Why Did the US Navy Hold a Funeral for a Kamikaze?

the Kamikaze the deadly suicide tactic that killed thousands of American Sailors this desperate style of attack has gone down as one of the most terrifying methods of warfare in history but there is one story that has long since been forgotten a tale of one kamikaze pilot that ends with respect and Humanity this is the story of the Japanese Kamikaze that was buried by the United States Navy [Music] in 1944 the South Pacific Theater was one of the most crucial battlefields in the world as the remaining forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy attempted to defend against the American forces closing in upon them in the spring and summer months massive engagements took part that saw hundreds of ships involved in thousands of casualties for all sides the fighting was intense and everything was on the line for the Nations involved in these decisive battles in the spring and summer of 1944 the Allies came out the Victor as the Japanese were running out of time men and resources as it became clear that the tide of war was shifting in favor of the Americans Japan opted to bring out one last secret weapon the Kamikaze on October 24th of 1944 in the Battle of Leyte golf this new tactic of desperation and unmatched loyal to their country was implemented for the first time the Americans had never seen anything like this before and unfortunately for them the results would be devastating the sailors in the U.S Navy would quickly find this out for themselves these suicide attacks were based in the Japanese cultural values of loyalty to country honor for your family and Devotion to the emperor using this intense loyalty Japanese commanders created units that were solely composed of kamikazes and they were trained exclusively for this role more often than not these were young and inexperienced Pilots usually less than 22 years old one of these Fearless young men would be a 19 year old Japanese Aviator by the name of setsuzo eshino this young pilot from the okayama Perfection would be assigned to the Kamikaze special attack core fifth kinmu Squadron here although he knew that his fate was death he accepted his role with honor and trained to crash directly into an enemy ship in the coming months this final flight would take place during the battle of Okinawa in April of 1945. this bloody Clash was the final true battle of World War II the Americans wanted to take the island to utilize it as a forward base for their eventual invasion of Japan the Japanese knew this and recognized the importance of holding the island so they were prepared to give everything to defend it since it was one of the first times that the Americans were trying to take true Japanese soil and while the primary fighting for Okinawa would take place on the island itself a serious conflict simultaneously raged in the waters near the island as well here the United States Navy had a great number of ships supporting the ground forces by shelling air support and bringing in food and medical supplies to the Troops that were fighting it out on the ground one of the most famous ships that was stationed in these Waters was the battleship USS Missouri which was one of the Premier warships in the world at this time this Battleship nicknamed Mighty Mo would see Heavy attacks in these coming months as she and hundreds of other U.S Navy ships sat in the waters around the island the brutal attacks would come not by shells or bombs but by kamikazes it was in these months at Okinawa that the Japanese brought together the greatest force of suicide bombers that had ever been assembled and Unleashed them upon American Sailors patrolling their Waters in a final effort to push the Americans away from Mainland Japan in the three months that the battle at Okinawa raged it is estimated that the Japanese sent more than one thousand Kamikaze aircraft to hit American targets resulting in the sinking of 13 American destroyers 15 amphibious ships and seriously damaging multiple aircraft carriers and killing thousands of sailors but in this Mass onslaught of suicide bombers that rained down upon the U.S Navy there would be one story in particular that deserves retelling this took place on April 11th of 1945 when 16 special Kamikaze attack Pilots would take off in their aircraft from the Japanese Air Base at kanoia in this group of Pilots would be none other than the young setsuzo eshino in the days before this attack ishino at just 19 years old had written a final letter to his family Dear Mother at the last the day has come when the final flower will Bloom I will go smiling please do not say anything since all is for the country the day when we meet next will be under the splendid flowers at Yasukuni Shrine please say that I did well and smile without crying I am praying for everyone's good health forever and ever take care he finishes this letter with a poem that is directly translated here today's mission is something I have long awaited all that's left for me now is to crash straight on into some enemy craft carrier April 6 1945 said so five days after writing this farewell letter is Shino and the rest of his unit took off they would be flying A6 M2 zeros loaded with high explosives and would set a heading for the U.S Fleet off of Okinawa each plane knew exactly what targets they were looking for as their Recon planes had provided in-depth photos of what ships were present but before they could strike their intended ships they had to First make it through the most effective Kamikaze defense that had yet been utilized the F4U Corsair the Corsair had recently been sent to the front lines flying for both the Navy and the Marines in the air commanders had found that it was the best defense against the Kamikaze this was because ships could only open up at the Japanese Plains once they were within range but the fighters if able to locate the planes could cut off the suicide bombers before they got to their target and since they never had defensive Gunners and rarely utilized escorts they were often sitting ducks and could be picked off without too much of a problem if there is any doubt to this just ask Jeremiah O'Keefe a famous Corsair pilot who shot down five kamikazes in a single mission in this very same month at Okinawa but while these corsairs were indeed effective on April 11th of 1945 it was still very early in the battle and defensive tactics were still being perfected at Okinawa and so on this day the f4us would not be able to intercept the 16 kamikazes from kanoia in time to stop their attack it would instead be up to the anti-aircraft Crews of the U.S Navy immediately the U.S Sailors