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]