upon death of the person who took them untill then its property of the guy who did the dirty work
>flags
If the country or group faught respectfully return to country of origin or burn
>helmets
If it can be returned to the family of the person it came of that is ideal
If not it should be respectfully kept NEVER SOLD

I dont agree with selling war trophys ever, I think they are something what should be kept within familys (bar stuff like weapons or mass produced equipment bar helmets)

>>34875359
Why the need for special treatment for helmets?

>>34875616
I honestly dont know, I just feel that the helmet itself deserves a little respect

>>34872415
Depends on what it was and how personal it was. Generic meatball flag with whatever bullshit they write on it? Nope

Meatball flag with fallen comrades on it? If i coudl identify the original owner int he squad sure would.

Pictures and letters? No problem. I actually have two jap pictures that were in my Arisaka but have no way to identify the owner unless someone magically recognized a young lady whos easily 80+ now.

>>34873210
>hence no mercy after awhile and you're boiling skulls.
It was so bad we had to build an ice cream ship and bribe them into good behavior with it. The US Navy literally deployed a giant, floating ice cream factory in order to coerce US troops out of warcrimes. WWII was weird.

>>34873330
>During the war he took the head and kept it among ants than cleaned it.
Your uncle was antman?

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>>34873112
This is pretty hardcore.

Isn;t there laws govering the selling of human remains?

How did this guy even take it back home? This metal bastard had to boil the human bits off the bone before it rotted.

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>>34875616
Because that helmet wasn't your to lose!

>>34875834
Mind clarifying what you mean by "in" the Arisaka? I've found documents in the stocks of a couple of guns, but never something as personal as photos. Pics?

>>34875876
I think soft serve ice cream was invented by a Navy officer in WW2 who wanted ice cream so he decided to fly navy planes super high up with drums of sugar and milk attached to weapon pylons and being churned by a small rotor attached to the front of the drum.

>>34875931
i always heard it was the guy who started carvel after he had a freezer malfunction, but that sounds much more likely.

Unless the family of the guy I took it off of or the guy himself came asking for it no probably not.

>>34872576
If you get on my property i will fucking kill you.

>>34875897
The only law in the U.S. which prohibits the sale of human bones is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which doesn't apply to WWII Japanese soldiers. We sold Mr. Skull up there privately because the TOS of the auction websites we use prohibit its sale.

And yes, someone would have had to boil the flesh off, or go find a skull on the battlefield after the fact, unless he was an ant-whisperer like that one anon's uncle.

>>34875993
Sorry, I guess that should be "Skull-san".

>>34875904
kek

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>>34875930
The peso came with the rifle, but it wasn't inside. The pictures were behind the buttplate.

>>34873091
>wish we could have jut sent the poor bastard home.
What family would want it back with all that graffiti on it?

>>34875897
It was fairly common for USA and AUS troops to do in the pacific theatre, and you can buy skeletons for medical research purposes as well.

>>34876076
It's still some family's relative, anon, regardless of what some jarhead carved into it.

I remember reading a National Geographic article back when I was a kid about a sunken Japanese sub. The crew surveying it recovered a couple of shoes and returned them to the families of the deceased crew members, who gave the shoes a full funeral service in lieu of any actual remains. Properly putting the dead to rest is super important in Japanese culture, even more so than in western culture.

>>34873210
counterpoint: they're marines and still get up to that kind of shit even today, just less imaginative and with fewer take-home items in favor of more child and animal rape

>>34875904
holy kek

>>34872581
This desu

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kek, no, fuck you Hadji

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>>34875616
>>34875779
They're sort of part of a portrait of the soldier, when their in service it's like a part of their face they have it on so often. And it protects the most vital area of your body. There's a reason battlefield crosses have the helmet on it

I wish I had more helmets, this pic is a mk6 I got at a gunshow

>>34876320
Did you just steal some random guy's koran?

>>34875904
10/10

>>34876345
seems like a fitting trophy to take from a jihadist

>>34876345
>>34876399
>ywn harass and shakedown some random arab at a check point and take his koran

>>34876414
Did this guy really take someones arm as a war trophy without actually killing the guy?

