Pearl Harbor cannot be compared to Ehime Maru

Pearl Harbor cannot be compared to Ehime Maru
EDITOR:
The opinion offered in Mike Barnicle's recent column "How quickly Japan forgot sins" was that American apologies for the tragic sinking of a Japanese fishing trawler off Oahu, Hawaii, by a U.S. nuclear submarine were excessive since, Barnicle said, Japan has never apologized for World War II.
Although Barnicle's was by far the most trenchant expression of this point of view, it wasn't the first I have read, and I do take some exception to this viewpoint.
The collision and consequent sinking of the Japanese ship by the USS Greeneville was a blunder by a naval vessel in peacetime which cost the lives of nine Japanese civilians and the loss of their ship. American apologies were fully deserved and sincerely extended. That is all there is to it.
I am one of the last persons to defend what Japan did during the war (I recently read Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking," to cite just one example of how my opinions have been formed) but it seems to me somewhat beside the point to now dredge up what happened generations ago. Prior to the start of the War in the Pacific, Japan had fallen under the control of an expansionist, far-right military regime, as had Germany.
And the Japanese (like the Germans) suffered horribly for the sins of their government. Two and one-half million servicemen killed, and a nation laid waste by American air raids. (More civilians died in a March 1945 Tokyo incendiary raid than were killed at Hiroshima.)
Many view this bombing of civilians who had nothing to do with starting the war as excessive, but I have never heard of any Americans apologize for it.
The Japanese seem to have put the war behind them (abet too far, as Mike says) but perhaps we should respect their attitude and get on with what is important in today's world, even as we learn from history.
I might add that if the late former Gov. James Rhodes had shared Barnicle's views of the Japanese, it is unlikely he would have brought Honda to Ohio, as he was credited with in his obituary.
Incidentally, Barnicle wrote that 1,700 sailors are entombed in the hull of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. The correct figure is 1,177 which is certainly horrendous enough!
ROBERT R. STANGER
Boardman
Arm the kids to stop violence in schools
EDITOR:
This morning my wife and I were discussing the recent events concerning teens and guns, and I had what I consider a brilliant insight that may solve the problem.
It seems very self-evident to me that there will always be a certain percentage of any school population that are misfits, nerds or generally anti-social types. It also seems to me that there is a ready supply of guns available to such young people.
I thought out loud about what would be the response of Charlton Heston and the NRA about the recent news of a shooting of many fellow students in Santana High School or the shooting of one girl by another girl over some argument they were having. I would make a reasonable guess that Mr. Heston would respond that these two incidents would never have happened if each student was permitted to have his or her own weapon of choice.
Obviously, the shooting girl in the twosome would think twice about plugging her enemy if she knew the other girl was also armed, and the nerd at Santana High would have been dropped in a few seconds or less. Why, it would have been more spectacular than the Battle of Guadalcanal.
To follow through on this brainstorm, I am trying to consider at what age a child should be eligible to legally carry a weapon. I think 10 would be just about the right age, but I think a public referendum on this point should be pursued.
JOHN D. HEISER
Warren
Drug users responsible for neighborhood crime
EDITOR:
Recent articles about a drug gang that has been terrorizing a Youngstown neighborhood should remind us that drug use is not a victimless crime. Dollars that users spend on these illegal products finance murder, corruption and the destruction of neighborhoods.
ROBERT D. GILLETTE
Poland