by: Stephen T. Lawson [ ]
HistoryDecember 7, 1941 was our introduction to the Japanese Naval pilot and his formidable aircraft. Through out the next few years many allied pilots faced off with the guns of the enemy in the South Pacific theater.
The authorDan King earned his bachelor's degree in Japanese in 1986 before moving to Japan for 10 years. He was later awarded the Japanese Ministry of Education's top level of language certification for non-native speakers. He has worked as a tech/language adviser on several movies and documentaries about the Pacific War. King has interviewed 97 WWII Japanese Army and Navy veterans, and met well over 250 of them in the past 30 years. He worked as a historical / technical / language / researcher adviser on several movies and documentaries: Windtalkers, Last Samurai, Flags of Our Fathers, Only the Brave, HBO's The Pacific, Wake Island Alamo of the Pacific, and others. He traveled to many of the WWII battle sites in search of firsthand knowledge of what the veterans experienced at: Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, Saipan, Guam, Rabaul, Singapore, Tinian, Peleliu, Midway, Wake Island, Peleliu, Ponape, Yap, Guadalcanal, Rabaul, Truk Lagoon, Okinawa, Nanking China, and many others.
The BookPaperback: 348 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; Revised edition (June 26, 2013)
Product Dimensions: 0.7 x 5.9 x 8.9 inches
Introduction Japanese Naval Aviation 101
The Imperial Japanese Naval Aviators
The paths to becoming an Aviator
High school boys and Yakaren (like our civil air patrol)
The men and their stories.
Chapter 1 Kaname Harada
Chapter 2 Isami Miyazaki
Chapter 3 Haruo Yoshino
Chapter 4.Toshimitsu Imaizumi
Chapter 5 Tomokazu Kasai
While the men have their own points of view their stories tend to put you in a day to day TDY. You see their view from the cockpit and hear their versions of the victories and losses they faced for Emperor and country. The stories of intemperate instructors and the beatings novices would face is an eye opener. From Wake Island through Okinawa, all of the island hopping and then the retreat back to the Japanese mainland is seen from their young eyes. Older now and haunted with their hard days of youth each man recalls his memories. The hardest for this reviewer are the topics surrounding Iwo Jima. Author Mr. King is currently writing his next book titled: "In the shadow of Suribachi". I look forward to it publishing.
For the enthusiast, modeler, devotee and research fiend each type of Japanese aircraft these men flew is covered with each pilot's notes on its operational characteristics. If you have an interest in the Pacific theater this book will more than adequately fill a void on your reference shelves.
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