Roy Exum
It didn’t get a lot of attention, as well it should not have, but when I heard Japanese giant Mitsubishi was offered an apology for heinous war crimes that took place during World War II, I thought it was an ill-conceived publicity stunt. But, no, in a solemn ceremony last month hosted by the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, that is exactly what happened. And if you’ll pardon me, that’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Nobody at Mitsubishi had anything to do with it!
Mitsubishi, in its corporate statement, claims its goals are "for people, society and the Earth." So in an exhaustive search, company officials were able to locate the two remaining survivors of those POWs that were forced to work as slave labor in the Mitsubishi copper mines and they got 94-year-old James Murphy to accept the company’s apology.
Hikaru Kimura, a senior executive officer of Mitsubishi Materials, stood before Mr.
Murphy and said, “In keeping with the spirit of our company's mission statement, today we apologize remorsefully for the tragic events in our past, and expressed our profound determination to work toward a better future.”
Then he gave a deep bow and Murphy said, “This is a glorious day. For 70 years we wanted this.”
That’s a nice story, as I feel sure the Museum of Tolerance will appreciate the $50,000 check the company has promised, but if we all start apologizing to each other for something that happened roughly 70 years ago, when Japan surrendered on August 15, or for the Civil War that occurred 150 years ago, I fear the apocalypse we be upon us.
I am not going to apologize to Japan that we went atomic to win the war, killing scores of women and children, and I’m not going to apologize to black friends that my ancestors once owned slaves. That was 150 years ago and you show me any family in the world since that time and you darn tootin’ they have something to apologize for.
Japan apologized to the United States in 2009 and 2011.That’s good enough. Mitsubishi is believed to be the first Japanese corporation to apologize and I hope it is the last. The Japanese have a huge presence in America and contribute mightily to the economy. Toyota, which came to the United States 54 years ago, today has 365,000 employees at 10 plants in the United States. They’ve invested over $21 billion (with a ‘b’) to create jobs and a new 2015 Camry – the best selling car in America over the last 15 years – proudly claims that 85 percent of the car’s parts are made in the United Sates.
Are you kidding me? If Toyota dared try to apologize, grateful Americans would look at company leaders and giggle. Who ever heard of such foolishness? I’ve been to the Georgetown (Ky.) plant. I’ve seen how 7,200 Americans can build a car there, from scratch, in 20 hours and I can promise you, right now, a Toyota drives off the assembly line ever 54 seconds.
Would we want Volkswagen to apologize for German atrocities after the company has built a huge plant here and will soon start a new assembly line using Chattanooga labor? Absolutely not. Not one person at VW today had anything to do with it. World War II, as deplorable as it may well have been, happened a real long time ago and both American and German citizens have learned huge lessons from it. Study history all you want but keep your nose pointed at the future.
Between 1943 and 1945 there were 39,000 Chinese forced to do slave labor and, if the Chinese courts want to sue Mitsubishi for restitution, that's their business. America shouldn’t be in the judgment business. Instead we ought to strive to work side by side in the 21st century and not get bogged down by something today’s generation had nothing to do with.
Quite frankly, I am tired of the Confederate harangue. If our leaders find the battle flag offensive please retire it to museums or private collections but leave the South as we know it alone. These rallies, with words of hatred being spewed at one another, absolutely do nothing to champion any cause. I fear that once we give in on the flags, a worse request will come the very next day. The liberals and the kooks are having a field day with political correctness and I, for one, wish everybody would go back to what’s really important – living together as best we can.
I know, in my heart of hearts, that Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of Tennessee’s greatest heroes. I have read about him, studied him and – had it not been for him – Nashville would have fallen to the Union aggressors. Do you think one legislator in the whole bunch would be happy going to Knoxville every week, Ugh.
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John Popham, an absolutely sensational guy who is also very funny, has gotten himself into a real stew by posting a picture of himself on social media with a giant Jackalope that he claims he bagged in Wyoming on a big game hunt.
A native of Lookout Mountain and a star athlete at Sewanee, John told newsmen that he counted down the days on his Facebook profile to the ‘trip of a lifetime’ at a private game conservancy 20 miles outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Before the trip, Popham posted the message: “To all the hunter haters. Stay tuned, you’re gonna have so much to be upset about.”
Last weekend, only weeks after it emerged that an iconic black-maned lion named Cecil had been killed in Zimbabwe, Mr. Popham posted pictures of his kill. The first showed him posed behind the prone carcass of a jackalope (Lepus antilocapra), a rare North American antlered hare. Popham boasted that he had enticed the jackalope out of its protective dwelling by baiting the field with moonshine whiskey, the jackalope's beverage of choice.
Once the animal became intoxicated, the very brave Popham crawled within the hearing range of the jackalope “and began telling nostalgic stories about his Sewanee football experiences. Within 30 minutes, the once beautiful, mystic creature succumbed to fatal PBS (post traumatic boredom syndrome).”
Popham posted another Facebook squib that he intends to spend another week in Wyoming in hopes of bagging a rubberado porpupine, snoligoster, three-tailed bavalorus or an albino squonk.
CLUE: Of course, this is a gag and a reflection of Johnny’s wondrous humor. There is no such thing as a jackalope, because an antelope cannot mate with a jack rabbit, no matter how hard either animal might try. There are some stuffed rabbits that have had horns affixed by pranksters, but – I promise – the accompanying photo is for laughs only.
SECOND CLUE: Popham will be in Murfreesboro on August 11 when his late father, John Popham, will be inducted into the state of Tennesee’s Journalism Hall Of Fame with two other Chattanoogans who will also enter posthumously, Roy McDonald and Drue Smith.
royexum@aol.com
Johnny Popham, a native of Lookout Mountain, a graduate of Notre Dame High School, and a standout football player at Sewanee, posed with the giant "jackalope" he bagged at a game preserve in Wyoming. As one might guess, animal rights activists in Nashville, where Popham is now a lawyer, are furious.