Talk about stolen valor.

>>34876414
Wooow . Holy shit that must have been awkward. I don't think I'd have the face to return the arm to the guy I blew/hacked it off after what? 60years? I mean " Hey buddy I kept your limb as a souvenir but I grew tired of it. Want it back?"

>>34872415

yes because my grandfather requested so in his will. Sent an entire box of Jap shit (couple uniforms, what appeared to be brass fab equipment, some other random things and a handgun) to the Jap embassy. There was probably at least $20,000 of irreplaceable C&R stuff in there, now it's sitting in a Jap government warehouse since it has no owner.

Shit happens. Ultimately trophies are just that -trophies. It's up to the owner if they get any value from it.

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>>34876345
don't worry, he didn't need it anymore

>>34876415

one of the guys in my unit burned one from a guy who got too pissy with him. Ended up getting court martialed over it but wasn't DD'd

>that shit feel when all officers are shit eating pussies

>>34876062
Any scribbles on them?

>>34876414
lol got ur arm

Nope, if they wanted to keep them so bad they shouldn't have lost the war.

>>34872415
Fuck no. I won it fair and square. You lost, I won. I took my loot from your dead and fled. You get nothing but the sweat from my balls and a hearty "point and laugh" from me.

>>34872538
What is "concientious objector" Alex?

>>34872506

Not all heroes wear capes

>>34872510

Reconcile my dick, japs aren`t even humans

It depends. If I had taken something like a prayer flag (like in the OP pic), a dogtag, a family sword, or a piece of jewelry with personal importance like a wedding ring or a religious necklace given to the person by a family member, I would probably return it because that's somebody's family stuff or personally significant belongings. If it was something like a hat taken from a prisoner upon his being issued his prisoner's uniform or something like an officer's issued sidearm, then no.

>>34872981

There are special troops, support troops, etc. So piss off, nerd

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>>34872415

If only I could get it passed the fucking Navy customs inspection on the return home.

>mfw I couldn't bring back an AK bayonet from Iraq

>>34872981
What are "Shock Infantry" Alex?

>>34877022
This might strike you as crazy, but most countries in the world do not have the freedoms that Americans enjoy. People in imperial Japan or in Napoleonic France did not have the option of being conscientious objectors any more than people in modern Ukraine or Myanmar/Burma/whatever they're calling it nowadays.

>>34873091
>>34873101
>>34873112

desu, japs did deserve this kind of treatment

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>>34876612
>stealing some palestinian kids moto wall art

>>34877048
How did those Tariq pistols get into America then? A couple of them came back from Iraq with guys. Did they have friends in the customs check office (sorry for poor English)? I have met a man who served in the US Army in Afghanistan who brought home a Soviet rubbery canvas belt and a bayonet that he claimed to have purchased (he said "cabbaged") in a market in Kabul.

>>34876414
I guess you could say he disarmed the enemy.

>>34877059
What is "flee the country" or "Choose prison"?

Plenty of people in the US and other nations have done just that. Either you have the courage of your conviciotns and will refuse to go or you don't.

>>34875359
>swords no value
>helmet given to family
NO NO NO NO NO NO YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT JAPAN THEY HAVE A FUCKING EXEMPTION TO THEIR ALL WEAPONS BAN FOR SWORDS BECAUSE THEY DO CONSIDER THEM CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT

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>>34872415
fuck man

they fought one another, they were part of different entities in this world that wanted nothing short of the wholesale murder of one another.
now, with some of them barely still old enough to be alive, they came together to return their signs of pride because they CAN. Because they COULD be friends now.

This hit me with some feels, with their lives almost over, they came together to be friends when they couldn't before.

fuck man.

>>34877123
Billy Badass over here...

>>34876414
"need a hand?"

