The President and the Confederacy

[Viking]

I heard about this on the news on Memorial Day. I was mainly surprised that Pres Obama was the first President to put a wreath on the Black soldier monument, or at least that's what I recall reported. As for the Confederate monument, I'm not sure, a bit ambivalent about it perhaps. The article does point out some things on both sides of the issue, how slavery was a part of the nation, as heinous as it was. But it did divide the nation as a huge open sore, until the ACW ended it.

Don't be so hard on yourself. If the Japanese government can commemorate their war criminals, so can you guys.

The Japanese government does no such thing. The Yasukuni shrine is dedicated to everybody who died in japans armed forces, yes, including war criminals. It is an equivalent of the tomb of the unknown soldier in western countries and remembers all the uniformed dead in war. 

[grumbler]

The Japanese government does no such thing. The Yasukuni shrine is dedicated to everybody who died in japans armed forces, yes, including war criminals. It is an equivalent of the tomb of the unknown soldier in western countries and remembers all the uniformed dead in war. 

You are correct that the Japanese government has not explicitly honored the 15 war criminals, but incorrect in the assumption that the Yasukuni shrine does not explicitly honor the 14 executed "Class A" war criminals.  They have, in fact, their own shrine there.  The decision to erect it was made by the temple authorities, not the government.  Since that shrine was erected, no emperor has visited Yasukuni.