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J.S.'s Reviews > Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
by
by
This is a fascinating story of the Pacific air war in WWII, with a side focus on the fates of nine American flyers who were shot down over the tiny island of Chichi Jima. One of them was former American president, George H.W. Bush, while the others were executed by the Japanese.
Bradley, famous for his other book Flags of Our Fathers, writes a very compelling story. As someone who has lived in Japan, he comes at it with a different perspective and seeks to convey a little of the way the Japanese viewed America and the war. He tries to draw comparisons to the US actions in the Philippines and against Native Americans, as if to justify Japanese brutalities during WWII, or at least to show that American history isn't blameless either. Still, some of his comparisons weren't completely accurate, such as pg 68 in my book where he says: 'America would cause the deaths of more than 250,000 Filipinos � men, women, and children� So Hitler and Tojo combined, with all their mechanized weaponry, killed about the same per month � 7000 � as the American 'civilizers' did in the Philippines.' The problem, I realized many pages later, was that his figure for deaths attributable to Hitler and Tojo was ONLY for American deaths, and did not include other nations. (I may be nit-picking, but I think the way Bradley presents statistics sometimes is deliberately misleading.) I was also bothered a bit by his overly familiar way of referring to everyone by their first names and his casual use to terms like 'Flyboys' and 'Spirit Warriors.'
It's also a difficult and unpleasant book to read sometimes, as Bradley is very blunt about the brutality that occurred. And yet I think it's important for us to know and understand the history - warts and ugliness and all - and I found it to be a very informative and even enjoyable book to read.
Bradley, famous for his other book Flags of Our Fathers, writes a very compelling story. As someone who has lived in Japan, he comes at it with a different perspective and seeks to convey a little of the way the Japanese viewed America and the war. He tries to draw comparisons to the US actions in the Philippines and against Native Americans, as if to justify Japanese brutalities during WWII, or at least to show that American history isn't blameless either. Still, some of his comparisons weren't completely accurate, such as pg 68 in my book where he says: 'America would cause the deaths of more than 250,000 Filipinos � men, women, and children� So Hitler and Tojo combined, with all their mechanized weaponry, killed about the same per month � 7000 � as the American 'civilizers' did in the Philippines.' The problem, I realized many pages later, was that his figure for deaths attributable to Hitler and Tojo was ONLY for American deaths, and did not include other nations. (I may be nit-picking, but I think the way Bradley presents statistics sometimes is deliberately misleading.) I was also bothered a bit by his overly familiar way of referring to everyone by their first names and his casual use to terms like 'Flyboys' and 'Spirit Warriors.'
It's also a difficult and unpleasant book to read sometimes, as Bradley is very blunt about the brutality that occurred. And yet I think it's important for us to know and understand the history - warts and ugliness and all - and I found it to be a very informative and even enjoyable book to read.
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Reading Progress
January 22, 2011
– Shelved
November 26, 2016
–
Started Reading
November 26, 2016
–
1.51%
"Japanese military experts would later agree that the napalm dropped by these B-29s had more to do with Japan's surrender than the atomic bombs. Certainly, napalm killed more Japanese civilians than died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined."
page
6
November 27, 2016
–
3.77%
"There it was, goddess Amaterasu's sun rising over the Pacific islands, then proceeding over Japan and on to the rest of the world. Japan provided the world with light. (Japan's name for itself--Nippon--expresses this concept with ni, meaning 'sun,' and pon meaning 'origin.' Thus Japan is the 'Land of the Rising Sun.')"
page
15
November 28, 2016
–
8.29%
"Because of Emperor Taisho's mental illness, the Spirit Warriors had the opportunity to mold his son. Hirohito... was 70 days old when he was taken from his parents to be raised at the home of an elderly retired admiral to inculcate proper military values. He was surrounded by military men and socialized to believe military might was key to maintaining Japan's place in the world."
page
33
November 28, 2016
–
9.8%
"No army in history so systematically instilled hatred in its troops as this version of the Imperial Japanese Army. 'Brutality and cruelty were the rule rather than the exception... It was the last primitive infantry army of modern times.' Only the IHA actively encouraged regular and vicious abuse of its charges."
page
39
November 29, 2016
–
14.32%
"As the last stage of their training, we made them bayonet a living human... Prisoners were blindfolded and tied to poles. The soldiers dashed forward to bayonet their target at the shout of 'Charge!' Some stopped on their way. We kicked them and made them do it. After that, a man could do anything easily.