>>34877123
>flee country
>on a fucking island where anywhere you flee to will get you killed

>choose prison
>in a country where conscientious objectors are literally given the death penalty and their families are shamed

>>34877047
>>34877051
>autism

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>guns/weapons
Keep, swords maybe an exception if it is personalized and you feel the family should have it back
>flags
Keep unless it has personalized things on it like in OP
>letters/dog tags/photos
Return these
>jewelry/money/personal belongings
Keep unless it's like an amulet with a photo or maybe an engraved wedding ring.
>body parts
Why the fuck is this even a debate. Return this shit immediately or bury it somewhere if it's vandalised or unidentifiable. You can abloo bloo bloo about muh enemies were monsters all you want but doing the exact same shit back to them makes you just as bad. Bunch of sick fucks trying to justify this.

>>34872466
>was a symbol of the nation like that flag, then probably not. That's just conquest and a sign of victory.


it was the symbol of his country that had written on it the hopes of everyone of his village wishing him a safe return

>>34875359
I don't agree with the whole burning flags thing. Either return it to the country of origin or display respectfully in a museum.

>>34877247
>He doesn't display the scalps of his enemies
This is why your woman left you.

>>34877271
Sorry sweaty, no girl has ever left me, I'm a raging homo.

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>>34877271
>Implying I don't wear my enemies dead carcass like armor

>>34876026
スカルーサン

>>34876496
He was a surgeon. Other guy was South Viet.

>>34872415
Although I am reluctant at the thought of returning a war trophy, this is nice to see.
If they're both willing, there's no problem.

>>34876840
Nothing. Just some silver residue, i assume from a picture book.

>>34877080
>They didn't even get it colour printed

>>34876062
It's a shame she was an uggo.

>>34872415

Of course not. Unless they want to fight a rematch.

>>34873091
But really, how could these remains be identified?
Did Jap soldiers have well-kept dental records?
Heres hoping that his dogtags or nametape were found with his body and returned to Japan.

Fuck no, to the victors go the spoils.

My grandpa's wedding ring is made from the jap teeth gold he took, he ain't giving that back anytime soon

>>34872415
Absolutely, doesn't matter if its personal, even if i have a regimental flag i would give it back to the regiment, provided i can. Enemy or not people died for that flag and took pride in it.

>>34872415
Japs
>lol no, fuck those cannibal inhuman savages
Germans
>yeah if it was personal
Gommies
>lol no

If Tojo jr wants his teeth back he had better bring proof of ownership!

If it was family heirloom or had sentimental value to them, and not to me, and they asked nicely I probably would.

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>>34873105
Sooo!! Sorrry we attack your navy!

Sooo!! Sorrry we kill your you!

>>34876469
>>34876496
the vietnamese guy's arm was wounded badly and needed amputation when he was capture by US troops. The doctor saved the bones for whatever reason. It was way funnier to post without the story though and let people imagine a brutal arm-chopping scenario

>>34875834
>>34876062
>Pictures and letters? No problem. I actually have two jap pictures that were in my Arisaka but have no way to identify the owner unless someone magically recognized a young lady whos easily 80+ now.

http://kuow.org/post/wwii-vet-returns-flag-taken-fallen-japanese-soldier-1944

In the news story on OPs image there is a a refrence to the "obon society"

but it looks like they are pretty much only set up to return these good luck flags.

>>34872415
What are we now, FUCKING COMMIES? My property is mine and only mine

>>34877137
False, swords produced during WWII are illegal to own in Japan today. They're only legal if they're older swords that were put in imperial army mountings like some officers from wealthy families did, but those are incredibly rare.

>>34877871
But swords have cultural significance, nonetheless. The fags treat them like people, I'm sure gunto would go in a museum or something, the point was that they're not the same as a trench shovel.

As implied by
>pretty much everything but the helmet is meaningless garbage anyway lol

>>34874200
Yes. He said that snipers were to be killed at all costs, the rest have the right to surrender. Shit happens, its war for fucks sake, not a debate

>>34877870
>Commie ever giving back a war trophy

He'd probably take every opportunity to kill his enemy again.

>>34875891
If only he found a way to weponize them.
Also a cool trick with ants is that you can clean forks and things hard to reach with a sponge when washing them, ants eat everything

>>34876659
>that feel when grunts are too stupid to see the bigger picture and keep unnecessarily pissing off the local population

>>34875984
Are you retarded?

