He was the 4th best japanese pilot by number of enemy aircraft he shot down. This book tells the highly abridged version of sakais wartime service by author martin caiden in englis that was first published in 1957 and reprinted many times since. In this japanese name, the family name is sakai saburo sakai japanese. A couple of months ago a friend loaned me a magazine with an article about modern fighter pilots compared to wwii pilots. Two zeros were shot down in the battle, and the b32 was seriously damaged. On december 8, 1941, sakai flew one of 45 zeros from the tainan kokutai that attacked clark airfield in the. This gives a view of the pacific air war from the japanese side. The book is an oversized paperback, roughly 11 x 8, and has a wonderful painting on the cover of sakai and his zero rocketing upwards after he was horribly wounded attacking a. Saburo sakai books list of books by author saburo sakai. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Its the japanese version of the first and last and the reader follows sakai s career from the early days of japanese victory to the wars conclusion. Over the course of three hours, he and i discussed a number of topics, almost all related to his exploits in the war, but to some broader issues as well. But on a beautiful memorial day in 1982 in san gabriel, california, thats what happened.
Sublieutenant saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace gekitsuio. Lt saburo sakai served as a combat pilot with the japanese armed forces. This book covers the life of sabruo sakai during the period of his prewar flight training to the end of wwii. Saburo sakai meets the sbd gunner who wounded him at guadalcanal by henry sakaida. Military history ibooks new ed by sakai, saburo isbn. Saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and fighter ace of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii. One thing that makes this book fun is that if you have a lot of romantic illusions about japan or the samurai class this book will cure them.
Saburo sakai samurai poster by basilbarfly redbubble. Sakai, born in 1916, hoped to escape the poverty of life in his rural village by enlisting in the imperial japanese navy at age 16. Read this book many years ago and this was a reread. The main authors credit for the book should be saburo sakai, though, not martin caiden and it needs a huge and i do mean huge number of scanning errors. I found it amusing to read of sakai s frustration when as caidin states on his behalf the zeros succeeded in shooting down american aircraft by the tens and twenties, only to have them miraculously appear again next day. Written by martin caidin from saburo sakais own memoirs and journalist fred saitos extensive interviews with the fighter pilot, samauir. This aircraft was flown by the fourth ranking japanese air ace, saburo sakai.
Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots is a 1985 book by henry sakaida dealing with the wartime history of saburo sakai and other imperial. Pacific wrecks dogfight between saburo sakai and james. He survived the war, and became a famous figure for his criticism of. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots wikipedia. His total of 64 victories puts him in fourth place after warrant officer hiroyoshi nishizawa, 1 victories, lt. Saburo sakai the merciful realistic battle discussion. Saburo sakai became a living legend in japan during world war ii. He was an ace, being credited with five victories some accounts say seven, flying grumman f4f wildcats.
I found it amusing to read of sakais frustration when as caidin states on his behalf the zeros succeeded in shooting down american aircraft by the tens and twenties, only to have them miraculously appear again next day. He used this machine while serving with the rabaulbased tainan flying group tainan kaigun. Sakai had 28 aerial victories including shared by official japanese records, while his autobiography samurai. Junichi sasai,masuaki eendo,matsumi suzuki 2 shotai. The six million dollar man, lost in space, and many other books, magazine articles. Saburo sakai archive luftwaffe and allied air forces. Samurai is another book you wont be able to put down. Saburo sakai was survived by his second wife haru, two daughters. Aviation art poster samurai saburo sakai saburo sakaithe battle of guadalcanal sublieutenant saburo sakai sakai saburo. Understand how sakai can scale to support hundreds of thousands of students. Sakai was the imperial navys fourthranking ace and japans leading fighter pilot to survive the war. Saburo sakai simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. According to sakaida, sakai san has flown a6m2 model 21s carrying tainan ku tail codes as follows. Four different a6m2 zeros are alleged to have been flown by saburo sakai and documented by henry sakaida in his biography of sakai, winged samurai. Restored jnaf mitsubishi a6m2 model 21 zero fighter aircraft, displayed in the australian war memorial. Military history ibooks saburo sakai, martin caiden, martin with caidin isbn. He was awarded the silver star, distinguished flying cross twice, and the purple heart. Saburo sakai, japanese fighter pilot who reached out to create ties. Sublieutenant saburo sakai, sakai saburo, 25 august 1916 22 september 2000 was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace gekitsuio, of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii. Saburo sakai was born in saga, on the island of kyushu, in 1916 to a family that had turned to farming as changing economic and social conditions led to the passing of the warrior class. It describes the life and career of saburo sakai, the japanese combat aviator who fought against american fighter pilots in the pacific theater of world war ii, surviving the war with 64 kills as one of japans leading flying aces. Joji yamashita,ichirobei yamazaki,hiroshi okano 2 shotai.
