This document was found on the Kamikaze pilot who crashed into the Hadley. The translation printed alongside document is in quotes below.
On 25 May 1945 a work party was sent down into flooded engine room of the Hadley. They were to recover the bodies of five shipmates. It had taken two weeks to patch the hull and pump most of the water out. Now they had the grisly task of finding, identifying and removing their shipmates. Jack McKim, David Aerosmith and Gene Wise were among the men on the detail. They also found the Japanese pilot from the kamikaze plane that crashed through the hull. Wise found some papers – written in Japanese – in the pilot’s flight suit. He hung on to the documents for 50 years. While attending the Hadley Reunion in 1995 he gave these papers to Tom English. Tom’s son knew some Japanese women who could translate them. This is what they found in one document.
“Nazis have taken control over the German political party, who took away the liberty of the citizens. The leader of the Nazis looks forward to the continuation of the domination of the country rather than the lives of the citizens. Therefore, even though they know they’ll lose, they keep fighting. As a result, the cities in Germany are severely bombed. The citizens face starvation and disease. The leader continues unnecessary attacks so that the country will either face destruction or will need to give up. The leader chose destruction and therefore Germany’s biggest enemy is the leader of the Nazis.”
This political anti-war message about Germany was probably how the pilot felt about Japan. He carried this message to his death despite the futility he felt about the war.
Comments
7 responses to “Kamikaze pilot’s documents have been translated”
My dad was in the detail that recovered the pilot’s remains. He was very shaken by the experience. He remembered grabbing the pilot’s boot to pull him out of the wreckage. The boot came off in his hands. The pilot’s foot was so small, dad thought, for a moment, the pilot was a woman. My dad is Waymon Dean. He was 19 years old. He’s now 90 (August 2016) and living in the VA home in Lawton, Ok.
This is wonderful information. I am writing a 2nd book titled “Kamikaze
Terror.” I have new interviews from the Hadley plus many other ships at
Okinawa. This story and the documents recovered from the pilot were given
to me by Tom English. I’m including this story in my new book. I had no
idea any crewmembers from McGinn’s recovery detail were still alive. Would
your dad be able and willing to do a phone interview? If not could I call
you? These are the stories that need to be documented for future
generations before all these men are gone. A personal narrative from your
dad’s experience would be powerful. Thank you for your comment.
Jeff Veesenmeyer
Author – Kamikaze Destroyer
Hi Jeff,
I’m sure dad would be happy to talk with you. He’s almost stone deaf, but the VA nurses can help out. His memory isn’t what it was, but he seems to remember vivid details of the war. He is much easier to communicate with in person. I will give him a call tomorrow and give him a head’s up that you will be calling. I’ll also get back to you with contact info. About ten years ago, I started collecting his memories. I wish I had voice recordings. I’m happy to share what I gathered. Send me an email. Take care, Dugan
My uncle Leo nicholas was Kia, second class gunnersmate. I had sent pi tires years ago to master of his gun mount crew, but don’t see them anywhere. He was from Boston. Served on mayrant and lansdale European theater prior to pacific.
[email protected]
Dick – Your Uncle Leo and my Uncle Louis were both killed at the portside quad 40mm gun mount. Your uncle and Ivan Bills pulled a gun crew together for the 40 after the second kamikaze knocked everyone out of the mount. They fired on manual at the final kamikaze until his bomb landed on them. They both were awarded the Silver Star. I hope you still have those photos. Alot of information was lost when the original webmaster died. I’d like to add anything you have on Nicholas to the website and share it on the Hadley Facebook page. Even family photos would be good.
Thanks for contacting me.
Jeff Veesenmeyer – Author/Webmaster
[email protected]
The document printed in Japanese appears to be an American manufactured propaganda leaflet that was air-dropped over Japanese cities and military bases to demoralize our enemy. The reverse side of these leaflets have artwork. Is it possible to see the reverse of the document? I can help with translations as I spent 10 years living and working in Japan.
Dan – Sorry I missed this comment from last year. Tom English had the original copy of this leaflet. He sent me photocopies of the documents found on the kamikaze pilot. I printed three of those with some translations in my second book, Kamikaze Terror. I don’t know if any of those were from a page 2 of the document shown in this post. I’ll send you an email with scans of the document I have. If you can get translate any of it, that would be terrific.
Thanks for the offer,
Jeff Veesenmeyer