My father never talked about war, except for one event. He was the mechanic on an LCT (Landing Craft Tank) attacking Okinawa. A young Japanese Kamikaze pilot decided to put his plane down in the water, rather than attacking a ship and dying for the Emperor. My father's superior ordered him to shoot the pilot with his rifle. Dad refused, and instead picked the pilot up. I know he felt proud that he did not kill that man in the middle of all that fighting, but he did not later meet with him as in the above story (probably didn't have the pilot's name).
A true measure of power & self control, having the ability to take life but not to do so unless there is no other choice. He kept his head when all around were losing their own. IF - Rudyard Kipling
Almost as incredible as this story itself is that any of these men survived the war and were then later in life to meet in person. Thanks for telling this amazing story...
Governments don't have honor. This is not a criticism. People have honor. As for governments sending you off to war, but won't be there themselves, well. At least in America - you volunteer to join the military. Don't complain when they ask you to do the job you literally signed up for.
In the first world war my great grandfather served on the battlefields in France. Only to return home and be hung by his neck by a white mob. Because they did not like him wearing his uniform.
I remember my Dad, who served in the Pacific during WW II, saying that when he died he knew that he didn't want to go to Hell, because he had already been there and didn't want to go back.
My dad was in the South Pacific during WWII in the Navy. He was a radioman first on the Battleship Idaho which was an old ship, then on The Commencement Bay Air Craft carrier. He was at The Battle of Midway which was fierce. My dad prayed constantly to survive this war. I felt bad about the bomb but when I learned of the horrors that the Japanese did to our men I realized we had to end it. My dad said we lost so many men and we didn’t fight a war like the Japanese did. We did not use suicide planes who would dive bomb ships to destroy the Americans. We also didn’t start it, they did. My dad and my husband both worked for the defense of America, not to start wars but to stop them. They both told me that only the fear of America stopped the attacks or another country from starting something again. Never underestimate the USA. At least Japan had one man who realized that they had awakened a sleeping giant. I love Japanese gardens but I still don’t like your people because I took my dad to Hawaii to the Arizona Memorial at age 80 and there was a group of about 20 Japanese teenager standing over the sunken Arizona ship, they were pointing down at it and laughing their heads off. They are lucky I didn’t push them in the sea for that terrible disrespect. Talk about rude obnoxious behavior. Somebody forget to tell them, they may have struck the first blow but we ended it.
I flew into Iwo Jima on a Coast Guard C130. , After we landed the Japanese Crew formed a semi circle around the back ramp as we lowered it,,, They Bowed,,, We Bowed as we realized this was a Solemn Moment that we Both Shared,, on Sacred Ground.. They handed us a Case of Kirn Beer.. we made up a song about it and sang it half way home on our flight back to Barbers Point Hawaii, we only hade a few hours on the ground so I walked to the Beach below Mount Saribachi where 250 Marines went up the Hill,, but only 50 made it back down alive,,,,,including "Drunken IRA HAYES" the Pima Indian that Went to war and drowned in a ditch... I noted how steep the beach was and how far my boots sank into the large diameter corral sand sank as I descended to the waterline,,, I decided to walk down into the water,, shin deep,, to Imagine what the landing must have been like,, I walked up,, feet sloshing in my boots,, sinking into the Coral sand,, Heavy,, Hard to do.. Up the steep bank,, then up a little further,, saw the top of Surabachi,, and Imagined,, Just Offshore,,,, the Cheers of the US Fleet,, as the First Flag was raised,, then my thoughts went back to the Japanese,, who knew by then that this was a last outpost,, against defeat of their homeland,, sacrificing 25 thousand of their lives against US Marines 5000 or so..
My Dad flew in the south Pacific too, he was friends with (and delivered to) Greg (Pappy Boyington) Vella La Vella Island VMF 214 ..(Black Sheep) Cool history!!! God bless!!
@@patsmith5947 I fear the Chinese CCP will start a war, and we again will have to end it. Honestly think the world is bracing for it. CCP are cowards provoking world war 3.
Two men who met on the battlefield, men who experienced great horrors!! in that moment found mutual respect, now many years later become friends! What an amazing story,thank you for this!!
@@dalliskal4827 the repair cost was made expensive to be realistic as the b-29 project was one of the most expensive projects during ww2. So they'd probably won't cut the repair cost.
The plane shown at 0.02 "P9" and 0.28 "P9" dropping bombs was my Uncle Lens plane. The name of the plane was "Confederate Soldier" on one side and "City of Youngstown" on the other named after his hometown. Uncle Len (Leonard P Round) was the right gunner. Flew 22 missions. R.I.P.
