Saburo Sakai

[CappyTom]

Here's a little history on one of Japan's famous aces.

35796

Click here (http://users.telenet.be/kurt.weygantt/worldwariiaces.index.html_saburosakai.htm). This is very touching.

:salute:
Thomas

[Diamondback]

I've long thought that Sakai-san was a tragic figure in the same mold as Rommel: a basically good man whose misfortune it was to be born in the wrong land at the wrong time.

[Zoe Brain]

I'll see if I can take some pictures of the plane he flew with the Lae wing. It's been restored by fitters of the RAAF, and holds a position of honour in the Australian War Memorial, a few km away from my house.

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4020/4510684731_27970ed121_z.jpg

[richard m schwab]

Tom!

I read Samurai as a kid and was always amazed by Saburo Sakai! You Tube has a few interviews he did a modest man! The luck factor cannot be overstressed in his flight back home to Rabaul from Guadalcanal. He mentioned in Samurai his plane would roll over and fly upside down if his mind strayed for a moment. In pain from his head wound and with his entire left side of his body paralyzed, i would suspect his mind wondered more than once on that flight!



Rich

[kaufschtick]

Tom!

I read Samurai as a kid and was always amazed by Saburo Sakai! You Tube has a few interviews he did a modest man! The luck factor cannot be overstressed in his flight back home to Rabaul from Guadalcanal. He mentioned in Samurai his plane would roll over and fly upside down if his mind strayed for a moment. In pain from his head wound and with his entire left side of his body paralyzed, i would suspect his mind wondered more than once on that flight!



Rich

I read that book too as a young lad, what an amazing read. Here's a quote from the OP link that Rich refers to:

"On August 7, 1942, 18 Zeroes received the order to attack Guadalcanal. The range from Rabaul was 560 miles, barely within the range of the Zero fighters. Sakai shot down 3 F4F's in this battle and then found 8 enemy planes in the distance, which he presumed to be F4F’s as well. Sakai was wrong. They were SBD Dauntless dive-bombers, which carried rear machine gunners. Sakai's Zero became a target for 16 guns. Sakai shot down 3 SBD’s, but was struck across his head by a bullet, enough to almost blind one eye and leave him somewhat paralyzed. He survived, flying 4 hours and almost 600 miles back to Rabaul. He barely had eyesight but was able to land his plane. By the time he landed, his gas tank was empty."

Interesting note on this version of the story. The book I have, copyrighted 1957, and a hand me down paperback from my Dad, has a slight discrepancy from the above account. On page 154, Sakai states that he had flown up on the enemy planes from their rear and below, and that they were Avengers, not Dauntlesses.

The Dauntless's rear gun covered the rear arch, behind and above, not below. The Avenger did have a .30 cal ventral gun mount.

Also note worthy was the fact that the silhoutte of the Avenger was very similar to that of the F4F Wildcat, which is what Sakai thought he was attacking. For an ace pilot to mistake the silhoutte of a Dauntless for that of an F4F...well, lets just say I'd have a hard time believing that, but hey.

The Avengers were operating from carriers southwest of Guadalcanal, Sakai received credit for downing two in his ill fated attack, but no Avenger losses were reported at that time from the carriers.

If you ever get a chance to read that account, it is riveting.

[richard m schwab]

Rob!

I look at it from the point of someone who is on a long road trip. You get up early and drive you do not stop unless you have to, i can do three or four hours. Imagine being in that cockpit for four plus hours to get to Guadalcanal. You spot the enemy and go into the attack, yes you could misidentify the enemy. Once you start firing you have seconds to see your damage on the enemy and move to a new target. Then be hit by return fire and temporarily blinded. Then the long trip back, relying on skill and luck luck to bring you home!
The Zero paid the price for that long range, or it`s pilots did.


I give Saburo Sakai and Robert Johnson equal respect for long flights in flying wrecks. Both did this while being wounded and half blind.

Rich

[csadn]

Also note worthy was the fact that the silhoutte of the Avenger was very similar to that of the F4F Wildcat, which is what Sakai thought he was attacking. For an ace pilot to mistake the silhoutte of a Dauntless for that of an F4F...well, lets just say I'd have a hard time believing that, but hey.

It would help to know which direction Sakai was approaching from; and where the sun was relative to the various units. If all Sakai could see was a black blob, due to shadows....

[kaufschtick]

I believe his book version, in which he says he mistakenly attacked TBF Avengers, not SBD Dauntlesses.

