European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 6, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine divine wind desperation japans suicide pilots world War ii a suicide dive against an american file photo by Richard Pyle associated press it appeared As a tiny High in an otherwise empty and As the camera it became an its screaming vertical descent ended in a Ball of fire and Black smoke on the deck of an american aircraft the official Navy film does not name the ship nor give any other than that it happened off the coast of Okinawa 40 years it was a scene repeated hundreds of times Over the next few months As japans military leaders desperately sought ways to halt the inevitable Allied invasion of the Home the answer was the or divine in japanese the original Kamikaze were typhoons that wrecked the invasion fleets of mongol Leader Kublai Khan As they neared japans shores in 1274 and again in in modern the Kamikaze was a bomb Laden air Craft with enough fuel for a one Way trip and a Pilot dedicated to the belief that by sacrificing he would become a living destined to dwell forever in a Panthe on of nation saving heroes at Tokyo Masukuni Between late 1944 and japans surrender in August hundreds of Young pilots swore their Devotion to the emperor and underwent the purifying shinto including the Farewell cup of before climbing into their aircraft for the fatal few Ever and among the handful who were rescued after missing their targets and crashing into the k Navy photo from a Fla filled a japanese suicide bomber plummets Between two some Felt so disgraced by failure that they could not Bear to return Home the Kamikaze were the brainchild of vice Taki Jiro a naval commander in the they first appeared in organized attacks there in late the suicide planes Sank the Carrier Princeton and severely damaged the Franklin and two at iwo in february Waves of Kamikaze Sank the Carrier Bismarck sea and crippled the but it was after the invasion of Okinawa in april that the suicide sortie became a full time element of japans defensive by Imperial army pilots had joined the from airfields in Taiwan and the Southern Home Island of As a almost any Allied ship would but the primary objectives were the lightly armoured american carriers whose planes were inflicting havoc on japanese shipping and land diving from above or Boring in at wave top level through curtains of antiaircraft the great majority of Kamikaze never hit their those that did inflicted devastation on ships of All from picket destroyers to troop ships to during the 11week Okinawa 32 ships of the mixed and British task forces were sunk and at least 216 mostly by a confidential military published in August 1945 and later called it the costliest operation in the history of the it was a fearful recalls Murray har Lan an american businessman who now lives in he was a 24yearold lieutenant commanding an antiaircraft Battery aboard the battleship new York when a Kamikaze crashed into the Mast and a parked scout plane on april Here came All these crazy if they Ever got to your ship was either sunk or we were one of the Lucky said at least four British carriers taking part in the opera Tion victorious and Formi Dable suffered Kamikaze but none was unlike the carriers built for Speed on streamlined Cruiser the British flattops had armoured decks that proved More effective against the suicide As japans aircraft production dwindled in the face of heavy air aging planes of All including heavy bombers requiring More than one were pressed into in the final 10 months of the according to one authoritative japanese the special attack squad Rons used up More than planes and Many of them were teenagers who had barely Learned to Fly be fore departing on the one Way Mission to 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13