Reddit reviews I Was a Kamikaze

“We tried to live with 120 percent intensity, rather than waiting for death. We read and read, trying to understand why we had to die in our early twenties. We felt the clock ticking away towards our death, every sound of the clock shortening our lives.” - Irokawa Daikichi

"When I was young, I went to war as a Kamikaze pilot. I had firmly made up my mind to give my life because I wanted to protect my parents, my brothers and sisters and my friends. Other pilots went before me, giving their lives in that final flight. I waited my turn. My turn did not come. The war ended just when I was about to fly. I was devastated, because I could not carry out my commitment to help. I wasn’t able to serve. I felt useless. All my comrades had given their lives and here I was, still alive, to what purpose?" - Tangen Harada (who became Zen monk after the war)


These guys where very young but they were not naive. They were students from the best universities. Many of them did not agree with Japanese militarism. It was not for the Emperor. Their cities were firebombed killing thens of thousands of people. They did it for their families. At the same time they were very scared and very much did not want to die.

There is a good book: I Was a Kamikaze that gives the account of how they trained and what they thought.

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ps. The most highly–decorated regiment in the history of the United States Armed Forces is 442nd Infantry Regiment (22 Medal of Honors, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 9,486 Purple Hearts). Guess what their ethnicity was.

http://www.amazon.com/I-Was-Kamikaze-Ryuji-Nagatsuka/dp/0025882805

I'm currently reading it as recommend on another sub-reddit about Kamikaze attacks.So far its been about pilots initial training, and they seemed to have it drilled into them it is better to think of themselves as allready dead. If they think about themselves/others during combat they will be killed. Their only goal is to take down the enemy