Piecing Together the Past

It’s one thing to learn history in the classroom—memorizing countless dates, names, and events that sometimes seem highly disconnected from the present; it’s another thing to hear testimony from people who have lived through those historical events. Unfortunately, I am not able to provide a direct account of a war survivor’s experience. However, I do have the next best thing: I compiled information from my family members of my grandparents’ experience during World War II.

My grandparents on my mom’s side lived in the Philippines during World War II, during which the Japanese occupied the country. When I learned about this event in History class, I was not able to grasp the magnitude of horror they endured. Although students like me will label certain historical figures evil without a second thought, we will never truly comprehend the significance of historical events because we have not experienced them ourselves.

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, my grandparents rushed to gather their children and evacuate their homes. They heard frightening rumors that the Japanese were invading people’s homes in order to kill the men and rape the women. Acting swiftly, my grandparents gathered their children and set out to hide in the forest.

In their haste to evade the menacing Japanese soldiers, my grandparents forgot one of their sons at home. Shortly after, they realized that they had forgotten their baby boy and anxiously rushed back home; fortunately, the Japanese soldiers did not invade their home, so their son was safe. My grandparents considered this a blessing from God. In that moment in time, in the midst of such atrocious conditions, all they could focus on was the miracle of their son surviving as the Japanese were raiding houses. This particular experience immensely strengthened my grandparents’ faith. Their ability to focus on their blessings during such a wretched situation enabled them to develop a greater appreciation for life, value family above everything else, and never take anything for granted.

However, the fact that my grandparents found a silver lining during the war does not change the fact that they suffered terribly and were scarred from their experience during wartime. For instance, at one point, they stumbled into a village that was being massacred by Japanese soldiers. Being that close to danger, the only way they were able to survive was to hide amongst the dead bodies. Living in wartime pushes individuals to do whatever they can to survive.

When looking at war from an objective point of view, it may be tempting to say that it was “worth” going to war. Although wars are usually fought for a rational cause, they can never fully be justified because they are fundamentally evil acts. Although the results of the war may be good, war is still fighting evil with evil.