Veteran Preserves Memory of WWII Fighters

TaiwanPlus News

Go Masao, born Wu Zheng-nan, was 17 when he joined Japan’s imperial military during World War II. Now living in Yokohama, he has built a monument at a local temple to honor the 30,000 Taiwanese who died serving Japan. It is one of only a few memorials dedicated to these soldiers, reflecting Go’s mission to keep their stories alive.

Transcript

00:00Goma Sao-o, born Ujeng-nan, was 17 when he joined the Imperial Japanese Army.

00:0580 years later, he's built a monument near his home in Yokohama,

00:09one of only a few honoring the 200,000 Taiwanese who served Japan during World War II.

00:30I would like to know that there were 3,000 people who died, and I would like to know that there were 3,000 people who died.

00:37During the war, Goh was the only Taiwanese in his training unit deployed to Korea, far from his home in Taiwan.

00:44He was stationed in Japan before shipping out, and had seen the Allies bomb Tokyo.

00:49An estimated 30,000 Taiwanese soldiers died serving Japan.

01:10Today, while Republic of China or ROC soldiers are honored at Taipei's National Revolutionary Martyrs Shrine,

01:16there is no official memorial for those who fought for Japan.

01:20When the ROC government took over Taiwan in 1945, they were dealing with former enemy subjects.

01:30Taiwanese were Japanese colonial subjects up to the end of the war.

01:37Still, Goh believes his comrades who served for Japan deserve to be remembered.

01:41He feels the roles played by Taiwanese soldiers like him are often overlooked.

01:56When I was born with his ancestors, I grew up with the war.

02:02Many people died, and they were born in Japan.

02:05I was given up to my independence and to me.

02:10I did not know where I was born in Japan.

02:12But if it lived before this time, I thought that I was born.

02:16I felt that I was born in Japan as a woman.

02:19And the way I was born with my independence and to my brother,

02:21and I felt that I was born in Japan and to my father.

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