Yes, good point, even though everyone in the US military at the time was using it to dehumanize the enemy and a military guy coined the term, I got caught up in etymology, and really it's usage that matters.

For a while, particularly in my youth in western Canada, the racist connotations were upfront and emphasized for added contempt.

I think ignoring that historical usage is a mistake.

[edit: I am just realizing that some accents pronounce it quite differently--in w. canada it was and still is pronounced like the slur]