One of my long gone family members fought the Japanese and came home with a skull that he used to collect gold teeth he pulled for the dead which was confiscated of course.
B-29 had 1 20mm tailgun on earlier models, that was removed on later ones, due to problems with it tracking properly. All the rest were M-2 .50 cal Browing machine guns. I volunteered at Boing Museum of Flight in Seattle and spent many hours working on "T-Square 54" (tail insignia). The best part was meeting veterans who served in WW II , and a real "Rosie the Riveter". A great plane, and even greater hero's. It was an honor !
I am 66 years old, born in Seattle in 1955, and my mother, during WWII was a Rosie the riveter and worked in a shipyard for a while building Liberty ships. I too LOVE the Boeing flight museum. I look forward to seeing it again.
Although I know that I hate to see any of these warbirds be retired or retired early, I would love to have the ability to fly them and experience what the pilots and their crews did. I think some would be pretty formidable today just cause everything goes way to fast now.
"There is a beast... deep inside of you. It will not die, It will fight back!" In all seriousness, tons of respect to all those who served, and went through pain nobody should witness.
Being a forces brat, I truly enjoy your stories and knowledge!!! You and I are a breed that most people woulnt understand, so happy that you keep our heritage alive. 😁👍
I joined the Air Force in 1960. My first duty station was at Yokota AFB working as a mechanic on KB-50s air refuelers which were B-29s with added refueling drogues and two J-47 jet engines to try to keep up with the jet fighters. On my first day, my Sgt. told me to get in a jeep and go to a hangar somewhere on the huge airbase to fix an aircraft. I was lost. Eventually, after driving everywhere, I found the hangar and managed to figure out how to get in. I never worked on an actual aircraft before, just the engines. When I entered the hangar there was a B-29. It was a massive silver monster. It took my breath away. I had no idea how to get to the engines, but I knew what the job required. I figured out the cowlings, fixed the aircraft, then spent time in the cockpit and gun positions alone in that hangar. It was like the dreams I had as a kid during and after the war. An amazing experience. This plane had seen action in the Pacific. The B-29 was fragile and the engines failed often, but it held together until they were decommissioned in 1965, a year after I was also "decommissioned". A hell of an aircraft for its time and a hell of a memory for me.
Our dads were awesome giants of men. Heros of magnitude of the highest order. I'm not half the man that my father was. We are so blessed to have had their generation to protect and lead us.
In all human savagery mayhem, there are those who find some humanity in their hearts. I salute that Japanese soldier who spared the life of an enemy soldier. I also salute the American soldier who went through hell in captivity and some how managed not to hate the Japanese people.
@@LuisRamos-ou8zb a soldier is a soldier whether he is flying an airplane or diving a submarine and anything in between. Use your head. Well I guess you are an American. English language is not even my native language and all I see is you are struggling to understand an extremely simple comment. You shouldn't questioned about my comment. It makes you look bad.
@@AbdiPianoChannel he is correct though, a soldier is an army personnel, as an airman is to the Air Force and a seaman to the navy. It is a mark of respect to call him an airman as he was no soldier and it is a way of honouring his service. It would be unfair to call him the wrong thing as that was not his service. In short, you are wrong about all military men being soldiers.
@@kevindowling157 Because the US use these terminologies that does not mean other non US people are not allowed to disagree. Not every country is using the same. Did you notice how many different English spell checkers exist ? I know native English speakers who even don't understand other native English speakers yet I have no problem understanding abdi Piano. No wonder you guys are still using the imperial system :)
@@etiennedaniels6346 bruh I’m not even American I’m just respectful of the type of service people gave. These terms are translated into many languages because they are separate things.
As a child I lived next door to George Caron who was a very nice old man I always enjoyed playing with. He died in 1995 when I was still too young to understand anything about war. I later learned he was the tail gunner on a very famous airplane called the Enola Gay and that his mission had dropped the Atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. I remember he once showed me a very old camera that he said he had taken a picture of 'the bomb' with. I didn't really understand becasue I was just 6 years old but later I learned it was the camera he used to take the picture of the Little Boy mushroom cloud over Hiroshima. As the tail gunner he had the only vantage point to take pictures. There were several cameras fixed to the Enola Gay but they all failed that day and the US government ended up using just the photo from the George's camera. The next day over a million copies of that photo were made and were airdropped over Japan as propaganda.
Cruel as the two A bombs were, they saved an estimated two million lives or more that would have been lost had we invaded Japan. The loss to the world of Japan's ancient buildings and shrines would have added to the disaster.