Lt. Tominaga"
page
57
Lt. Tominaga"
November 29, 2016
–
17.09%
"America would cause the deaths of more than 250,000 Filipinos � men, women, and children� So Hitler and Tojo combined, with all their mechanized weaponry, killed about the same per month � 7000 � as the American 'civilizers' did in the Philippines."
page
68
November 30, 2016
–
19.1%
"General Sugiyama explained that while China was a vast hinterland, the Pacific was composed of islands, so the problem was not the same. Hirohito responded with incredulity, 'If you call the Chinese hinterland vast, would you not describe the Pacific as even more immense? With what confidence do you say "three months"?'"
page
76
November 30, 2016
–
20.35%
"No one realized it at the time, but America would soon benefit from the many young [men] who had fallen in love with their automobiles... These warplanes would require many tinkerers to serve as pilots, air crews, and maintenance workers... 'It was a bad omen when the original Zero prototype was disassembled, loaded into oxcarts, and moved over poor roads prior to its initial flight.'"
page
81
November 30, 2016
–
21.11%
"Grady [York] and Pearl's... family was poor. Entertainment was a tire hung from the backyard tree. Sometimes Dad would come home with a truckload of sawdust for the kids to jump in. 'We ate a lot of beans and spaghetti,' Pearl remembered. 'Candy just wasn't around. I was 7 years old before I had bubble gum. I remember it clearly...'"
page
84
November 30, 2016
–
23.37%
"After the war, many Japanese would claim they were beaten by American material superiority. It is true that the US was able to toss more metal into the battle... But it is also true that America beat Japan when it came to having large numbers of educated boys who were handy with a monkey wrench... [with] little stubble on their chins but plenty of American steel in their hearts."
page
93
December 1, 2016
–
27.64%
"Although Japan could easily repair the slight physical damage [from the Doolittle Raid], the psychological shock remained. 'Now things are different. The bombs have dropped here on our homes. It does not seem any difference between the battlefront and homefront...' We finally began to realize that... the gov't had lied when it said we were invulnerable. We then began to doubt that we were also invincible.'"
page
110
December 1, 2016
–
28.14%
"250,000 Chinese dead in 3 months [in retaliation for the Doolittle Raid]. In 6 years of combat during WWII, France lost 108,000 civilians, Belgium 101,000, the Netherlands 242,000. This Japanese retaliatory operation... would take more lives than the later atomic bombings... combined.
[***Bradley is cherry-picking data - compare stats on pg 68 that were only for *American* troops]"
page
112
[***Bradley is cherry-picking data - compare stats on pg 68 that were only for *American* troops]"
December 2, 2016
–
28.39%
"In retaliation for the Doolittle Raid, the Japanese sprayed cholera, typhoid, and bubonic plague across East China, making Japan the only combatant of WWII to use biological warfare. The total number of casualties has never been determined, but... 'One report stated that... a last-minute change in the wind led to the death of 1700 Japanese soldiers and the injury of 10,000 more.'"
page
113
December 2, 2016
–
28.64%
"Hirohito had made it clear that Japan would not respect international agreements. This was in contrast to past war declarations... 'During the [first Sino-Japanese War in 1894] 79,367 Russians were taken prisoner... After the war ended, all were safely returned to Russia.' '... we gave them excellent treatment in order to gain recognition as a civilized country. Today such a need no longer applies.'"
page
114
December 6, 2016
–
31.41%
"The Japanese Mitsubishi Zero was phenomenally maneuverable and could... outclimb Allied planes. At speeds below 250mph, its ability to dart and turn and gyrate was incredible and intimidating. But [the light wing] hindered its ability to dive. At speeds above 300mph, pilots had trouble controlling their planes. It also had a design quirk that meant it rolled faster to the left than to the right."
page
125
December 6, 2016
–
32.16%
"Bought F4U-1A Corsair: over 400mph, 33' long, wingspan 41'. 6 .50-caliber machine guns, armored plates, 14,000lb weight. Once they learned how to conquer the Corsair's dangerous spin characteristics, Flyboys came to love the plane... built for a 6'4" test pilot (roomy). The Japanese would eventually nickname the Corsair 'Whistling Death' for the sound it made when diving and for the damage it wreaked."
page
128
December 8, 2016
–
49.5%
"'People talk about a kind of foxhole Christianity... but this was just the opposite of that. I had already faced death, and God had spared me. I had this very deep and profound gratitude and a sense of wonder... One of the things I realized out there all alone was how much family meant to me... I could see just how important those values and principles were that my parents had instilled in me...'
George H. W. Bush"
page
197
George H. W. Bush"
December 9, 2016
–
64.32%
"'I was shocked by the US treatment. They treated me fairly as a human.'