That's what I was getting at.;)

It would help to know which direction Sakai was approaching from; and where the sun was relative to the various units. If all Sakai could see was a black blob, due to shadows....

On page 154 of his book, he claims that he was attacking from the rear, and below.

I think it would be easy for anyone to mistake a Grumman TBF Avenger for a Grumman F4F Wildcat, as he claims in his book.

I have trouble believing the version that he mistook Douglas SBD Dauntlesses though. That's my point. There are two different versions out there as to exactly what type planes he did wind up attacking.

[bsmith13]

The confusion stems from what Sakai said he saw, and what US records said was airborne at the time over Guadalcanal. I agree that it would be easy to mistake an Wildcat for an Avenger from a distance, but US records indicate that Avengers weren't flying in that area on that date.

Thank you for posting his story. I've read his autobiography "Samurai!" many times.

:thumbsup:

[kaufschtick]

The confusion stems from what Sakai said he saw, and what US records said was airborne at the time over Guadalcanal. I agree that it would be easy to mistake an Wildcat for an Avenger from a distance, but US records indicate that Avengers weren't flying in that area on that date.

Thank you for posting his story. I've read his autobiography "Samurai!" many times.

:thumbsup:

I guess it boils down to whether you believe the "official" U.S. records, logged by some guy on a ship far removed from the action; or the first hand account of a Japanese ace that was actually present in the encounter. Keep in mind that those same "official" U.S. wartime records, will also be the same ones that list wildly inaccurate kill claims against enemy planes in action, and have been shown to be full of inaccuracies.

Some food for thought:

A) Sakai states in his book that the planes he wound up attacking were types he had never seen before. He goes on to describes the top turret and the belly turret from a distance of 60 yards as he closed to attack.

B) Sakai states in his book, that as he fired, and the enemy planes began returning fire, he was only twenty yards from the U.S. planes. Twenty yards...

C) Three other pilots following Sakai also reported that Sakai attacked Avengers, and that Sakai's attack sent two of them down in flames.

D) Sakai states that he made his attack from the rear and below. A potential blind spot for the Dauntless. He states the formation closed up as he approached, which kinda makes it rather difficult for all the rear gunners on "the Dauntlesses" to be able to all open up on an attacking plane coming from the rear and below, unless of course, he was being fired upon from the belly gun of Avengers, all of which would have a clear line of fire to Sakai.

E) Sakai was in action many times against Dutch flown Curtiss P-75 Hawks, and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. A plane that had very little difference in the airframe other than the engine, and Sakai had no trouble identifying those two planes apart from one another.

F) The Japanese used a different calendar year than the US. For example, the year 1940, was the imperial year 2600. It is entirely possible that there was/is a simple error on the actual date of this encounter, from either US or Japanese records.

Raises an interesting question, doesn't it.

Who do you believe, a Japanese ace who was there, or some book keeper on a ship far away?

[bsmith13]

I guess it boils down to whether you believe the "official" U.S. records, logged by some guy on a ship far removed from the action; or the first hand account of a Japanese ace that was actually present in the encounter. Keep in mind that those same "official" U.S. wartime records, will also be the same ones that list wildly inaccurate kill claims against enemy planes in action, and have been shown to be full of inaccuracies.

One of the things I enjoy about aviation history is the phenomenon of people remembering the same event completely differently. Getting to the bottom of a story is sometimes impossible, but sometimes can be narrowed down a bit. I know of several instances of mistaken identity, from RAF pilots misidentifying Bf109s as practically non-existent Heinkel He100s to USN pilots swearing that Bf109s opposed them at the Battle of Midway. Fortunately, many professional historians have gone back to attempt to reconcile the differences of accounts. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't.

Sakai unquestionably describes an Avenger with the top turret (Dauntlesses had a flex mount) and a belly turret (actually a tunnel gun, which the Dauntless lacked). It is interesting to note that before August 8th, 1942, he had never seen a Wildcat OR an Avenger.

However, no TBFs were lost on this date. A mixed flight of VB-5/VB-6 SBDs was attacked by two Zeroes near Tulagi.

That the combat took place on August 8th seems indisputable, since Sakai had already had an epic dogfight with Pug Southerland (shooting him down) and also shooting down the Dauntless of Lt. Dudley Adams from VS-71 on the same date. Both of these encounters are well documented and completely cross-check.

Sakai says he was wounded by a .50 caliber bullet, but neither the modified twin-mounts of the SBDs or the tunnel gun on the TBF is a .50; it's a .30.

