The Propagand Leaflet

Sometimes a song will remind you of good times. Sometimes a song will remind you of bad times. A song can remind you of a person you love, a person you hate, or someone you miss. Or a song can remind you of a moment in time. And without really knowing why, a great song you love can make you feel sad.

     Such is the song "A Farewell To Kings" by my second favorite band, RUSH. For the better part of my life, that song, which is one of my all time favorites, makes me sad. I never knew why, until recently. 

 

     The lyrics talk about the sad state of humanity. How we are lead by fools, who rather than helping us to rise above ourselves, they lead us down the path of discord. We are taught to hate our neighbors, and to distrust science and wisdom. We fear diversity and crave conformity. Rather than freedom, we want to be part of a collective that is the cult of personality. 

     Neil Peart's lyrics mourn the decline of civilization:

"When they turn the pages of history

When these days have passed long ago

Will they read of us with sadness

For the seeds that we let grow?

We turned our gaze

From the castles in the distance

Eyes cast down

On the path of least resistance

Cities full of hatred

Fear and lies

Withered hearts

And cruel, tormented eyes

Scheming demons

Dressed in kingly guise

Beating down the multitude

And scoffing at the wise"

     It was late spring of 1981. I was in the submarine barracks at Naval Submarine Base, San Diego. My friends on the USS GURNARD, had returned from operations in the central Pacific Ocean. While there, they had an opportunity to stop at Pearl Harbor for a few days.

     Upon their return, I dropped by to share their celebration. A friend of mine showed me a book he had purchased on the history of Pearl Harbor. 

     It was really more of an illustrated history. The booklet had tons of photos that I had never seen before with accompanying text. One photo in particular caught my attention, and it has haunted me for the rest of my. I didn't know why until I thought about several days ago. I began to remember...

     At about 4:05 of the the song in the video in the link, the photo of the propaganda leaflet caught my attention. It was probably found on a Japanese plane shot down over Pearl Harbor. Every time I hear this part of the song, I see this photo.

https://youtu.be/eV-5iNu6Sd8?si=CQAlF7fG-pAEjFjL

     The leaflet has text in English that reads: "You damned! Go the the devil!"

     The text in Japanese is just as hateful, but far more poetic. That reads: "Hear! The voice of the moment of death. Wake up you fools." 

     The crudely drawn leaflet depicts bombs dropping on an aircraft carrier and battleship and American sailors being killed. Some of those bombs fell on the battleship USS ARIZONA (BB-39). One armor piercing bomb which detonated in or near the powder magazines caused the explosion that wrecked the ship and killed 1,177 of it's crew. Today, a memorial  sits over the sunken vessel. 

      It's a testament to the power of negative propaganda and how it affects groups of people, but that's a whole other blog.

     I became fixated on that photo. I memorized every detail, every line, even the odd looking shark with the stoned eyes. It struck me how any individual, such as possibly, the courageous and enthusiastic Japanese enlisted pilot P.O.1c Takashi Hirano could swoop down on USN Petty Officer Jones and US Army Sgt Smith and rain bullets down upon them. He's never met them. They've never met him. Despite growing up in thousands of miles apart, here they are at the same time in the same place, through no fault of their own, they are locked in a mortal struggle. Each the victims of their nation's propaganda efforts.

     After a while, I realized that I was an American sailor. I then remembered that my adversary was the Soviet Navy (Военно-морской флот СССР) and for no particular reason, they were training to kill me, while at the same time, I was training to kill them. I saddly reflected on the insanity.

     I reflected on it again in July of 1989. It was the age of Perestroika and the warming relations between the US and the USSR. That month three Soviet naval ships visited Naval Station Norfolk on a goodwill visit. Each side offered tours of the ships. After we knocked off from work, I got in my dress whites and was allowed to board the Soviet Navy destroyer Otlichny (Отличный). Unfortunately, it was the age before selfies so I don't have a pic, but I posed with allot of Soviet Soviet sailors, so I'm sure I'm in someone's photo album somewhere in Russia.

     I didn't spend allot of time on the ship, but I shook allot of hands. Unfortunately noone there spoke English or Spanish. It would have been good to have communicated with a fellow sailor. 

     What really caught my attention was the ensign (national flag at sea). The ensign fluttered gently from the stern of the ship. As a vexillologist (flag enthusiast) I just wanted to touch the flag. As I recall, it was a "Guards Ensign". In the Soviet system, the addition of "Guards" to your unit name was an earned mark of honor. In the navy, a "Guards ensign" had a distinctive orange and black ribbon addorning the Naval ensign. I wanted to touch it, but it was just out of reach.

     I would meet more Soviet sailors again the next day, but in a grocery store. They were touring a grocery store! The officer in the group walked towards me and quietly asked, "Vee trade money?" He pulled out a 10 Ruble bill. All I had was a couple of ones and some 20s. I thought about it and pulled out the larger bill. The officer's eyes lit up. We quietly made the trade. I still have that bill.

     Today, Russia is again the adversary. We learned nothing in 35 years!

     Decades later, I would read something by Brandt Legg. He said, “War is a place where young people who don’t know each other, and don’t hate each other, kill each other, by the decision of older rulers who know each other and hate each other, but don’t kill each other…”

     I find solace in the end of "A Farewell To Kings". The song ends with:

"Whoa, can't we raise our eyes

And make a start?

Can't we find the minds

To lead us closer to the heart?"

     We can find those minds, but they are always labeled as "woke" by the haters who prefer we stay asleep.