330:(student-soldier, a college student who became a soldier or officer during his academic years) and received his training as a 14th graduate of aviation reserve student training. Special flight officer probationary cadets (the graduates from college) tended to have more liberal ideas, not having been educated in military schools, and also were more aware of the world outside Japan. Although some officers were kind to student soldiers during training, many acted harshly toward them; once on the base, many reserve students were subjected to harsh corporal punishment on a daily basis, as any minor action that irritated a superior could be a cause for severe corporal punishment.
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34 fully armed and fueled planes parked on the flight deck. At the same time, Ogawa was completing his dive with his Zero through the AA fire, aiming for the flight deck near the bridge of the ship to cause the most damage, as kamikaze pilots were trained to do. At nearly a vertical dive, Ogawa dropped his 550-lb bomb just before impact with the flight deck, crashing near the island at about 10:05 hours.
574:, half awash in water, with live wires sparking all around. Schock found Ogawa dead in the cockpit, and removed Ogawa's name tag from his flight suit, along with a letter Ogawa carried with him on his last mission, some photographs, a belt from Ogawa's parachute harness, and a large smashed aviator watch of the type that Japanese pilots wore around their necks.
419:(Operation Kikusui "Floating Chrysanthemums" No. 6). On the early morning, pilots of the Tokkōtai suicide squadrons took off from their bases; among those pilots, there was Kiyoshi Ogawa, a member of the Dai-nana Showa-tai Squadron, flying a Zero, modified to carry a 250 kg (550 pound) bomb underneath the fuselage.
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so quickly that her gunners barely had time to respond. At 10:04 hours Ogawa's patrol leader released a 550-lb bomb which smashed through the flight deck and out the side, exploding just above the water. The aircraft crashed into the flight deck and skidded over the side, destroying nearly all of the
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Kiyoshi Ogawa had to circle one of the three choices, or leave the paper blank. The reason that the special flight officer probationary cadet had to answer such a survey rather than send the applications at their own will was because the military had known that the students who had come from college
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flight deck and exploded. Gasoline fires flamed up and several explosions took place when re-armed and re-fueled planes on deck exploded and caught fire. 393 American sailors died with
Yasunori and Ogawa, 264 were wounded, and the ship was disabled for the remainder of the war.
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over the other US carriers at the time was that they were equipped with a more heavily armored deck, plus a second armored deck on the hangar level designed to detonate bombs before they reached the vital machinery and electronic spaces below.
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There were two methods to collect volunteers. One was an application for all pilots in general, and another was a survey for the special flight officer probationary cadets (college graduates like
Kiyoshi Ogawa) only. The survey asked:
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On March 27, 2001, Yoko Ogawa, Ogawa's grandniece, her mother, and Masao
Kunimine, an old college friend of Kiyoshi Ogawa, received these personal effects in San Francisco, nearly 56 years after Operation Kikusui No. 6.
280:, crashed into the ship. He dropped a 250-kilogram (550 lb) bomb, never pulled out of the dive, and crashed deliberately into the flight deck near the control tower of the aircraft carrier. The bomb penetrated
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Ogawa's bomb blew a large hole into the flightdeck close to the bridge. On the flagbridge, Vice-Admiral
Mitscher barely escaped, but lost twelve of his staff officers including his own medical officer.
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flight deck and exploded. Gasoline fires flared up and several explosions occurred. The bomb smashed through the flight deck, but did not make it through the hangar deck where it exploded.
570:, Ogawa's aircraft was not completely destroyed after penetrating the flight deck, but remained partially intact and did not catch fire. Instead, the wreckage rested on the hangar deck of
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Ogawa graduated from aviation reserve student flight training, was appointed an ensign and was assigned to the 306th
Fighter Squadron of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 721st
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crew, 352 were killed, 264 were wounded and 41 were missing. Hundreds of crewmen had been either blown overboard or were forced to jump to escape the fires. Captain
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under her own steam. Upon arrival, she was called the "most extensively damaged ship" ever to enter the yard, and her repairs took the rest of the war.
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had a wider vision, and would not easily apply for such a mission. Some college graduates, who did not volunteer willingly, were pressured to circle
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air group, CVG-84, were killed in the ready room by the explosion of the bomb which consumed all of the oxygen and asphyxiated the men.
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Many former students from Japan's elite colleges such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Keio and Waseda volunteered as kamikaze pilots in World War II.