>>34876612
So did you just raid a random guy's house and kill him or was he actually a combatant?

>>34878416
>that feel when you're a grunt and senior NCOs don't see the bigger picture and the officers won't stop them.

>>34877871
Stop spouting utter bullshit you clearly know nothing about, autist.

Sure after I wiped my dirty ass with it.

>>34873210
The fuck up part is the guy who sold it. Desecrate the corpse all you want but its whole nother level of shitty to then make a profit off it. I assume its some dead vets entitled fucking offspring tbat sold it.

>>34877474
Do you mind if I send it over to a japanese twitter account that specializes in old photographs? If possible, can you take another pic with just the photographs?

>>34872506
>>34873264
>>34877001
>>34877014
>>34877036
>>34877061
>>34877528
>>34877673
>>34877764
>>34877870
>>34878480
There sure are a lot of Real American Heroes™ in this thread. When does school start?

>>34878314
...What does any of that have to do with the morality of returning someone's remains to their family for a proper burial and a bit of closure, long after the end of the conflict? Did you respond to the wrong post?

>>34876062
That's pretty neato. If I had to guess, I'd say that's the guy's parents, based on their age.

>>34872539
>respecting the vietnamese but not koreans
w-why

>>34874200
>right to bury her son
>right
Might makes right, Anon.

>>34877043
>an officer's issued sidearm
That's the greatest trophy of all you faggot

>>34879508
"muh communists" I assume

>>34879508
>>34879583
wait. I'm retarded what am i thinking. yeah dude what the fuck why not koreans

>>34872415
I would return a war trophy if it was something of familial value and the family was still living. It would mean more to them to have a piece of their son's life back than it would ever mean to me.

>>34879508
>>34879593
i'm more surprised that he considers the vietcong honorable opponents.

>>34872415
I would, only for glorious nippon though.

>>34879593
>>34879508
>supporting literal communists

>>34878440
Wat

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>>34873112
>dead jap
>sooo sorry
kek

>>34876659
>destroys someone else's property
>is upset when there are repercussions

Is your buddy black by any chance?

>>34877210
Never heard of Seppuku? Hari Kiri?

>>34877223
Not autism.

The Rangers were trained precisely for this purpose originally. To take an objective while absorbing unthinkable casualties. Most units in combat will break off an assault or flee a fixed position if they suffer 10 - 15% casualties. Rangers were meant to take an objective even if they sustained 50% causlties.

The horrendus losses sustained by the 101st and 82nd Airborne and the parachute and glider infantry cause the generals that came out of that war to move towards a "materiel not men" philosophy of warfare. Why do you think Drone warfare is so popular? Why do you think that the Army won the right to employ armed aircraft as organic units rather than relying strictly on the Air force for it's CAS?

It's cheap and easy to choose losing one or two men and a $20,000 helicopter over 4 or 5 men and a $70,000 tank.

*prices are rough and in 1950's era values

>>34879986
You're responding to a salt rifle joke with "hey dumbass, [shit no one cares about]"

>>34878752
Sorry lad, my philosophy predates the concept of patriotism by about 700 years and America by almost 800.

>>34879662
I think it's more about how hard they fought than whether or not they "played fair".

>>34879714
All vietnamese are now comies, while less than 50% of Koreans are.

>>34872415
Its the same thing as letting women into combat roles

>>34878293
>>34878477
Actually it is a law, but it's specifically gunto made in a "non-traditional manner," as in the mass produced factory made ones they started giving out to troops, AKA: the ones most American vets are likely to have.

>>34880247
>>34878477
It's true. I'm the guy arguing that gunto are significant enough to return, and I knew that in the first place. Anyone who wants a "functional katana" knows about gunto and why they're so fucking hard to get(relatively speaking)

Fucking swords to plowshares

>>34880040
wew lad you need a fedora for your keyboard

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>>34880327
What's wrong with the one I have now?

>>34880374
Not properly tippable.

>>34880374
>Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: the Helmet

>>34872731
You didn't kill the gun, you killed the soldier, so you'd get to keep his corpse, not the gun.

