“Never had respect for them, and was always grateful they were on the other side. Not grateful for those that hit our carriers, but you’re never grateful for any loss of life. You’re grateful for less loss of life, and that’s what kamikazes promise you. See, to be a kamikaze you’ve got to be able to kill yourself. Right? That means losing the value on your own life, and that simply can’t be done without compromising your overall judgment. A pilot is a selfish animal that wants to fly safely above the fight. He doesn’t blow himself up sanely. The mindset can be linked to hallucinations and generally self-destructive behavior. The results are in our data: kamikazes are less likely to hit their target than modern missiles, and take up a whole aircraft with them. So a kamikaze is giving up the value of his own life and the value of his performance. He's breaking his ethical duties to the military and nation. A very good thing to have as an enemy, if you’re on guard. We always are, as we appreciate our lives. Will take theirs, too, if they’re so keen to get rid of them.”
If they had any ethics they'd commit hari-kari when they miss their targets, right?
ReplyDeleteWell spoken. Although it's my understanding that some (maybe even many) were young and had enormous pressure brought to bear on them by families eager to claim "honour" for their name.
ReplyDeleteThe kamikazi attacks were also a symptom of the training methods in the Japanese air force. When they had a great pilot, they kept him in the air until he got killed. When we had a great pilot, we pulled him after a set number of missions and had him train new pilots. The net effect was that our pilot corps got more and more skilled, while theirs got weaker and weaker. Eventually, they had a high percentage of pilots who could do little more than fly in a straight line, and the only way to use them effectively was in the kamikazi attacks.
ReplyDeleteCurious, John, how you would compare Kamikaze pilots with suicide bombers? I never thought about inaccuracy, that part of this piece interested me.
ReplyDeleteI can appreciate the rational responses to the monologue, though it does sometimes worry me when responses sound like they think the monologue's opinion is mine. I guess if I don't make it crazy, ironic or funny, it is easy to see these things as authorially sincere. But I don't actually think the above things about kamikaze pilots.
ReplyDeleteLiminal, I have a tentative answer that probably won't satisfy: it depends on the circumstances of the bombing and the piloting. The most famous examples of suicide bombing and kamikaze piloting are almost incomparably different to me.