Thank you very much for posting this great story. My mother was a young teenager in Japan during WWII. She met my father, who was from Spanish Fork, Utah, while he was stationed in Kobe with the occupation forces. They married, returned to Twin Falls, Idaho and raised 3 beautiful girls and one boy. She and her husband, Jim, live in Eagle, Idaho. I hope you won't mind me pasting a post that I wrote earlier on my Facebook page on the last anniversary of Japan's surrender: Japan Surrenders, and My Mother, Keiko I have studied WWII most of my adult life. I think I understand it pretty well. But, my mother lived it. Keiko Naemura was born in Kobe, Japan and experienced the war as a 13, 14, 15 and 16 year old girl. She watched the B29s flying over her city, dropping incendiary bombs that ignited city-wide conflagrations. She witnessed the thousands of people who died, many from suffocation as walls of fire surrounded them and stole the very oxygen they desperately gasped for. She remembers running from the city to her home in the nearby hills during bombing raids and recognizing friends lying dead in the street. She remembers seeing the black, body-shaped cinders after the fire bombings, and people on the beach being strafed by fighter planes. As a little girl, the beach had always been her favorite place; but now it was a very dangerous place to be. She remembers starving and her older sister, Satoko, handing her a small ball of rice to eat, then both of them handing their rice balls to their 5 year old brother, Kenji, so he would not starve. She remembers bombs landing only a few hundred feet from her home. A few years ago I had the opportunity to walk around their home in Kobe with my uncle Kenji. He suddenly stopped, pointed to different nearby spots, and said, “A bomb landed there... and there... and there.” Although damaged, their home remained intact. She told me about the day she walked several miles to visit her aunt with plans to spend the night with her. She was shocked to discover that her aunt’s house had burned to the ground, and her aunt was nowhere in sight. She could only imagine that her aunt had been killed just as thousands of others had been. After walking back home, she was filled with relief to realize that somewhere she had unknowingly crossed paths with her aunt, who had walked back to her home in Kobe. She remembers hearing the emperor’s radio broadcast telling the citizens of Japan that they must now surrender. She was angry. Despite all of their deprivation and loss, she was united with other Japanese citizens to fend off the American soldiers using kitchen knives and bamboo spears. She remembers when the American forces were landing on the Japanese islands. She was terrified as she and other civilians had been told that the American soldiers were savages and would torture and massacre them all. She went with the other women and children who were told to hide in the nearby hills for safety. Then she told me about when they heard that the Americans had landed and had brought many tons of food and were feeding them, medical supplies and were treating their wounded and sick, and helping them rebuild their destroyed homes. Of the American soldiers, she softly, almost reverently said, "They were so kind to us." Growing up, we now and then asked our mom about her experiences during WWII. She has shared a few things, but would soon turn silent as her mind sank into dark and painful memories that she had tried to keep away for many years. She would then quickly change the subject and become irritable if we tried to press her beyond that point. Keiko is almost 91 (2020). Her memories are still clear, and she is now opening up more and more about what she experienced during the war. She is a wonderful woman and a good mother, grandmother and great grandmother. We love her dearly and hope we have inherited some of the deep strength and commitment that she has always displayed.
Wow, it was very interesting to read this. Thank you for sharing. I hope & pray that your mother will overcome those dark & painful memories so she can share more of them with you. I hope you have a great day & be safe. :)
Thank you very much for sharing this story, and to your mother for telling it for you. It really gives a different perspective on the war, hearing what it was like on the receiving end. And especially after reading about it here - and with no disrespect to the fliers who dropped the bombs because they certainly didn't make the decision - and even though I don't know the reasoning behind it, I now think from what I know that it was very wrong, maybe even really inhumane, to drop incendiaries on cities like Tokyo and Dresden with the knowledge that this would kill tens of thousands of civilians and in an awful way. Tho of course the harm the Nazis and Japanese caused civilians was awful, too, even apart from the unspeakable horror of the Holocaust.
Admirable, integrity of warriors was uplifting. I want to believe this happened many more times. It’s sad that ended when he landed and was beaten and treated like an animal in a zoo cage.
He was treated worse than an animal. They gave medical treatment and fed and cared for the zoo animals. He was beaten, denied medical treatment and tied to the bars of the cage at the front so civilians could beat him with sticks and rope. How this amazing man survived is a miracle!! This kind of treatment would have killed King Kong!!!
The Japanese displayed many naked American, Australian, British and other POW’s in zoo cages leaving their captive victims to harassment and beatings by the zoo visitors. I’m thankful these men could reconcile their differences in friendship.
Any idea of what happened to the tail gunner after the tail was separated? A friend of mine’s uncle was a B-17 tail gunner in Europe and his tail was severed from his plane at altitude. The tail floated back to Earth and managed to land safely. The tail gunner was taken captive by German soldiers and spent the rest of the war as a POW.