>>34876222
You keep stressing how important it was to them to honor the dead. We get it. No one gives a fuck. They were savage animals and they got what they deserved. Take you pussy feelings elsewhere.

>>34879986
>avoid going to war and getting yourself killed by killing yourself

>>34880926
This guy gets it. Japs didn't get it as bad as they deserved.

>>34880926
Treating a savage enemy with respect despite their savagery doesn't make you a pussy, you edgy little sperg. It makes you the better man.

Tell you what: How about I go dig up your vet grandfather and use his skull as a cocksleeve, if it's so cool and hardcore to disrespect people's remains. Will I not be a pussy then?

>>34872538
You're not keeping it because they got drafted, you're keeping it because they lost.

If he wanted to keep his shitty flag he should have fought harder for it.

>>34881563
t. voted against death penalty

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>>34877158
This guy gets it. It's always really interesting to see these old guys meet fifty years after the fact, with the realization that they have a lot more in common with each other based on their shared experiences than with the political forces that sent them to kill and die in the first place.

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>>34881563
There's no room for altruism in the jungle, boy

>>34873210
WAAAAAAAAAAA the japs committed war crimes so we should do the exact same thing back to them and still claim moral superiority, OORAH amirite?

>>34872415
Personal Shit Yeah. I guess you wouldnt care if your dead, but i wouldnt want someone taking the watch my grandfather gave me or a picture of my family or letters.

>>34875904
nice

>>34872415
sure at that age why the fuck not?

>>34881758
>Japanese warcrimes: Use captured civilians for bayonette practice, organize rape centers, Starve POWs to death.

>American warcrimes: keeping body parts from men killed in combat as trophies, occassional looting of government facilities and political offices.

Exactly the same, sure thing buddy.

>>34881748
You're not in the jungle, "boy". You're sitting in your air-conditioned basement in front of a Dell monitor from 2009. The war's over, and all of the people who went inna jungle are in their nineties, if not already dead.

This ongoing devil-dog oo-rah RP is really tiresome.

>>34881865
The Japs also took trophies and there was that time they cannibalized HW's squadron.

>>34872415
>personal stuff with limited value
always
>medals/badges
always
>jewelry/watches
depending on how personal it is
>personal weapons
in a very specific circumstances
>issued weapons and flags
never

>>34872415
>Pictures, wedding rings, letters
Yes
>Body parts
Yes
>Medals, uniforms
Yes
>Worthless misc things that I don't care about
Yes, if they ask for it
>Weapons, Flags
Fuck off, it's mine now.

>>34881865
>ignoring napalming civilians by the thousands and using atomic weapons against civilian targets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLE2pnN9WY

The japs did terrible things but we killed many many more of them in just as brutal of a fashion.
acting just as barbaric as your enemy makes you no better than them.

>>34882343
Carpet bombing cities is just a part of total war, there's nothing especially rude about it.

>>34881865
>keeping body parts is ok
spotted the mentally damaged grunt. how was Afghanistan?

>>34882388
the fire bombing of civilians via carpet bombing is bad enough. Brits are guilty of this too. During the battle of okinawa only 20,000 American troops had died. but over 200,000 Japanese were killed. with over half of these being civilians. an entire quarter of the islands population was culled within a span of a month. The Japs used underhanded tactics sure but napalm used by the Americans have killed so much more in a the most horrific way one can possibly go.

>>34872576
Do you have a website?

Anything not extremely personal I would Keep 100%.

Super personal shit like family photos, diary, ect.. I would eventually return to his decedents
>IF, our country are now on speaking terms and they are actually a 1st world nation.

>>34882478
Everyone during the war who could do it, did do it.

America just did it bigger than anyone else, because that's what America does.

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>>34881865
uh oh here we go again, its another american war crime denial thread.

muh holocaust, muh nanking. napalm dindu nuffin USA USA USA

>>34882542
>napalm
>a war crime during ww2
You fags really need to find some new point to rag on, your current material is shit.

>>34872731
picking up a dead man's weapon is bad luck.

If the weapon had brought megin to the wielder, you would be the dead one not him. Why would you want a weapon that leaves the one holding it dead?