For me, it remains an unanswerable question. As honorable and competent as Sakai is, the facts as reported by both sides don't add up. The "book-keeper on a ship far away" was actually a bunch of guys on the carriers that were home to the SBDs and TBFs, including mechanics who had to count their Avengers to see how many they lost and how much work they would have to do to fix them up for the next flight, pilots who flew the planes, and the squadron and air group commanders who had to meticulously track their casualties and battle damage. All came back with combat reports of their own, and they were all available to be interviewed late into the 1990s, just like Sakai was on numerous occasions.

I view over-claiming in a completely different light, as all air forces have been proven to overclaim at a 2:1 to 5:1 rate. It's the nature of air combat.

No matter what kind of plane it was that blinded him, his feat of airmanship under such horrific physical conditions is amazing.

[CappyTom]

Tom!

I read Samurai as a kid and was always amazed by Saburo Sakai! You Tube has a few interviews he did a modest man! The luck factor cannot be overstressed in his flight back home to Rabaul from Guadalcanal. He mentioned in Samurai his plane would roll over and fly upside down if his mind strayed for a moment. In pain from his head wound and with his entire left side of his body paralyzed, i would suspect his mind wondered more than once on that flight!



Rich

Rich I'm going to have to get that book. Thanks for the heads up.

Thomas

[Jager]

I used to have it; it may still be in the library, but probably got donated to a booksale in one of my moves :(
I might have to find it again.
Karl
I vaguely remember a bit where he is attacking an unsuspecting P-39, and notes the pilot is smoking a cigar.
Wild Bill's brother, maybe ;)
Karl

[CappyTom]

I used to have it; it may still be in the library, but probably got donated to a booksale in one of my moves :(
I might have to find it again.
Karl
I vaguely remember a bit where he is attacking an unsuspecting P-39, and notes the pilot is smoking a cigar.
Wild Bill's brother, maybe ;)
Karl

Good one.

[kaufschtick]

Sakai unquestionably describes an Avenger with the top turret (Dauntlesses had a flex mount) and a belly turret (actually a tunnel gun, which the Dauntless lacked). It is interesting to note that before August 8th, 1942, he had never seen a Wildcat OR an Avenger.

As an ace pilot in the Imperial Japanese Air Force; engaged against an enemy who flew known aircraft types; you don't suppose that there was any kind of aircraft recognition training done by the Japanese Air Force do you? Or by Sakai? He saw Wildcats before his engagement with the Avengers as he had just shot down Pug Southerland's Wildcat, and was able to instantly recognize the aircraft type as a Wildcat.


However, no TBFs were lost on this date. A mixed flight of VB-5/VB-6 SBDs was attacked by two Zeroes near Tulagi.

Sakai had three pilots follow his attack, which makes 4 attacking Zeros. Sakai and Caidin address address the issue of no Avenger's having been reported as lost in his book, which illustrates that Sakai was clearly aware of this fact when he wrote his book, and despite this, he maintained that he attacked TBF Avengers.

Sakai wrote that he received credit for victories 61 and 62 from this engagement, but acknowledges that the three pilots following his attack and witnessing it, claim only that they saw the Avengers falling from the sky trailing fire and smoke and did not actually see them crash. Sakai supposes that the Avengers may have been able to RTB, just as he was able to do in his stricken aircraft.

So the records of no TBFs having been reported as lost had already been addressed by Sakai himself in his book, years ago when he wrote it.


That the combat took place on August 8th seems indisputable, since Sakai had already had an epic dogfight with Pug Southerland (shooting him down) and also shooting down the Dauntless of Lt. Dudley Adams from VS-71 on the same date.

Sakai well knew what a Dauntless looked like too, as well as a Wildcat, having just shot both types down before his engagement with the Avengers. Seeing as Wildcats and Dauntlesses were both known aircraft types flown by the USN, I'm sure silhouette training allowed Sakai to very quickly recognize those planes.

He described the planes he attacked as types he had never seen before. Meaning, that not only had he never "actually" seen an Avenger first hand, but that he had never seen any kind of prior information, or silhouettes on that aircraft type.

The Japanese did exactly like we did in training pilots for combat. Pilots had to be able to recognize friend from foe, and that meant aircraft recognition training, most likely done with silhouette cards. Recognizing friend from foe could make the difference between life and death, and I'm sure every available moment of time was spent training on it.

Grumman's TBF Avenger was a new player to air combat in the pacific for the Japanese. I think the Avenger made it's combat debut in the pacific just 2 months earlier, at Midway in early June.


