Kamikaze Aircraft Model: A Symbol That Reminds Japanese Fighters of ''Death for Glory'' |
Posted: October 23, 2018 |
During the height of the war, many nations got devastatingly dangerous on how they fight their opponents. The World War II saw many of these incidents. It was, after all, an incredibly dark period for humanity. According to historians, by the end of WWII, there were 7,465 Kamikazes which flew to their deaths, causing 120 US ships to sink, with many more damaged. For those not familiar with a Kamikaze aircraft model, or this suicide tactic used by the Japanese, here’s a back story. Submitting to the last resort Before there was ever a “Kamikaze,” pilots would deliberately crash their planes as a last resort, when it already suffered severe damage (being hit by the enemies). These suicide crashes were their way to avoid being captured, while still doing a big damage to their enemies as possible (they were crashing anyway). This incident occurred in both the Axis and Allied Air Forces. According to Japanese revolutionists and writers, Axell and Kase, these were “"individual, impromptu decisions by men who were mentally prepared to die. One good example of this occurred on 7 December 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor. First Lieutenant Fusata Iida's plane had taken a severe hit, and had started leaking fuel. He then decided to use it to make a suicide attack on the Naval Air Station Kaneohe. Before taking off, documentaries claim that he had told his men that if his plane were to become badly damaged, he would definitely crash it into a "worthy enemy target.” And that, he did. Although there are some stories that say Japan only used Kamikazes because they ran out of pilots (who needed thousands of hours to train to pilot an aircraft), and they could not train more because of oil shortages. If you have inexperienced men, no oil, and extra planes, you just got to make do with what you have. And if you have inexperienced men who are willing to defend for you, you send them into bad positions all over history. That is how some critics see it. An aircraft model that reminds men to die for glory Hisao Horiyama was a 21-year old airman caught in the thick of Japan’s faltering war with the allies. He was a relatively young soldier in the artillery unit of the Japanese army when he was drafted into the air force. He received a simple slip of white paper, which according to him, gave him the message that he was “due to die.” He had three options: volunteer without hesitation, simply volunteer, or just refuse. By agreeing to fly and crash a Kamikaze aircraft model, he’ll be ending his life in an instant, as well as the lives of many others, all in the name of his emperor. It was 1944 at the time, and the newly formed Kamikaze had Tokyo’s military leaders to ideologically condition willing warriors to die for their empire. Horiyama was no different. He, too, was a devoted subject of the emperor. As grim as it seems, dying and destroying his enemies was his “moment of glory.” When he graduated from the army training school, he was visited by the Showa emperor Hirohito, on a white horse. The message was already crystal clear to the lad. It was the sign that the emperor was personally requesting his service for their nation. He had no choice but to die for him. Horiyama believed that the emperor and the nation of Japan were one and the same, that’s why he didn’t have a hard time thinking and deciding whether to join or not. He had this mindset that the suicide attack was vital to help the air force. He didn’t think too much about dying. When he was in the army, they were trained to suppress their emotions. Dying was just a mere task they had to experience to fulfill their duty. Since Horiyama decided to take part in the next mission, he was asked to write a will and letter, which was to be sent to his parents. In his letter, he wrote that he was sorry to his father for being a bad student, and for crashing three planes during their exercises. He was sorry that the situations were not in favor of Japan, and that he wanted to prove himself to him. That’s why he joined the special attack unit. Just before Horiyama was to join the unit, he remembered his late mother who made it clear that she would never forgive his father, if he was to die in a Kamikaze attack. During that time, Japan was still flying suicide missions with the Kamikaze aircraft model. But on August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered and raised the white flag. Hisao Horiyama’s story was a story of a brave soldier. He was willing to sacrifice his life in order for their nation to win. To this day, he still thinks of the time he was supposed to join the suicide attack. He feels unworthy because some of his comrades died during Kamikaze attacks, while he didn’t. He feels that he, too, should have taken the same path. The Kamikaze aircraft model remains as an important symbol that signifies “death for glory.”
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