>>34882536
Everyone committed war crimes that is undeniable. the part that really makes me think are the people in this thread are going "hurr durr muh evil gooks" as they rattle around their grand dads pet jap skeleton.

>>34880447
Haha being literal so funny xddd

>>34877158
it makes me wonder...will the muslim become tomorrow's nip?

...then I think "nah" because we've been killing them since before saladin.

>>34882559
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime

A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the law of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility.[1] Examples of war crimes include intentionally killing civilians or prisoners, torture, destroying civilian property, taking hostages, perfidy, rape, using child soldiers, pillaging, declaring that no quarter will be given, and serious violations of the principles of distinction and proportionality, such as strategic bombing of civilian populations.

U.S. DINDU NUFFIN, WE WUZ GOOD GUYS N SHEIT.
USA USA USA USA USA USA OORAH

>>34872415
>Would you ever return a war trophy?
We returned their country, what more do they want?

>>34882542
This is totally unrelated but you know that Memri is actually run by the Israeli intelligence community, right? It's not even a conspiracy, they've admitted to it. Those jews think they're pretty slick

>>34882647
/thread

>>34882566
i'll take any haunted weapons you want to get rid of

>>34882691
You can use them as bait to trap the ghosts, then the specters will legally be your property

>>34882638
That's just moral grandstanding faggotry, not actual war crimes.
A war crime can only be committed against a nation/entity that has had an agreement signed, and who have not officially instituted policies or sanctioned action that (would necessarily) violate the agreement.

There is not war crime that can be committed against isis, there is no formal agreement with them. Additionally, if one were to wrongly believe in implied agreements, they would also not be protected due to having violated them and lost their protections.


Basically, a war crime is just the term we give to action/s committed by an individual that has violated the faith/reciprocity of an international war agreement.

>>34872415
Probably never.

>>34872415
well I'd have to take one to return it
I wouldn't take something like that if I didn't intend to keep it
although I guess I might take some personal effects if they were going to be thrown away and then try to return them to the family later
now a gun I might take keep on principle, the principle being "you guys tried to kill me with this so fuck you you're not getting it back"

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I earned these couple hundred mausers fair and square.

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This is a German postcard my grandfather 'commandeered' in late 1944 while serving in France. It's not the only souvenir he brought home, but it's the most personal. I have absolutely no intention of tracking down the family of this random German soldier.

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>>34883022
The inverse

>>34882773
>its only a warcrime if someone else does it
top wew

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>USA
>Warcrimes
the only crime in war is not being American
U S A
S
A
U S A
S
A
U S A
S
A

This is an awesome thread. My grandfather took a few "trophies" home from ww2. One item he was thinking about returning was a flag with writing on it along with baby hand and foot prints on it. He also grabbed a sword from the officer.

He had some crazy stories which I always will kick my self for not video/audio recording him.

One story was about himself and a friend he made that was only a town over. They never knew each other before until they were island hoping in the Marianas. They would both go out after the skirmishes with ball peen hammers taking the gold teeth. Well one of them was rigged with an explosive of some sort. His friend lost his head from that.
I remember in the early 2000s one of my grandfather's friends was over having beers and he called bullshit. Grandpa went in the house to get another round and a small cloth sack. He opened it up had a picture of him and his friend and a few gold teeth that he didn't sell.

>>34883123
does brown seagul have autism?

>war trophies
what is possible to bring back nowadays? ofcourse not a human skull or a gun or am i wrong?

>>34883365

>not a human skull or a gun or am i wrong

desu depends on where you are stationed

>>34883365

Some cargo units were tasked wit hauling stuff out of the direct conflict zone, needless to say not all of it made it to the designated locations where they were supposed to go... it was only later when someone bragged about some stuff that the ATF got its hands on some sweet "souvenirs"

>>34875876
More like because trying to capture a jap alive was a very risky business.

>>34878323
I never deploy into the field without my ant farm.

>>34876414
So that's where the arm by the Clik Clak came from

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>>34877024

>>34875616
It's shaped to fit the head, in a way it's almost anthropomorphized, unlike other pieces of clothing which are just flappy pieces of cloth.

