Tokyo Rose - NPR News or New Lows in Moral Equivalency?
When I first heard this Scott Simon story on NPR, I was sure that they couldn't stoop any lower, National Public Radio's Scott Simon comes in with a story calling Tokyo Rose, Iva Toguri, a true American Patriot.
I even wrote what I thought was a well reasoned post blasting his moral equivalency. But I was interested in the comment that the World War II Veterans committee had given Miss Toguri an award. Had the veterans softened in their dotage or was there something more to the story?
The committee's journal, the WWII Chronicles, published what appears to be a well researched article about Toguri in their Winter 2004 edition. (PDF file here)
From that article I found that Tokyo Rose was more myth than fact. The Army even found that "Tokyo Rose" was no one person. It was a term GI's used to describe the English language broadcasts delivered by various women. It looks like the radio shows broadcast by Miss Toguri, written by Allied POW's, were really offering a subtle fom resistance in the same great American tradition of Pete Bucher's confession and the crew of the Pueblo, with their Hawaiian good luck sign.
Learn something every day.
Hat's off to you Iva. Rest in Peace.
When I first heard this Scott Simon story on NPR, I was sure that they couldn't stoop any lower, National Public Radio's Scott Simon comes in with a story calling Tokyo Rose, Iva Toguri, a true American Patriot.
I even wrote what I thought was a well reasoned post blasting his moral equivalency. But I was interested in the comment that the World War II Veterans committee had given Miss Toguri an award. Had the veterans softened in their dotage or was there something more to the story?
The committee's journal, the WWII Chronicles, published what appears to be a well researched article about Toguri in their Winter 2004 edition. (PDF file here)
From that article I found that Tokyo Rose was more myth than fact. The Army even found that "Tokyo Rose" was no one person. It was a term GI's used to describe the English language broadcasts delivered by various women. It looks like the radio shows broadcast by Miss Toguri, written by Allied POW's, were really offering a subtle fom resistance in the same great American tradition of Pete Bucher's confession and the crew of the Pueblo, with their Hawaiian good luck sign.
Learn something every day.
Hat's off to you Iva. Rest in Peace.
posted by FOD at
8:51 AM
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