The "book-keeper on a ship far away" was actually a bunch of guys on the carriers that were home to the SBDs and TBFs, including mechanics who had to count their Avengers to see how many they lost and how much work they would have to do to fix them up for the next flight, pilots who flew the planes, and the squadron and air group commanders who had to meticulously track their casualties and battle damage.

Aircraft maintenance personnel often keep track of the planes via tail numbers, and not necessarily by aircraft type. The paperwork is most often left to lesser experienced personnel, just as you would see in an auto shop garage today. The mechanics are in the shop actually doing the work, while the clerk in the office handles the paperwork and collects on the bill. The experienced mechanics are far too busy with their work to waste time filling out paperwork during combat flight operations; paperwork which is best done by the inexperienced and younger folks.

The pilots who flew the planes report to debriefing officers, who are responsible for making the after action reports. You're not going to have combat aircrew filling out paperwork when there is combat flying to be done. They're going to be flying and fighting. Any paperwork that needs to be done may actually be done several days after the actual events.

Squadron commanders, and especially air group commanders, receive reports on battle damage and maintenence; they don't meticulously track it themselves. They're far too busy trying to destroy the enemy and survive.

There's plenty of room for error in reports, especially when you combine fatigue, paperwork, and combat. If you don't think any pencil whipping went on in the armed forces during WWII, I've got some beachfront property for sale at bargain prices if you're interested.


For me, it remains an unanswerable question. As honorable and competent as Sakai is, the facts as reported by both sides don't add up.

Yes, it is unanswerable, to be sure. :confused:

My point is this, Sakai is giving an account of his life, as he lived it. Just because his story doesn't match up with WWII U.S. Navy records, doesn't make the U.S. Navy's version correct.

I find it odd that it seems to be widely accepted, that Sakai was wrong, in his account of that action. I'm not saying he wasn't wrong, it's just that I am not satisfied with the supporting statement as to why he may have been wrong, simply as Sakai's version does not match U.S. Navy records.

There's a lot of things that happen in the heat of battle that don't get recorded in reports.

[wargamer]

As an ace pilot in the Imperial Japanese Air Force

just a nitpick, but Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force. They had an Army Air Force and a Naval Air Force. Saburo Sakai made comment in his book about his comrades lost at Midway.

[bsmith13]

When I first read this thread, I started out believing that it was possible that either Sakai or the "official USN reports" could be wrong about what happened over the Slot in this encounter. After reading everything I can find about the subject, I no longer believe that.

I acknowledge your point that Imperial Japanese Navy pilots were trained in aircraft recognition. However, I don't believe that the people writing after-action reports were as distant from the action and as amateur as you describe. Specifically, USN pilots submitted their own reports without the benefit of a typist or clerk, at least in 1942.

Here are a few more points to consider that are relevant to whether Sakai attacked TBFs or not:

- Henry Sakaida, who wrote "Winged Samurai" in 1985, was horrified by the inaccuracies in "Samurai" by Martin Caidin. As a fluent speaker of Japanese, Sakaida went to Sakai and showed him the errors. Sakai refuted a number of things in the American edition of "Samurai". (Here's the website where I found info about "Winged Samurai": http://www.warbirdforum.com/wingsams.htm). One of the apparent inaccuracies that caught Sakaida's attention was the encounter with the TBFs. Sakaida then conducted interviews with surviving participants. Based on their testimonies and after action reports (surviving pilots and gunners of VB-5 and VB-6, especially LT Horenburger's report to CinCPAC), Sakaida came to the conclusion that Sakai and his three wingmen had not attacked TBFs, but rather SBDs. The details of the fight from both Japanese and American recollections corroborated each other (the location of the attack, the position from which the SBDs were attacked, the time of the attack, the number of bombers and Zeroes, number of losses of bombers and Zeroes) to the point where it seems indisputable that Sakai and his wingmen attacked SBDs rather than TBFs. Though Sakai was attacking from below and behind, apparently enough of the gunners saw him approach that the pilots tightened formation and caught Sakai in a crossfire.

- Could VB-5/VB6 been attacked by other Tainan Air Group fighters? No. The Japanese after action reports do not mention anything like what Sakai and his wingmen experienced over Tulagi; they had split up just prior to the Sakai/Southerland fight.