>>34875876
>don't shoot jap prisoners and we'll give you ice cream tonight
>okay
War is a hell of a thing

>>34876062
>"the japansee government" in English
>5 in Arabic numerals
>pesos
???¿¿¿CONFUSION¿¿¿???

>>34884524
>Well it was supposed to be hot fudge sundae night, but someone - Jenkins - had to shoot a prisoner. Now it's nonfat, frozen, dairy product with "chocolatey" sauce night.

>>34883022
Im german but I cant read the writing since the style is very oldfashioned, but I guess I could just ask my grandma to translate it, so if you are interested anon...

>>34884546
>"the japanese government" in English
This was military currency issued by Japan in the Philippines, which was owned by the US at that time.
>5 in Arabic numerals
Most nations by this time had started using them, including ones of the Far East. Just look at the distance markings on any Arisaka rifle.
>pesos
Again, occupation currency. Because the Philippines used to be owned by Spain, they retained the name of the currency: pesos.

>>34884593
>tfw the lt lets you put sprinkles on your ice cream because you let some japs surrender instead of werfing flammen

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>>34884622
I would be very interested, thank you

>>34878751
Sure. I'll take better pictures after work.

>>34884655
Thanks Anon!

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>>34884622
Auction house anon here, if your grandma can actually read Suetterlin and translate it into English, tell her we're hiring. Even our current pet kraut has trouble with that shit.

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>>34879986
>Killing yourself to avoid getting killed in a war
Dumbest fucking thing I've heard in a while

>return it to a family who appreciates the historical and personal value
>give it to my own family who throw " grandaddys blood stained shitrag" in the attic for 20 years and then in the trash ot sell it for $5
>sell to some autist for an ok price so they can fap over how they think they shouldve been born decades earlier to fight in a real war

>>34881300
>>34885049
no no no no no
you misunderstand
kill yourself to avoid participating in a war
that is the stupid game: participation
dying is fun

>>34872415
why the fuck would you ever return a war trophy? Glory to the victor shame to the vanquished

>>34877247
nigga they dead, who give a fuck, they fuckin dead

>>34885384
I mean I would if they were my family so I'd do the same for theirs. Recognizing the shared humanity with the enemy is something you often have to reserve for after the war or for those instances when you're taking them prisoner but it has to happen sometimes.

>>34884857
Bump to see this translated

>>34872415
>>34872541
I'd guess that the writing on the flag might be the names of the soldiers in that unit, of which the old Japanese guy in the picture is probably the last.

So in this case, I would count it as a very bro move to return it.

>>34885301
Then your family gets their honor crushed because their son is an insufferable faggot since he killed himself to avoid participating in the war and they disown you. If you fail to kill yourself, the punishment is doubled.

>>34872808
>today I learned a thing about asian military culture
Neat.

>>34885384
Nigga are telling me you are walking around with bones n shit. Skeletor looking ass right here. Nigga fuck your bones.

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>>34880247
>>34880277
Gunto are widely available, with showato, gendaito and ancestral blades. Showato are still around in Japan, along with hundreds of thousands of unregistered blades.

They're usually better off in the hands of collectors rather than museums, where they will sit in storage for decades.

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>>34878751

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>>34886603
>>34878751

Dude looks blurry, but it was the photo itself. Shits tiny and looks awful supersized

>>34883114
but he's rite u kno

>>34872448
never

>>34883022
>>34883034
>>34884622
>>34884857
Bump for translation

>>34883022
Strangely the card was not stamped in France, but in Dresden, also the postmark seems to say the year is 39(?). The stamp showing Paul von Hindenburg was not common anymore in 44, neither. Also, the card is adressed to a woman, not to a soldier.

>>34887245
Odd, he was also in Germany for a while but that wasn't until '45. Maybe he got it from a dead soldier or POW there? He talked about how the Germans were trying to surrender to them as quickly as possible so the Russians wouldn't get them (except the SS, they were psycho apparently).

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Who the hell would want this back?

