From the New York Times:

Kaname Harada, a former fighter ace who was believed to be the last surviving combat pilot to fly for Japan at Pearl Harbor, and who became an apostle of pacifism a half-century later out of remorse over the deaths he caused, died on Tuesday in Nagano, northwest of Tokyo. He was 99.

His daughter, Chiyoko Tanaka, confirmed his death.

Rather than waiting until he was drafted, Mr. Harada enlisted in the Japanese Marines in 1933 when he was barely 17. After transferring to flight school and becoming a pilot, he was credited by Japan with shooting down nine Chinese, British and American aircraft on his own. He also shared 10 downings with other pilots in combat over Manchuria, Ceylon, Midway and Guadalcanal from 1937 to 1942.

“He was Japan’s oldest ace,” said Dan King, the author of “The Last Zero Fighter: Firsthand Accounts From WWII Japanese Naval Pilots,” published in 2012. Mr. King described Mr. Harada as the last surviving Zero combat pilot who flew in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, although that could not be independently verified.

Mr. Harada himself said he had flown at Pearl Harbor and recalled being disappointed at the time that his mission was to protect Japanese carriers rather than to participate in the devastating raid on the American fleet.

Wounded the next year when he crash-landed at Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, he returned to Japan to train pilots for suicide missions against American targets. After the war he became a farmer, but he hid in fear from American occupiers and was plagued by nightmares.

“I realized the war had turned me into a killer of men,” he told Martin Fackler last year in a profile in The New York Times, “and that was not the kind of person I wanted to be.”

He added: “I fought the war from the cockpit of a Zero, and can still remember the faces of those I killed. They were fathers and sons, too. I didn’t hate them or even know them.”

“That is how war robs you of your humanity,” he said, “by putting you in a situation where you must either kill perfect strangers or be killed by them.”

Bill, Thanks for the post! Interesting read. God bless!

Friar

Excellent!

RIP!

RIP.....indeed. GOD Bless the man.

deleted, taking my own advice.

quote:

Originally posted by HPMaster:
He brazenly and wantonly attacked a nation otherwise at peace with his. He was right to hide. Shameful. His only excuse was he was under orders. Then again he volunteered for the rape pillage and burn of China etc.

His kind murdered Allied forces who surrendered (dishonor) and expected their own to commit suicide if they lost, so why did not he?

I know many will chime in a decry OIF/OEF etc, we did not hide the fact that we were coming so not same-same.

Flame on.

Seruously? If you want to continue with your line of "reasoning", then all US Vietnam vets must the same "kind" as Lt Calley. That is the problem when you paint people with too broad of a brush. You always get some paint on yourself........

INTJ

I edited my comment apparently at the near-same time you posted a response. Indeed, I deleted it in it's entirety.

On the other hand, if one compares a sneak attack on a peaceful nation in peaceful relations with you as honorable, then I don't know. Also, I don't think the US and it allies snuck a massive offensive on a sleeping Vietnam... To compare the unwarranted attack on a non-belligerent nation and enjoining in internal defense of a nation that is allied and asking for assistance is well off the mark.

I regret that I did not edit it faster. But I am not wrong.

The war started by Japan against the US was illegal and dishonorable. Japan's leaders thought that they were being expansionary by attempting to defeat the US West/Pacific Fleet while we were engaged in Europe. A Day of Infamy indeed.

What the nation of Japan did was indeed dishonorable. However, most Japanese military members were honarably serving their country. They likely didn't have any say in what Japan was doing.

I did not support the first Gulf War, but I wasn't consulted. However, I was bound to serve my country in an honorable way, regardless of the bad decisions of our civilian leaders.

This particular fighter pilot had nothing to do with the horrible treatment given to our POW's by the Japanese military, but in doing so they deserve no "quarter" of any type and all are to be condemned. Whether pilot, private or General, they all knew what was being done and supported it totally. The entire Gov't from Emperor to the "grunts" believed in racial superiority and therefore were justified in such behavior. Same attitude as seen in Europe during the war, insanity. He was smart to hide during the occupation of Japan, but doubt he would have been starved, tortured, before they shot him.

INTJ;
Thanks for your service.

Even if you did not "support" the Gulf War(s), it cannot be because we and the coalitions conducted a sneak attack on an otherwise peaceful nation. We warned, we built up, we waited for intnl UN sanctions etc, then we took action after a long "due process". Silly me, I guess. Just War theory and all not withstanding.

With 4 SWA combat tours and several non combat haz duty tours in 23 years, I never "supported" combat action- I like my body parts and my men more, but a just action is often required, even if afterwards naysayers and second guessers rule the MSM.

Regards