Another Iwo Jima POW believed he would have his head chopped off if he surrendered... Instead he found himself receiving medical treatment for wounds and drinking Coca-Cola. "We were supposed to die for the emperor. We were small things, like bugs to be squashed. We thought the Americans would treat us like bugs. Instead, America saved my life.'"
page
256
Another Iwo Jima POW believed he would have his head chopped off if he surrendered... Instead he found himself receiving medical treatment for wounds and drinking Coca-Cola. "We were supposed to die for the emperor. We were small things, like bugs to be squashed. We thought the Americans would treat us like bugs. Instead, America saved my life.'"
December 9, 2016
–
64.82%
"The civilized English slaughter from the air was distinguished from the barbaric German and Japanese campaigns by an obfuscating cloud of euphemisms. The public was told British planes sought out strictly 'military targets' and civilians were only killed by 'mistake.' Churchill spoke of 'dehousing.' Indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas was called 'area bombing.'"
page
258
December 9, 2016
–
65.58%
"Today, with 20-20 hindsight, people speak of March 1945 as 'near the end.' True, Germany was close to defeat. But it was a different story in the Pacific. Casualties were increasing and the fighting becoming more intense. 'The Pacific war is gradually getting tougher... The closer we go, the harder it will be.� To me it looks like trying days for us in the years ahead.' Ernie Pyle didn’t say months—he said years."
page
261
December 9, 2016
–
67.09%
"'You’re going to kill an awful lot of civilians. But, if you don’t destroy Japanese industry, we’re going to have to invade. And how many Americans will be killed? Some say a million. We’re at war with Japan. We were attacked. Would you rather have Americans killed? Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects... but all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you’re not a good soldier.'
LeMay"
page
267
LeMay"
December 10, 2016
–
70.1%
"'Guard against anyone stating this is area bombing.'
- message from Washington to Gen. LeMay"
page
279
- message from Washington to Gen. LeMay"
December 10, 2016
–
73.12%
"The Spirit Warriors, who continued to enjoy fine meals in Tokyo, [promulgated] a document entitled 'Eat This Way-Endless Supplies of Materials by Ingenuity.'
'The emperor's loyal subjects were encouraged to supplement their [diet with] acorns, grain husks, peanut shells, and sawdust...'
There were similar articles, such as 'How to Eat Acorns' and 'Let's Catch Grasshoppers.'"
page
291
'The emperor's loyal subjects were encouraged to supplement their [diet with] acorns, grain husks, peanut shells, and sawdust...'
There were similar articles, such as 'How to Eat Acorns' and 'Let's Catch Grasshoppers.'"
December 10, 2016
–
74.62%
"Few people now reflect that samurai swords killed more people in WWII than atomic bombs. WWII veteran Paul Fussell wrote, 'The degree to which Americans register shock and extraordinary shame about the Hiroshima bomb correlates closely with lack of information about the Pacific war.'"
page
297
December 11, 2016
–
79.15%
"Keenan tried to make the case that the inept Spirit Warriors... were actually master conspirators who worked their evil over a 14-year period... hiding it from their boss. But the name of the only official who held power throughout those 14 years was never mentioned. It was like making the case that the Model T automobile sprang from workers� coffee breaks and Mr. Ford just happened to have a big office."
page
315
December 11, 2016
–
81.91%
"Many years later, I obtained the Chichi Jima Flyboys� military service records. These records are still withheld today from the families. I obtained them through sources I choose not to reveal. Their service records show clearly that the navy knew who was bayoneted, beheaded, and/ or cannibalized. But these details were never passed on, despite desperate pleas from mothers..."
page
326
December 11, 2016
–
82.66%
"Nations tend to see the other side’s war atrocities as systemic and indicative of their culture and their own atrocities as justified or the acts of stressed combatants. In my travels, I sense a smoldering resentment toward WWII Japanese behavior among some Americans... 'When you’re not at war you’re a good second guesser. You had to live those years and walk that mile.'"
page
329
December 11, 2016
–
83.17%
"Researching this book was often a disorienting experience. Early on, I thought I knew where justice lay. But as I listened to stories in Japan and America, I wasn’t so sure."
page
331
December 11, 2016
–
84.17%
"The Flyboy who got away became president of the United States. What might have been for Warren Earl, Dick, Marve, Glenn, Floyd, Jimmy, the unidentified airman, and all the Others who had lost their lives? A Nobel prize, a wife’s love, a daughter’s soft memory? And what might have been for those millions of doomed Japanese boys, abused and abandoned by their leaders? War is the tragedy of what might have been."
page
335
December 11, 2016
–
Finished Reading