opened up as soon as the Japanese aircraft came into range the members of the Kamikaze flight as they were trained split up into Pairs and went to the areas of their specified targets for this Mission flight Petty officers set suzo eshino would be paired with another flight petty officer kin kichi ishi the two special attack Fighters quickly located their target the mighty Battleship USS Missouri according to the combat reports from the Missouri the following are the chronological reports from the Battle of April 11th of 1945. we can see that in 1355 the air defense alert was sounded at 1425 air defenses opened up and multiple hits would be confirmed then at 1440 13 bogeys reported splashed by Fleet three or more Bandits still closing on formation very quickly so of the flight of 16 kamikazes three would survive the pounding of American anti-aircraft of these three surviving planes that made it through one would be sitsuzo eshino and one was his wingman but as They carried on at a few thousand yards his accompanying zero flown by kinkichi ishi was shot down and crashed into the water is Shino however barreled onward right at the American battleship according to the combat report at 1442 the USS Missouri commences firing on a low-flying zero coming directly in on the starboard quarter bearing 150 degrees at a distance of 7 000 yards and an altitude of a hundred feet In This Moment all of the guns on the Missouri were firing away giving everything they had to take this final zero out that had miraculously made it through their barrage of flak and machine gun fire at 4 000 yards set suzo eshino takes a hit and begins smoking he appears to lose altitude and nearly splashes but regains control and resumes his course the Missouri Gunners stand their ground and continue to pour out fire while the zero clearly struggles to maintain its ability to fly a few seconds later still amazingly in the air the zero Bears right upon the ship and Strikes the USS Missouri according to the reports at 1443 the left wing of a zero struck the Missouri bare inches below the main deck the ship was sprayed with parts of his plane and the aircraft's starboard Wing was thrown forward to the first superstructure level frame 102 inboard of 5-inch Mount number three gasoline and fire resulted at this point and the mutilated body of the pilot landed on the main deck this photo actually taken by a cook on board of the USS Missouri incredibly captures the moment right before the Kamikaze struck the Missouri you can see that the plane is just feet away from Impact as well as the defensive Gunner Crews who are actively firing away upon impact the plane broke apart and was catapulted onto the deck where pieces of debris flew all about the damage crew rushed to extinguish the fires that had ensued and within a few minutes it was under control and put out fortunately for the Americans none of their crew would be hurt or injured from the attack and the damage to the Missouri was not serious as the crew looked over the wreckage thrown about the flight deck however a grim Discovery would be made amongst the wreckage of the zero the crew located the mangled body of its pilot said suzo eshino as they were still in the heat of battle the hands on deck made the assumption that the body of the pilot should be thrown overboard and asked their Captain for confirmation when they heard the response however it was not what they expected the commanding officer of the USS Missouri Captain William C Callahan recognized that regardless of the side that this man was fighting for he was still a fellow Soldier and should be treated as such he then replied with orders for the ship's medical personnel to take him below and to prepare his body for burial the crew immediately followed these orders sending the body to sickbay and made preparations later that night when the following days plan of the day went out for the USS Missouri from the captain it included a note that reads as follows the funeral service to be conducted at 0900 for the Japanese pilot is not a religious service but is strictly a military service of a burial by military courtesy just below this we can see the schedule of this event complete with a bugler a three volley fire and a hand salute furthermore the plan included an encasing of the colors thus the crew aware that it would be obviously inappropriate to encase him in the stars and stripes actually took the time to sew together a Japanese flag the night before so that the deceased pilot who had just wished death upon them would have an adequate burial the following morning the plan went on as scheduled the body was brought up and Taps were played over the bugle senior chaplain Roland Falk stepped forward simply saying we commit his body to the Deep the burial detail then tipped the body and canvas into the sea where it disappeared Into the Depths below the Missouri then continued on her course and the burial detail gathered and folded the Japanese flag the just five months later after the atomic bombs were dropped the official surrender of Imperial Japan would take place on the deck of the USS Missouri just feet away from where the Kamikaze had struck after serving many more years in 1998 the USS Missouri would be donated and became a floating Museum in Pearl Harbor right next to the USS Arizona symbolizing the start and finish of World War II for the United States on April 11th of 2001 more than 50 years after this moving incident family members of Three Japanese Pilots would gather aboard the Missouri along with the family of former Missouri commanding officer Captain William Callahan to honor his courage and compassion in recognizing their common Humanity today if you visit the USS Missouri you can still see the damage from setsuzo eshino's point of impact on the side of this Mighty battleship because of stories like this one we can all remember that even in war we are all still human please comment what story I should cover next and please consider subscribing

Channel: TJ3 History

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Keywords: Zero Kamikaze, Zero, Japanese Kamikaze, USS Missouri Kamikaze, Okinawa Kamikaze, A6M2, Kamikaze, Setsuo Ishino, USS Missouri, Okinawa, WW2 Kamikaze, Battle of Okinawa, IL-2 Sturmovik, IL2, Flight Sim, World War II Flight Sim, IL-2 Great Battles, WWII Kamikaze, IL2 Game, IL-2 Highlights, War Thunder Kamikaze, IL-2 Flight Sim, Combat Flight Sim, War Thunder, Realistic, History Channel Dogfights, Historic, Documentary, Mark Felton, Yarnhub, TJ3 Gaming, Dark Skies, wW2 Air Combat

Id: YJ413aoKeY4

Length: 15min 4sec (904 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 06 2023