- Not only did all the TBFs make it safely back to Enterprise, Saratoga and Wasp; no VT squadrons report having been in combat with Zeroes on the date in question, at least in any of the accounts of the battle August 8th that I have at my disposal. If you have any references that indicate otherwise, I would really like to know, as this is a pretty big whole in my aviation history library.

- Jeff Ethell and Colin Heaton interviewed Sakai between 1984-1998. In the interview his story remains that he attacked a flight of Avengers, even though he called his target a "Damned Dive-Bomber" when interviewed by Sakaida. After reading about this incident for the last couple of days, I no longer believe that Sakai attacked TBFs. My question has become "Why did he think he was attacking Avengers?" Why did he think that the Wildcats he was fighting were painted Olive Drab? Was that just a bad translation? Did the fact that he had dried soda pop all over his goggles and inside of his canopy have anything to do with this? What was the visibility like at the time of his final attack? As he approached, he mentions that by the time he realized his targets weren't Wildcats, it was too late to break off, so he pressed his attack. Was he so intent that he didn't see the other tail gunners bring their guns to bear? Did the massive head wound that he suffered have anything to do with the discrepancy?

So that's why I believe what I believe. If you choose to believe Sakai's account as it appears in "Samurai!" and the interview with Ethell/Heaton, I'm fine with that. If you are interested, please read the stuff on the Sakaida site. If you have a copy handy, read the chapter entitled "Sock 'em in the Solomons" from John Lundstrom's "First Team and the Guadacanal Campaign". I'd be very happy and interested to read anything you can throw at me that would shed more light on the subject, as I LOVE this stuff. Then tell me what you think.

I haven't read Sakaida's book since I was in college. Time to find a copy, I think (if anyone has a copy for sale, PM me!). I'm enjoying digging stuff out of books for this discussion. I hope that nothing I've written comes across as patronizing or mean-spirited. I just enjoy discussions like this.

:D

[csadn]

- Henry Sakaida, who wrote "Winged Samurai" in 1985, was horrified by the inaccuracies in "Samurai" by Martin Caidin.

Caidin wrote this: http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Air-Stories-Aerial-Hauntings/dp/1880090104 .

Not much more needs be said.

[kaufschtick]

I just enjoy discussions like this. :D

You and I both! :thumbsup: That was always a question for me, as to why there were different accounts of that incident. In the end though, it really doesn't matter.

What does really matter, is that those events are never forgotten.


Caidin wrote this: http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Air-Stories-Aerial-Hauntings/dp/1880090104 .

Not much more needs be said.

Caidin wrote some terrific books, two of which being Black Thursday ( Second Raid on Schweinfurt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Raid_on_Schweinfurt) ) and A Torch to the Enemy (fire storm raid on Tokyo); that were both just mind numbing.

He also wrote another great book on the entire air war in the pacific, entirely from the Japanese point of view, called Zero, based on accounts from Masatake Okumiya & Jiro Horikoshi.

All the above mentioned are superb, compelling books that you should read if you ever get the chance. All published within 15 years of the actual events, based upon first hand accounts from individuals who were there.

Now later in life, after getting along in years...well, he might have gotten a little eccentric, shall we say...:FOK:

I'm just going to leave it at that and move along...:please:


just a nitpick, but Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force. They had an Army Air Force and a Naval Air Force. Saburo Sakai made comment in his book about his comrades lost at Midway.

No, that's no nitpick either! If I remember right, their inter service rivalry between the Army and Navy made ours look like an arguement between pre schoolers! I wanna say that was a VERY big deal to them at the time.

Good point, to be sure! :thumbsup:

[csadn]

Now later in life, after getting along in years...well, he might have gotten a little eccentric, shall we say...

The Senile Pen is bad enough in fiction authors -- in nonfiction authors, it is downright disastrous.



No, that's no nitpick either! If I remember right, their inter service rivalry between the Army and Navy made ours look like an arguement between pre schoolers! I wanna say that was a VERY big deal to them at the time.

Indeed -- the China War was pretty-much entirely an Army endeavor; the Navy wanted nothing to do with it. However, as PM Tojo was Army, and Konoe before him was a weak PM, there wasn't anyone to put a stop to the IJA's renegade behavior.

[kaufschtick]

The Senile Pen is bad enough in fiction authors -- in nonfiction authors, it is downright disastrous.

Well, in his time, shall we say, he was in the right place and time to record some pretty damn good books with some of the folks that survived.

I remeber reading A Torch To The Enemy by him at a very young age, and it was bone chilling. If you've never read or heard of it before, it was about the fire bombing raid on Tokyo that resulted in what they called a Torch Conflageration, or fire storm. I believe it was the worst one ever too.

