Did you know the last Japanese airman who attacked Pearl Harbor died recently?

[havasu]

Masamitsu Yoshioka, the last living Japanese serviceman who participated in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, died at the age of 106 this August. He served as a navigator/bombardier on a Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo bomber He dropped one of two torpedoes that mistakenly struck and sunk the battleship Utah, which was only used as a training ship by that time.
(courtesy of Beaches of Normandy Tours)

 

[Weedygarden]

Not quite sure how to respond. The middle finger salute?

He was doing his job and the expectation for servicemen from Japan had some not good requirements, such as kamikaze.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Too bad he didn't go down with his bomb. My grandfather was there and the ship he was on sunk, don't remember now which ship it was. And it was the first of two ships he was on that was sunk by the Japs.

 

[Patchouli]

Too bad he didn't go down with his bomb. My grandfather was there and the ship he was on sunk, don't remember now which ship it was. And it was the first of two ships he was on that was sunk by the Japs.

Did your grandfather survive?
I thought all the Japanese bomb guys died on impact or whatever. I guess I thought they crashed their planes into the site they were bombing.

 

[havasu]

Kamikaze pilots were only used at the end of the war, when they were at the end of their ropes.

I post this because their soldiers were only following orders, and doing their jobs, just as us Americans. Don't hate the players, but hate the designers.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Did your grandfather survive?
I thought all the Japanese bomb guys died on impact or whatever. I guess I thought they crashed their planes into the site they were bombing.

Yes he survived both times. Many of the crew didn't survive the sharks though. Like most ex military at that time he never talked about his service. After the war he just went on with his life.

 

[d_marsh]

"Just following order is no excuse unless you're in the bedroom" -Donna Lynn Hope

 

[rice paddy daddy]

I post this because their soldiers were only following orders, and doing their jobs, just as us Americans. Don't hate the players, but hate the designers.

Exactly.
They were doing their jobs.

 

[Bacpacker]

Exactly.
They were doing their jobs.

The ones that attacked Pearl i agree. The ones doing medical experiments in live POWs should have gotten the same treatment the Nazis did

 

[Mountain trapper]

Until the day he died, my father would never buy anything made in Japan.

 

[kd4ulw]

Mine didn’t either.

 

[Caribou]

The culture in Japan today is different than in America. Before WWII it was almost a different world. We get to judge them because we won. I dare say that if “The Greatest Generation” was around to judge the current generation, like they did the Japanese, our own people would be left wanting. I’ve heard my parents say that they were glad to be near the end of their life so they didn’t have to live through the current America.

This warrior lived with honor, as he saw it, not the way we see it. That war is long over. A 106 year old warrior passing with his honor in tact is less concern to me than today’s politicians with no honor.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

The ones that attacked Pearl i agree. The ones doing medical experiments in live POWs should have gotten the same treatment the Nazis did

I absolutely agree.
As a student of WWII for over 65 years now i must separate men like the Japanese sailors at Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, from most all the rest. Especially from the Japanese Army, who were murderous barbarians.

It is because of what the Japanese Army did to civilians and military prisoners over 80 years ago that I FLAT OUT REFUSE to own a Japanese vehicle. even if it's made in the US.

 

[Hardcalibres]

The ones that attacked Pearl i agree. The ones doing medical experiments in live POWs should have gotten the same treatment the Nazis did

For reference, here is the detail on Unit 731.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

Unit 731 was commanded by Shiro Ishii:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirō_Ishii

Who later went on to be granted criminal immunity, in exchange for working with the US military germ warfare program at Fort Detrick (USAMRIID).

 

[Snowman]

The culture in Japan today is different than in America. Before WWII it was almost a different world. We get to judge them because we won. I dare say that if “The Greatest Generation” was around to judge the current generation, like they did the Japanese, our own people would be left wanting. I’ve heard my parents say that they were glad to be near the end of their life so they didn’t have to live through the current America.

This warrior lived with honor, as he saw it, not the way we see it. That war is long over. A 106 year old warrior passing with his honor in tact is less concern to me than today’s politicians with no honor.

How much "Honor" did he have after Learning of this :

"He served as a navigator/bombardier on a Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo bomber He dropped one of two torpedoes that mistakenly struck and sunk the battleship Utah, which was only used as a training ship by that time."