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than today to dedicate myself for the eternal cause. (...) I will go to the front smiling. On the day of the sortie too, and
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His flagship in bad shape, Vice
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collected about 24 of the circling airplanes, mostly F4U Corsairs, and they dropped dye markers and
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657:"Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, an excerpt"
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armor protecting the machinery spaces below had proven effective. A significant improvement of
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finally was saved and the crippled carrier sailed the 11,000 kilometres (7,000 mi) to
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756:"Doing His Duty / Vet's grandson gives personal effects back to kamikaze pilot's family"
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in carrier operations 122 kilometres east of
Okinawa, supporting the Okinawa invasion.
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On May 11, the
Imperial Japanese Navy carried out a massive kamikaze mission called
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354:"Do you desire earnestly/wish/do not wish to be involved in the Kamikaze attacks?"
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had provided aircraft for the massive effort to sink the
Japanese battleship
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pilot, Ensign Ogawa's final action took place on May 11, 1945, during the
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for the crewmen swimming in the oily water around the stricken carrier.
229:, October 23, 1922 – May 11, 1945) was a Japanese naval aviator ensign (
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737:"USMC Aces of WW2 - F4F Wildcat and F4U Corsair pilots in the Pacific"
693:"USMC Aces of WW2 - F4F Wildcat and F4U Corsair pilots in the Pacific"
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in
February 1945, for strikes against Okinawa and the Home Islands.
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In his last letter, Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa wrote to his parents:
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Imperial Japanese Navy personnel killed in World War II
774:"Last Letter from Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa to His Parents"
452:"Alert! Alert! Two planes diving on the Bunker Hill!"
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674:"Who became Kamikaze pilots..." pages 7, 8 and 15
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422:Off the coast of Okinawa, Ogawa, along with
348:) Dai 7 Showa-tai (No. 7 Showa-tai Force).
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638:"Who became Kamikaze pilots...", page 7
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293:Ogawa was born on October 23, 1922, in
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326:After graduating, Ogawa departed as a
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16:Japanese kamikaze pilot (1922–1945)
131:Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
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372:On the morning of May 11, 1945,
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938:Imperial Japanese Navy officers
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344:Kamikaze Special Attack Force (
754:Nolte, Carl (March 29, 2001).
562:According to Robert Schock, a
262:, Ogawa flew through American
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711:"USS Bunker Hill Association"
958:Japanese World War II pilots
933:People from Gunma Prefecture
468:Ogawa's bomb devastated the
340:Ogawa then volunteered for
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800:US Naval Historical Center
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313:Ward), near Kagurazaka.
289:Early life and education
251:. Piloting a bomb-laden
943:Japanese naval aviators
368:Ogawa's kamikaze attack
260:Operation Kikusui No. 6
836:Imperial Japanese Navy
778:www.kamikazeimages.net
679:March 6, 2009, at the
661:www.press.uchicago.edu
643:March 6, 2009, at the
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498:-class ships like the
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342:Imperial Japanese Navy
237:Imperial Japanese Navy
717:on September 26, 2007
625:May 24, 2011, at the
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142:Years of service
847:Minister of the Navy
394:and the Fifth Fleet
346:tokubetsu kōgeki tai
209:Died in battle award
430:. On May 11, 1945,
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359:"desire earnestly"
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741:www.acepilots.com
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448:combat air patrol
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249:Battle of Okinawa
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918:1922 births
572:Bunker Hill
568:Bunker Hill
553:Bunker Hill
530:Bunker Hill
500:Bunker Hill
471:Bunker Hill
458:Bunker Hill
446:Corsair on
432:Bunker Hill
428:Bunker Hill
404:Bunker Hill
392:Bunker Hill
376:Bunker Hill
337:at Kanoya.
270:Bunker Hill
85:Bunker Hill
912:Categories
721:August 19,
607:References
534:Enterprise
253:Mitsubishi
100:Allegiance
52:1922-10-23
877:Air Units
596:honorable
566:on board
549:Mae Wests
523:USS
374:USS
268:USS
235:) of the
145:1944–1945
83:USS
39:hachimaki
887:Aircraft
857:Admirals
677:Archived
641:Archived
623:Archived
510:Many of
436:One Easy
311:Shinjuku
245:kamikaze
220:Japanese
118:Service/
897:Battles
892:Weapons
600:forever
525:English
396:sortied
388:TG 58.3
335:Kōkūtai
243:. As a
239:during
193:†
90:Okinawa
88:, near
867:Fleets
760:Sfgate
592:sortie
578:Legacy
444:F4U-1C
409:Yamato
400:Ulithi
328:gakuto
317:Career
206:Awards
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159:Ensign
120:branch
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882:Ships
862:Ranks
496:Essex
398:from
67:Japan
723:2006
256:Zero
224:小川 清
165:Unit
150:Rank
73:Died
46:Born
539:Of
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135:IJN
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