[csadn]

If you've never read or heard of it before, it was about the fire bombing raid on Tokyo that resulted in what they called a Torch Conflageration, or fire storm. I believe it was the worst one ever too.

I'm familiar with it -- Tokyo was a tinderbox just waiting for a flame.

[FrankJamison]

Depending on the numbers quoted, the great firebombing of Tokyo killed more people than Hiroshima or Nagasaki or possibly even more than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Of course, a lot of it was because the Japanese authorities tried to fight the fires of Hell. They quickly learned to evacuate upwind when LeMay's boys came calling.


I remeber reading A Torch To The Enemy by him at a very young age, and it was bone chilling. If you've never read or heard of it before, it was about the fire bombing raid on Tokyo that resulted in what they called a Torch Conflageration, or fire storm. I believe it was the worst one ever too.

[CappyTom]

It is amazing, I started this thread to high light a great pilot and to show that he had mercy. I love the way that threads go from one topic to another. I really enjoyed reading that with the nurse and kids waving, he had compassion and waved back and flew away.

I would like to thank you all for bringing so much more life to this story and giving me more books to find and read.
:thankyou:
Thomas

[Dwarflord22]

Great link with an amazing story! :thumbsup:

[Kaiser]

They also made a movie about Sakai: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074370/

[Fabric Flyer]

I guess it boils down to whether you believe the "official" U.S. records, logged by some guy on a ship far removed from the action; or the first hand account of a Japanese ace that was actually present in the encounter. Keep in mind that those same "official" U.S. wartime records, will also be the same ones that list wildly inaccurate kill claims against enemy planes in action, and have been shown to be full of inaccuracies.

Some food for thought:



A) Sakai states in his book that the planes he wound up attacking were types he had never seen before. He goes on to describes the top turret and the belly turret from a distance of 60 yards as he closed to attack.

B) Sakai states in his book, that as he fired, and the enemy planes began returning fire, he was only twenty yards from the U.S. planes. Twenty yards...

C) Three other pilots following Sakai also reported that Sakai attacked Avengers, and that Sakai's attack sent two of them down in flames.

D) Sakai states that he made his attack from the rear and below. A potential blind spot for the Dauntless. He states the formation closed up as he approached, which kinda makes it rather difficult for all the rear gunners on "the Dauntlesses" to be able to all open up on an attacking plane coming from the rear and below, unless of course, he was being fired upon from the belly gun of Avengers, all of which would have a clear line of fire to Sakai.

E) Sakai was in action many times against Dutch flown Curtiss P-75 Hawks, and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. A plane that had very little difference in the airframe other than the engine, and Sakai had no trouble identifying those two planes apart from one another.

F) The Japanese used a different calendar year than the US. For example, the year 1940, was the imperial year 2600. It is entirely possible that there was/is a simple error on the actual date of this encounter, from either US or Japanese records.

Raises an interesting question, doesn't it.

Who do you believe, a Japanese ace who was there, or some book keeper on a ship far away?

Hello Guys, I just read the whole thread on this interesting Pilot and story. I too have read 'Samurai' and did a book report on it for myself, just to have a written account since the book belonged to the library. I enjoyed everyone's feedback and opinions.
I have for many years been interested in Japanese history. Saburo Sakai's account was very interesting, being told from the enemy's side and not just all U.S. interpretation only of what happens in battle and especially Sakai's encounter that day.
To make this short, "Who do I believe, A Japanese Ace or a book keeper?" Japanese Ace. You have to start believing something,
if not, then how can we believe anything recorded in WWII or all of history. I believe a lot or even most of history is wrong, but is close and thats all we really have. There is no way of knowing what someone wrote down was the Truth or Not.
Enjoyed this thread!! Thanks to All.:thumbsup:

Fabric Flyer:pint:

[Fabric Flyer]

It is amazing, I started this thread to high light a great pilot and to show that he had mercy. I love the way that threads go from one topic to another. I really enjoyed reading that with the nurse and kids waving, he had compassion and waved back and flew away.

I would like to thank you all for bringing so much more life to this story and giving me more books to find and read.
:thankyou:

CappyTom, I just read the whole thread on this interesting story. It has been a favorite for years, I too have read the book, 'Samurai'. And it is great all the interest and info this story attracted. Enjoyed it much.
And by the way, I believe Saburo Sakai's account of his own life.

Fabric Flyer:pint:
Thomas