>>34887286
Could have been in the possession of a soldier who kept it for some years, also it might be possible that some german civilian wanted to get rid of the card because of its motive and gave it to him. Like some others traded in medals and stuff like that to allied soldiers for cigarettes, for example.

>>34877083
Air Crew. Those fuckers will smuggle anything.

>>34887486
If his family lived in Dresden they probably didn't survive the war

>>34887286
>(except the SS, they were psycho apparently).
I mean word was that SS were being executed rather than captured. In practice that usually only happened in retaliation for atrocities and when allied men went to far, but you can bet the very thought of it left quite a few men fighting like cornered animals. No point in surrendering if they're just going to shoot you is sound reasoning as any.

>>34886073
Stop speaking fucking Kenyan, this is an english speaking website.

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>>34888094
Fuck you nigga, take your bone stealing voodoo performing ass back to Haiti. Put that shit in a grave before I put a woopping on your ass

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>>34888135
Read a fucking book nigger.

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>>34888174
What are you gonna do nigga? Put a voodoo curse on me with your spooky bones? Fuck you.

>>34888277
Being born black is enough of a curse, I'll just walk away, like your dad did.

>>34872415
https://streamable.com/o5tvm

>>34886603
>>34886611
Sending the pics over.
This is the account mentioned earlier:
https://twitter.com/oldpicture1900

>>34887114
>>34884857
sorry guys, she tried but her eyesight got too bad the last couple of years :(

>>34888330
Top kek nigga, I'm probably whiter than you, I'm not the nigga walking around with bones like some some Zulu looking ass motherfucker. Probably blacker than my prolapsed anus

>>34889192
That's okay anon, we do appreciate it.

And remember to give your grandma a hug next time you see her. It's the little things you miss the most later.

>>34887741
Just because the card was stamped in Dresden that doesn't mean the owner / sender lived in Dresden. Not every small town had a post office back then.
The only way to find out would be to consult old registers and search the name on the card in them. Good luck finding pre-war papers in Dresden.

>>34883022
>>34884857
>>34889329


What i can decipher:
,,Dear godmother [...]
I have got your nice postcard. I was away for a visit. Hopefully you are feeling better again. Many (?) greetings from Mum and Dad. Irmintraut (?) is in the camp on the [...] mountains(?)." (I guess it's about a sport / youth camp of some sort?) "Please write me again [...]"

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>>34889551
>Irmantraut?

Thanks anon, much appreciated

>>34889693
Irmintraut, that's what i read there.
That name was ancient even in the 30's.

>>34882478
Should've killed more

>>34884655
Well, that's pretty convoluted. Very cool history though.

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the red stands for impact zone

>>34883114
try to read next time.

>>34887383
Yours? Family member took it with him?

>>34879554
woooow ur so edgy and cool Anon. Can I see ur fedora collection~?

>>34882534
>IF, our country are now on speaking terms and they are actually a 1st world nation.
This. If our former enemies have try to make amends for their actions and join the realm of civilized people, they earn the right for the families of the dead to see some closure.

>>34882673
>Implying anyone thinks it's serious and aren't just watching it because it's funny
You probably tell people who laugh at Onion articles that it's really satirical too, don't you?
ps: Not understanding why people think things are funny is frequently a sign of autism
pps: You don't need to bring jews into everything here /pol/estinian when it's not relevant to the conversation

>>34890905
My great uncle brought it back from WW1, that's all I know. He died before I was even born

>>34887383
Very nice, anon. Looks like it belonged to a soldier from a Bavarian regiment, by the coat of arm plaque on the front.

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>>34890905
>>34892805
It's not exactly in great condition

>>34892877
You stated, who the hell wants this back?
That's worth a lot of money so I'd guess quite a lot of people

>>34885020
I'm not 100% sure, but i *think* the lower smaller text says something like "Die Fibel für unseren kleinen". The last word of the upper bigger text looks like to be "schnell"

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I always wonder why there weren't as many trophies taken during Vietnam

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>>34893134

>>34873112
damn dude, did the knife come embedded in the skull originally or is that some Photoshop trickery?

>>34893134
lots of MASes were bring backs