Last letters from young kamikaze pilots provide rare insights into Japan’s feared special attack unit

ForumCategory: OtherLast letters from young kamikaze pilots provide rare insights into Japan’s feared special attack unit
komatkamit asked 10 months ago

Last letters from young kamikaze pilots provide rare insights into Japan’s feared special attack unit
Kagoshima, Japan

Think of a kamikaze pilot and the image that comes to mind is probably a screaming face obscured by goggles embarking on a death plunge.
Or perhaps no face at all and just a fighter plane plowing into a warship.
It’s probably not a teenager weeping in a dank, half-underground bunker with his bedsheets pulled up over his head.
And surely not high schoolers cheerfully petting a puppy just hours before they were expected to turn themselves into ash while sinking a US aircraft carrier.
But these are some of the real faces of the kamikaze that line the walls of the Kanoya Air Base museum and the Chiran Peace Museum, both located on Japan’s Kyushu island.
There are hundreds of them.
In many of the images, you can see their last words, often in letters to their mothers, apologizing for their youthful indiscretions and pledging to make them proud.

The youngest kamikaze pilot was Yasuo Tanaka, just 16. He flew an Okha – essentially a bomb with wings but no wheels dropped from a mother aircraft. He died on May 11, 1945. You can see his photograph at the Kanoya museum, on the grounds of a current Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base.
A museum official said they didn’t have the teenager’s last letter, but the letters of other young kamikaze show the bravado of youth.
Torao Kato, an 18-year-old second lieutenant, wrote in Japanese in bold brush strokes:
“Dearest mother, please live a long life full of vigor. I will try to destroy a big one.”
The oldest kamikaze – at age 32 – was Army Lt. Col. Yoshio Itsui, a unit commander who led the first flights from the Chiran air base on April 1, 1945.
Itsui left behind a wife and three small children, including an infant son. A book from the Chiran museum, “The Mind of the Kamikaze,” includes Itsui’s last letter to the infant, which is on display at the museum.
“Work hard and please grow up to be an excellent Japanese man and son of the Emperor,” Itsui wrote.
His son would never read the letter, according to the book. When the pilot’s wife learned of his death, she could no longer produce milk for the boy, who died of malnutrition four months later.
‘They did not hesitate to accept their duty’
In an auditorium at the Chiran museum on a sunny October morning, stories like Itsui’s bring tears to almost everyone in the audience of 30 or so people listening to a presentation on the history of the kamikaze. Even for a non-Japanese speaker, the pictures on the screen and the emotions of others in the theater are enough to produce watery eyes.
Among the pictures in the presentation is one of a young kamikaze petting a puppy, an image many consider the most striking ever made of the suicide units.
The fliers ranged in age from 17 to 19 and all were so-called Young Boy Pilots, youth who joined the air force training corps at the age of 14, before the kamikaze units were even established.
“Most likely they did not know that they were going to be kamikaze pilots,” according to “The Mind of the Kamikaze.”
“However, once they knew their fate they did not hesitate to accept their duty,” the book says, adding, “they believed it would be worth dying for their country and for their parents.”
The five youths in that puppy photo died on May 27, 1945, among the 335 Young Boy Pilots who gave their lives as kamikaze.
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-dune-deuxieme-partie-film-complet-streaming-vf-en-francais-01HM2AFB1R88XHPZMJ2F4YWGYN
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-dune-deuxieme-partie-2024-film-complet-en-streaming-vf-01HM2AFNSPM343T6G1Q851P6S4
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-dune-deuxieme-partie-2024-en-streaming-vf-vostfr-01HM2AG2RCS0REJ564CECSJT76
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-dune-deuxieme-partie-en-streaming-vf-fr-complet-01HM2AGBW2E7PD0NEYEZVDVYMH
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-godzilla-x-kong-le-nouvel-empire-film-complet-streaming-vf-en-francais-01HM2A6GGKJK3WAR5SWHPZQ2F8
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-godzilla-x-kong-le-nouvel-empire-2024-film-complet-en-streaming-vf-01HM2A709XT0JGBPR726YNVXP5
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-godzilla-x-kong-le-nouvel-empire-2024-en-streaming-vf-vostfr-01HM2A7CD72M3ZARZ2KQ0136M6
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-godzilla-x-kong-le-nouvel-empire-en-streaming-vf-fr-complet-01HM2A7ND5Y0JN6KTQ08GC9JBN
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-the-fall-guy-film-complet-streaming-vf-en-francais-01HM2A845ZNQM4B7HPV1BEGG4Q
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-the-fall-guy-2024-film-complet-en-streaming-vf-01HM2A8GJGSTSBETVTRJAFGDY6
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-the-fall-guy-2024-en-streaming-vf-vostfr-01HM2A8WN3XS03VWWD358YSN0P
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-the-fall-guy-en-streaming-vf-fr-complet-01HM2A95A235XHTHD0S8XZQVB6
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-furiosa-a-mad-max-saga-film-complet-streaming-vf-en-francais-01HM2A9D6DZJXJ15P9RQ1K81QY
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-furiosa-a-mad-max-saga-2024-film-complet-en-streaming-vf-01HM2A9QSTS5KET6PVBEHPKF0N
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-furiosa-a-mad-max-saga-2024-en-streaming-vf-vostfr-01HM2AAD16P6H6NG8PC0M11GMY
