Kamikaze: A Japanese Pilot's Own Spectacular Story of the Famous Suicide Squadrons - Softcover

"This classic World War II autobiography [is] absolutely terrifying reading. Kuwahara's descriptions of the horrors of war are accessible and compelling." --School Library Journal

Kamikaze squadrons recruited teenage boys and converted them into human bombs. These boys became suicide pilots whose sole purpose was to die for the Emperor. During World War II, the Kamikaze caused the greatest losses in the history of the United States Navy.At age 15, Yasuo Kuwahara entered military service where he suffered through basic training so brutal, nine men of his squadron committed suicide. After qualifying for fighter pilot school, he survived ferocious aerial combat and barely escaped death at the hands of the American enemy. Upon receipt of his final attack orders he returned home near Hiroshima to bid farewell to his family, but amazingly escaped his suicide mission due to one of the cruelest ironies of World War II.