Retired Japanese Fighter Pilot Sees an Old Danger on the Horizon - A New York Times Article on Zero Pilot Kaname Harada

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

This is an old topic, but a very sad news arrived this day. As I have read this afternoon, Mr. Kaname Harada, Japanese oldest living WWII naval ace passed away early in the morning today, May 3, 2016. 

At 99-years-old, Harada-san was the last Zero pilot to have been at the sinking of the USS Panay in 1937, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the battle of Midway and eventually participated in Guadalcanal Campaign where his aircraft was badly damaged and he was wounded so much that was immediately transferred to Japan. Still, by the end of the war he reached a rank of Lieutenant and had more than 8,000 hours in the air recorded. 

 

 

Mr. Harada in 2010 (source : wikipedia).

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

Thanks for the post.

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

Sad news Hiromachi, but thanks for bringing it to attention. I hadn't known about Kaname Harada until now but reading about it was very enlightening. Efforts like his are very precious and needed today.

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

 

I was reminded that there is a video interview with Mr. Harada, with subtitles. That should be both entertaining and enlightening 

[Original_Uwe]

The only thing worse than war is being so cowardly that you refuse to fight when it is necessary.

War is a legitimate tool in the human experience.

Never pursue it, but be prepared to wreak havoc upon any that make war on you.

Edited May 3, 2016 by II./JG53_Uwe

[Mastermariner]

The only thing worse than war is being so cowardly that you refuse to fight when it is necessary.

War is a legitimate tool in the human experience.

Never pursue it, but be prepared to wreak havoc upon any that make war on you.

 

 

A classic warmongers excuse IMHO

 

Master

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

It's a circle of cowardice, Uwe. For one coward to desert there must have been another coward - either on his side or the other, or both - who created a situation where people are forced to fight for their lives and with their lives for or against the benefit of said initial coward.

 

War is in its essence inexcusable, and above all this thread is dedicated to Harada Kaname's experiences and wisdom so let's keep it on topic.

Edited May 3, 2016 by 55IAP_Lucas_From_Hell

[Original_Uwe]

Then be a gahndi that is willing to sacrifice his own people to pacifism, and lectured others to walk willingly to their doom.

That is cowardice.

Either be prepared to fight for what is yours or accept slavery to another. Those are your only choices. Parity of arms and skill in them is the only guarantee of Liberty.

It's a circle of cowardice, Uwe. For one coward to desert there must have been another coward - either on his side or the other, or both - who created a situation where people are forced to fight for their lives and with their lives for or against the benefit of said initial coward.

 

War is in its essence inexcusable, and above all this thread is dedicated to Harada Kaname's experiences and wisdom so let's keep it on topic.

Agree to disagree then, no problem there.

For myself I see the embrace of pacifism as a moral failing of the liberal west, but whatever floats your boat!

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

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

 

“These politicians were born after the war, and so they don’t understand it must be avoided at

all costs."

 

“I realized the war had turned me into a killer of men,” he said, “and that was not the kind of person I wanted to be.”

 

“Never forgetting is the best way to protect our children and our children’s children from the horrors of war.”

All from the first post.

 

Nobody here is advocating for losing wars. The whole point is that they should not be fought at all, mate.

 

Over 70 years ago 60 million people lost their lives in a conflict. For what? To stop genocidal imperialist cronies from fulfilling their ambitions. Weaponry, parity of arms and whatever you call for, that conflict shouldn't have happened! And when that ended we were left with a pissing contest between superpowers pitting proxies against each other for political advances.

 

Today we have major civil wars going on in Ukraine, Yemen and Syria, motivated first and foremost by politics (the same old pissing contest) and disagreements on who should lead a country. Anybody who is old enough to have sat through a government they disliked knows that while things can get rough and unpleasant leaderships change like socks and before you know it there is a new government in. Time takes care of that, not guns. You also have genocidal cronies XXI Century Edition (i.e. ISIS, Boko Haram and friends) in Syria, Iraq and multiple African countries, the pointless bickering between Turkey and its Kurdish population, the aftermath of a political pissing contest and disaster in Libya, and international terrorism casting its shadow over multiple countries across continents.

 

The root of most of these are politically-motivated conflicts caused by greed from multiple parties, all the way from the corrupt politician to the corrupt revolutionary and the corrupt foreign government that fans the flames.

 

What I'm trying to say is, all of this bloodshed is absolutely useless and could have easily been avoided had there not been cowards in the leaderships of multiple countries and movements who sold the idea that strength is the only way out of things. Obviously if somebody invades you your job is to drive them out of your land and put an end to the conflict through whatever means available, but this would be unnecessary if countries and populations stopped bloody attacking each other.

Edited May 3, 2016 by 55IAP_Lucas_From_Hell

[Original_Uwe]

Agreed, if the human animal were perfect then it would be a grand world.

Hell if the human animal were perfect, in a perfect world, then things like communism and pacifism would be a matter of course rather than pipe dreams.

But as were are not much more than naked apes, and are as yet flawed to our very core by basic human desires this talk of pacifism and peace is essentially tilting at windmills. Fodder for Internet boards and not much else.

I'd love a world of broad sunlit uplands, but it's just not to be.

Better to be a heavily armed and armored realist (in a national security sense) than the idealistic pacifist.

[unreasonable]

If there are no wars there is really no point in having men around any longer. Women will just buy engineered sperm at the pharmacy, robotic cars will be self parking and light bulbs last virtually for ever.

Edited May 3, 2016 by unreasonable

[=362nd_FS=Hiromachi]

Kaname Harada memorial is today in Zenkoji Temple Nagano City.

Here he is in 2013 cranking up the Zero from the Planes of Fame when it was on display at the Tokorozawa Air Museum in Japan: