Aviation History - January 2016

52 AH January 2016

dead and more than 250 wounded, the bloodiest

suicide strike of the war. Three days later Enterprise,

which had fought in every major battle in the

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inverted to smash through three decks before his

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West Virginia, Maryland, Idaho, New York, Tennessee

and Mississippi were all damaged. Okinawa was

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those dead than wounded.

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die to the last man, woman and child, the United

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warriors, there is no such thing as defeat. Even

with Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed, Onishi

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days later Hirohito surrendered.

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“IF WE ARE

...PREPARED

TO SACRIFICE

TWENTY

MILLION

LIVES IN A

KAMIKAZE

EFFORT,

VICTORY

WILL BE

OURS!”

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damaged and about a quarter of those lost in the

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task. Refusing medical attention, he lingered all

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bombers might well take his dying words to heart:

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For the Japanese view of kamikazes, frequent contribu-

tor Don Hollway recommends <PM,Q^QVM?QVL"

2IXIV¼[3IUQSIbM.WZKMQV?WZTL?IZ11,

by Rikihei Inoguchi, Tadashi Nakajima and Roger

Pineau. For the American side, try Robin L. Rielly’s

3IUQSIbM[+WZ[IQZ[IVL8QKSM\;PQX["7SQVI_I

! and 3IUQSIbM)\\IKS[WN?WZTL?IZ11. To

view additional photos and video, visit donhollway.com/

divinewind.

wall of steel

A kamikaze (at left

near the horizon)

makes a run at the

battleship Texas. It

was downed before

reaching its goal.