We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. Saburo sakai is japans greatest fighter pilot to survive world war ii, and his powerful memoir has proven to be one of the most popular and enduring books. Its not everyday that two men, who tried to kill one another in world war ii, would meet and shake hands like old friends. Saburo sakai began by telling us why he decided to serve in the navy. After wwii, sakais writings described the cruel reality of war and combat. Saburo sakai is japans greatest fighter pilot to survive world war ii, and his powerful memoir has proven to be one of the most popular and enduring books ever written on the pacific war. Dogfight between saburo sakai and james southerland august 7, 1942 excert from samurai. Editions for samurai 055324664x mass market paperback published in 1985, kindle edition published in 2018, 1591147557 hardcover published in 2010. Hiroyoshi nishizawa,kazushi uto,masami arai 2 chutai 1shotai. Saburo sakai was born on 25 august 1916, in saga, japan. From setting up and running sakai for the first time to creatively using its tools, this book delivers everything you need to know.
Saburo sakai was indeed an ace, downing 64 allied aircraft, and most of all, never losing a wingman in over 200 missions. When asked if he remembered the incident, sakai replied that he did, and that he had thought about downing the plane for a brief moment, as higher command had instructed fighter patrols to down any and all enemy aircraft encountered, when he saw the waving hands and horrorstricken faces in the windows of the dc3, however, he was moved to mercy. Current edition of sakais autobiography, the acclaimed book by saburo sakai and martin caidin. Autobiography of japans fighter ace saburo sakai pages 160162. Saburo sakai was born into one of japans great samurai warrior families and became one of his country s greatest ww2 pilots and the only one to survive the war. Piloting a mitsubishi a6m zero was hairraising enough, with its notorious lack of armor and selfsealing fuel tanks, but flying one while bleeding to death, down one eye, and fading in and out of consciousness is the kind of experience saburo sakai, legendary japanese fighter ace, places the reader in through his autobiography and memoir, samurai. Saburo sakai was born into an impoverished samurai family in 1916. This wellwritten, first person memoir covers sakais early life and entire war experience from his brutal pilot training in the 1930s to the attack on pearl harbor and firebombing of.
Winged samurai is one of my favorite books in my small but growing library of all things jnaf. Of these four aircraft, only two are known by serial number. He was the highest scoring japanese ace to survive the war. Tetsuzo iwamoto, 80, and petty officer 1st class shoichi sugita, 70. Through most of his flying career he flew the famous mitsubishi zero in its various models. James julien pug southerland ii october 28, 1911 october 12, 1949 was a united states navy fighter pilot during world war ii. Saburo sakai, the pilot i admire the most, signed my book. The personal story of japans greatest living fighter pilot by saburo sakai, martin caidin, fred saite and a great selection of related books. One feels both the deep dedication of sakai to the samurai spirit and to his sense of duty, as well as his keen awareness of the folly of the war. Join facebook to connect with saburo sakai and others you may know. By 1937 he had graduated at the top of this his enlisted pilottraining class, and he quickly saw combat in china. Saburo sakai august 25, 1916 september 22, 2000 was a japanese naval aviator and fighter ace of the imperial japanese navy. On sunday, august 11th 1998, i had the unique pleasure of being invited to the tokyo home of mr. Faced with the prospects of a desolate rural life, he enlisted in the imperial japanese navy at sixteen.
First off, let me say that this is one of the grand combat memoirs of world war iibut you knew that, right. Hardcover edition, out of print, available from re. Posted from berlin, december 10, 2010 links to the books and authors. Saburo sakai meets the sbd gunner who wounded him at. Saburo sakai is not just another pilot, after allhes an icon of world war ii. Sublieutenant saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii and was the highest surviving ace of the ijn. The book was not published in japan and differs from his biographies there. Warrant officer saburo sakai is the most famous japanese pilot and was one of the few high scorers to survive the war. This book traces his experiences from fighterpilot school to the early. The wildcat was clinging grimly to the tail of a zero, its tracers chewing up the wings and tail. Interview with saburo sakai project news read only. The circumstances in which he found himself at age sixteen are made perfectly clear in his autobiography, but the true underlying reason for his choice wasnt so simple. Remember that existence defines your consciousness. Samurai saburo sakai pdf saburo sakai with martin caidin fred saito.
Sakai enjoyed a singular and most cherished reputation among fighter pilots. First published in english in 1957, it gave americans new perspectives on the air war and on the japanese pilots who, until then, had been perceived in. For more information about the new changes in sakai 12. He had, by his accounting 3,700 hours flying time, with at least 1,500 hours of that in zeros. Caidin wrote the prose of the book, basing its contents on. He experienced injuries, but always brought his aircraft home. Legendary zero pilot saburo sakai was japans most recognized ace, but few knew the man behind the legend saburo sakai is probably japans on august 7, 1942, badly wounded japanese ace saburo sakai disengages from his american adversaries and embarks on an epic 640mile flight back to his base at rabaul, new britain. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. He was the highest scoring japanese ace to survive the. Of all japans aces, saburo sakai is the only pilot who never lost a wingman in combat. Saburo sakai s 500 mile trek back to rabual from guadacanal in his crippled zero is a testimony to the man and to the nature of war. See more ideas about imperial japanese navy, wwii and world war two. Saburo sakai and his coauthor martin caidin paint a vivid and enthralling picture of the japanese side of world war ii. Pilots everywhere spoke in awe of his incredible exploits in the air.
1350 788 1629 1002 1482 39 1351 401 270 720 623 602 361 973 176 16 1287 1129 1024 467 482 286 38 589 1018 377 1120 757 423 1222