World War II Introduces Kamikazes

Kamikaze. You may have heard this word used many times, but are not aware of the story behind it. Kamikaze attacks first began in World War II, in nineteen forty-four. Their purpose was to be used as a war tactic, mainly by the Japanese. Commander Takashiro Ohnishi came up with the idea as a new and effective way of war battle. Since the numbers of American fighter planes were increasing while outnumbering the Japanese, Japan had to come up with a different attack plan. Before this, there was no way to sink the American ships and if they wanted to get on top in the war, this was one way to succeed. Commander Takashiro thought that crashing his planes into allied ships would do more damage then simply firing machine guns from an aircraft. Each plane was laced with a multitude of explosives, in an attempt to cause the American ships to explode on contact. Since the Americans had the upper hand in technology during the forties, Kamikaze attacks were exactly what the Japanese needed to put them ahead of the game. Surprisingly, a large number of the Japanese army men were very curious and interested in flying the Kamikaze attacks. They had a tendency to choose the younger less experienced pilots to go on these lethal missions, since they needed the experienced pilots elsewhere. Before venturing out on the pilot’s last journey, he would often write letters to loved ones while also receiving a “thousand-stitch sash.” For these men, it was more of a spiritual mission because they believed they were fighting for the Emperor God. When the first mission was instructed to take off and destroy as much as possible, it proved to be very successful in destroying many enemy men. Immediately, the Japanese realized this type of attack could be extremely helpful, thus they sent out even more planes. The plan was set that each plane was used to take down one ship, and this mission was accomplished much of the time. If the ship was not completely immersed or sunken, it was at least badly damaged and killed many American soldiers. The Japanese believed this to be possibly a better war tactic, but it was questioned whether this caused more deaths for the Japanese, or if it helped them in war. Judging by the ratio of killed Japanese soldiers compared to Americans, you can see that Kamikazes were an extremely effective new form of attack. Kamikazes played a major role in the defense of the Japanese and without them, many men would have been lost, while Americans would have continued to push forwarding, winning the war. Overall you can see that the use of Kamikazes was extremely beneficial and helped the Japanese throughout war. We have also experienced a form of Kamikazes in modern day America. It might be considered an old act of war, but Kamikaze planes continue to take lives of civilian and military personnel alike. On September 11, 2001 terrorists used Kamikaze tactics to fly planes into the Pentagon in Washington D. C., and the Twin Towers, in New York City. This suicide attack was yet another trial of this long-lived war strategy. The men who took over the American planes were giving their lives up in exchange to kill many people, in honor of their country. This is the ultimate goal of Kamikazes. In the nineteen forties, Kamikazes were used in war, and today they have made their way over to terrorist attacks. In the end, Kamikazes have made a lasting impact on the strategies of war.

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