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-furiosa-a-mad-max-saga-en-streaming-vf-fr-complet-01HM2AAR4AM9JXVX7SXXZEFSWN
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-garfield-heros-malgre-lui-film-complet-streaming-vf-en-francais-01HM2AB6TM3F459JF456JQ9465
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-garfield-heros-malgre-lui-2024-film-complet-en-streaming-vf-01HM2ABPK7K2KCYVPJQDDG91NV
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-garfield-heros-malgre-lui-2024-en-streaming-vf-vostfr-01HM2ACBN6H5GT8PS85RCXYRG5
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-garfield-heros-malgre-lui-en-streaming-vf-fr-complet-01HM2AD8PANV5T50PJ7H3Q592F
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-la-planete-des-singes-le-nouveau-royaume-film-complet-streaming-vf-en-francais-01HM2ADMJKD2NF3905NHWQ0SY1
https://www.taskade.com/p/vostfr-la-planete-des-singes-le-nouveau-royaume-2024-film-complet-en-streaming-vf-01HM2AE7M662G8RQJV9YP2TAH6
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-la-planete-des-singes-le-nouveau-royaume-2024-en-streaming-vf-vostfr-01HM2AEMT02YV5REGNVDAMGVJP
https://www.taskade.com/p/voir-la-planete-des-singes-le-nouveau-royaume-en-streaming-vf-fr-complet-01HM2AF0TRK6QA4BB0ZB0DQJ0X
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/VOSTFR-Dune-Deuxieme-partie-2024-Film-Complet-1011205826
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/VOIR-Dune-Deuxieme-partie-2024-EN-STREAMING-1011206001
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOSTFR_Kung_Fu_Panda_4_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729347
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOSTFR_Dune_Deuxieme_partie_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729346
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/voir_dune_deuxieme_partie_2024_streaming_en_francais_vostfr/3729342
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/vostfr_dune_deuxieme_partie_2024_streaming_en_francais_vostf/3729345
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOIR_Kung_Fu_Panda_4_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729361
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOIR_Kung_Fu_Panda_4_2024_EN_STREAMINGVF_VOSTFR/3729362
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOIR_Furiosa_A_Mad_Max_Saga_2024_EN_STREAMINGVF_VOSTFR/3729364
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOSTFR_Furiosa_A_Mad_Max_Saga_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729365
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOSTFR_Furiosa_A_Mad_Max_Saga_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729366
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOIR_Furiosa_A_Mad_Max_Saga_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729363
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOIR_La_Planete_des_Singes_Le_Nouveau_Royaume_2024_EN_STREAMINGVF_VOSTFR/3729371
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOSTFR_La_Planete_des_Singes_Le_Nouveau_Royaume_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729372
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOSTFR_La_Planete_des_Singes_Le_Nouveau_Royaume_2024_Streaming_en_Francais_VOSTFR_COMPLET/3729368
https://www.senscritique.com/liste/VOIR_La_Planete_des_Singes_Le_Nouveau_Royaume_2024_EN_STREAMINGVF_VOSTFR/3729373
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1512659062911831
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1512660166245054
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1512660802911657
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/Streamcloud-Dune-Teil-2-2023-Ganzer-Film-Auf-1011206183
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/GANZER-FILM-Dune-Teil-2-Stream-Jetzt-Film-on-1011228565
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/STREAM-Dune-Teil-2-2023-Ganzer-Film-Deutsch-Ko-1011231849
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/STREAM-Dune-Teil-2-Ganzer-Film-Auf-Deutsch-Ki-1011232003
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/Streamcloud-Dune-Part-Two-2023-Ganzer-Film-Au-1011232271
https://www.deviantart.com/kamgkung1234/art/GANZER-FILM-Dune-Part-Two-Stream-Jetzt-Film-1011232445
https://rentry.co/n5si6f
https://groups.google.com/g/bismilahhh/c/99WpXGjSeKM
https://profile.hatena.ne.jp/dasdasdfdgd/profile
https://www.bitsdujour.com/profiles/itLgXH
https://muckrack.com/sdfdsf-sdfsdf
https://git.forum.ircam.fr/-/snippets/20235
https://www.click4r.com/posts/g/14149313/
https://sway.cloud.microsoft/IctIYREMDzfpINwf
https://jpn.itlibra.com/board?board_id=4090
https://glot.io/snippets/gshhn1632i
https://gotartwork.com/Blog/-last-letters-from-young-kamikaze-pilots-provide-rare-insights-into-japan-s-feared-special-attack-unit-/252680/
https://anotepad.com/notes/5ajwppe6
https://tech.io/snippet/T1PZTVa
https://ctxt.io/2/AACw-OGIFQ
https://paste.feed-the-beast.com/view/0325b85a
https://pastelink.net/wfi7aov8
https://paiza.io/projects/JaH4Ghin1r2597OBRJEuMA?language=php
https://ideone.com/LUnNXX
https://bitbin.it/XcQJl41Y/
https://notes.io/wyQtk
https://pastebin.com/xDcd5vPx
https://yamcode.com/untitled-87329
https://www.pastery.net/ruuhws/
https://paste.ee/p/weRmw
https://justpaste.it/afoby
https://claraaamarry.copiny.com/question/details/id/797580
https://theamberpost.com/post/voir-dune-deuxieme-partie-2024-en-streaming-vf-vostfr
https://pasteio.com/xCYgCFew3R9d
https://www.pasteonline.net/asdasd-784
https://www.carforums.com/forums/topic/443581-last-letters-from-young-kamikaze-pilots-provide-rare-insights-into-japan%E2%80%99s-feared-special-attack-unit/
https://paste.toolforge.org/view/00364b88