Posted on Dec 11, 2015
Have you read this 'Nothing to forgive:' US vet on crashed plane back in Japan?
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Have you read this 'Nothing to forgive:' US vet on crashed plane back in Japan?
Scott Downing, 96, of Amarillo, Texas, sits in a wheelchair during his visit Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, to Inzai, a town 25 miles northeast of Tokyo, where he was taken prisoner of war 70 years ago.
http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/nothing-to-forgive-us-vet-on-crashed-plane-back-in-japan-1.383313
Scott Downing, 96, was back in the Japanese farmland where he was taken prisoner of war 70 years ago, shaking hands with the people of the tiny town where his plane crashed near the end of World War II.
"It's great," he said Friday about being back. "There is nothing to forgive."
Three of the 11-member crew were killed that night of May 25, 1945, when their B-29 was shot down, crashing into bamboo groves as they were flying back from a bombing raid on Tokyo.
Downing, of Amarillo, Texas, was among eight who parachuted to safety, only to be taken prisoner, beaten, half-starved and interrogated by Japan's Imperialist military during the closing months of the war.
In an emotional moment, Downing was given a hero's welcome by Inzai, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Tokyo, which had given the U.S. airmen proper burials at a temple and mourned their deaths, defying the stereotypes about wartime animosity.
TSgt Julia Faulks SGT (Join to see) TSgt Hunter Logan COL Charles Williams LTC Stephen C. CW4 (Join to see) [
~517979:CW3 Nick Koeppen] SGM (Join to see) SSG Ryan Rodney CPT (Join to see) SSgt (Join to see) CW3 Kevin Storm CMSgt Mark Schubert PO2 Mark Saffell LTC John Shaw SGT Sara Hodgkiss TSgt (Join to see)
Scott Downing, 96, of Amarillo, Texas, sits in a wheelchair during his visit Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, to Inzai, a town 25 miles northeast of Tokyo, where he was taken prisoner of war 70 years ago.
http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/nothing-to-forgive-us-vet-on-crashed-plane-back-in-japan-1.383313
Scott Downing, 96, was back in the Japanese farmland where he was taken prisoner of war 70 years ago, shaking hands with the people of the tiny town where his plane crashed near the end of World War II.
"It's great," he said Friday about being back. "There is nothing to forgive."
Three of the 11-member crew were killed that night of May 25, 1945, when their B-29 was shot down, crashing into bamboo groves as they were flying back from a bombing raid on Tokyo.
Downing, of Amarillo, Texas, was among eight who parachuted to safety, only to be taken prisoner, beaten, half-starved and interrogated by Japan's Imperialist military during the closing months of the war.
In an emotional moment, Downing was given a hero's welcome by Inzai, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Tokyo, which had given the U.S. airmen proper burials at a temple and mourned their deaths, defying the stereotypes about wartime animosity.
TSgt Julia Faulks SGT (Join to see) TSgt Hunter Logan COL Charles Williams LTC Stephen C. CW4 (Join to see) [
~517979:CW3 Nick Koeppen] SGM (Join to see) SSG Ryan Rodney CPT (Join to see) SSgt (Join to see) CW3 Kevin Storm CMSgt Mark Schubert PO2 Mark Saffell LTC John Shaw SGT Sara Hodgkiss TSgt (Join to see)
WWII World War Two
POW/MIA
Japan
Pilot
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 13
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I met him growing up in Amarillo and knew he was a vet, but never knew the whole story. Thanks for sharing, COL Mikel J. Burroughs!
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs thanks for sharing the humbling story of Scott Downing who has obviously made peace with the descendants of the people of Inzai who took him prisoner when he landed in their tiny town.
The fact that the people of this town took the amazing step of honoring the men who died while bombing their nation is extraordinary.
The fact that the people of this town took the amazing step of honoring the men who died while bombing their nation is extraordinary.
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