Warbird Information Exchange

i'm currently reading the book "blossoms in the wind" human legacies of the kamikaze. i'm awe struck at 2 incidents that involved a u.s. navy fighter pilot & a japanese navy pilot during the battle of the philippine sea......... both documented combat reports. japanese naval aviator sakio komatsu pulled off an unusual torpedo interception of his own doing after discovering a wake speeding toward his carrier taiho, instead of strafing it with his guns he opted to crash his plane into the torpedo, exploding it & thus killing himself in the process, & saving the ship. from the american perspective a lieutenant leonard "tex" waldrop witnessed a wake of a torpedo heading toward his escort carrier the uss st. lo, he successfully aimed & strafed to explode it with his machine guns, thus saving his ship!!!! both heroic acts, from different cultural perpectives. see www.stlomidway6365.org for additional details

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Easy synopsis:

One wished to make it to Yakasuni shrine; the other wished to make it back to missus and wine.

(Grabbing tin hat and trench gun...)

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

The USS St Lo was sunk by a kamikaze on Oct 25, 1944 off Samar, PI with 186 crew KIA.

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Don't touch my junk!!

yes, your right, but he made the attempt to save his ship successfully.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!