@@elkabong6429 No I'm not saying they didn't. I just remember a story, probably this one, where when the tail hit the ground, the gunner cracked his skull open on his gun. I was asking to see if it was the same one.
@@ReapersKid07 Oh, ok, I gotcha. My bad.I don’t believe it was the same instance, no. Unfortunately, I have no way of finding out now, as all of the people that I could ask about this have passed away.
Some acts of kindness, and love are so deep I can’t find the words to say. I believe that it is even greater that they would fight each other in war, and decades later sit at the same table and eat in peace together. TOO COOL!!! Thank You Flak Alley!
They were tough, but they had fear that they learned to harness because they had to. My Pop was an aviator and to conquer fear he focused on what had to be done.
Not literally any more "fearless" than the rest of us, just forced to overcome it. Rising above one's fear is the definition of courage, having no fear is something else.
My dad was out in the Far East during WW2. He survived luckily and told some stories but never opened up much. It's really hard to imagine what things were really like. Most of those who fought are nearly all gone and our generation who heard their accounts first hand will soon be gone. I heard so many fascinating stories from those at home who were too young to fight but lived through it all. I can only imagine it to be like living in a movie. Maybe in just 30/40 years time we'll be gone too and as todays generation are so removed I think with our passing WW2 will be properly consigned to the history books.
I salute the many men who survived that brutal conflict only to seek out and befriend their enemies, many their personal enemy. I hope it truly helped heal thier hearts and minds. Unfortunately my grandfather was never able to heal or forgive.
My Great Great Grandfather got his arm blown off facing Stonewall Jackson at 2nd Bull Run.. he once threw his boss out a 2nd Storey factory window in Pawtucket RI,,, If he was alive he would have Punched the Teeth out of anyone Tearing Down a Stonewall Jackson statue,, much the way that I would have punched the Teeth out of those Taliban that blew up a 2000 year old Buddhist statue... or,, later, when I visited Wake Island and Iwo Jima with the Coast Guard,, I would Punch the teeth out of anyone defacing a Japanese Memorial to the Spirit of the men who fought there and opposed us.... Even though on Wake,, the Japanese committed Actual,, Real War Crimes.
There's a Hungarian comedy film which contains a far from comedy line: "My father told me that 'if you are on the floor, pick up something from there'". That's what these honourable men did.
My dad was on Guadalcanal all the Solomon Islands he was a combat medic attach to a rifle company saving a man's life he got two purple hearts Bronze Star Oak Leaf cluster he said the Japanese we're not nice he passed away in 2003 I put his name up on the World War II Memorial John s caleca
My grandpa was a machine gunner on Guadalcanal. He had the same view of the Japanese soldiers. He lived in Japan for many years and said he could never trust them.
@@jeffreykershner440 that's what my dad told me sneaky the Japanese my father platoon got ambushed he lived off the island for 21 days just ate coconut at night they come with the Banzai charge
@@jeffreykershner440 my father died of Merkel cell cancer I found out the military use Agent Orange in World War II it came out now you could look it up it's called poisoning the Pacific in 2003 when my father passed away the VA Hospital never mentioned it
Thank you for this video and narrative. I'd like to point out, however, that the pilot wasn't Edmund Gilbert as the narrator says, he was Edmund Gilbert (Snuffy) Smith, as reflected on the plaque that is pictured briefly at 0:17. That was my uncle. I was too young to appreciate his experience shortly after the war, and I will forever regret not trying harder to connect with him years later when I was in the Air Force and visiting him. He was not forthcoming and I was not insistent. It would have been an absorbing and poignant quest to visit the (Aomori?) site where Emmy was held, during my multi-year assignment in Japan 16 years after the war. I found the Japanese to be a delightful people and learned a lot during my stay. I heard enough of his stories of incredible brutality and inhumanity at the hands of his Japanese captors, however. The impact on Emmy was devastating and he obviously did his best to leave it all behind and go forward, but it impacted his health and his marriage big time. But he carried on bravely, and I have the strongest remembrance of a hearty laugh that started in his belly and worked its way up. May the Lord bless him and each of the other members of his crew! They were all heroes in my book! Incidentally, I met Hap Halloran at Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, CA many years ago when he was giving a talk about the big war. These stories and narratives that get told long after the event itself really give insight into the events of that day. Thank you for making them available!
Great story about humans & the compassion they have for each other. I recall the stories about Germans & allied men leaving their trenches to celebrate Christmas together.
@Moto John Mr. Pete did not even address that. Forgiving is fine, but forgetting history is always wrong. Don't you agree, Moto John? Or does history make you feel bad?
@@TheMrPeteChannel not German camp but it's the same. Louis Zamperini (his story is portrayed in the movie "unbroken"). In 1998, he tried to see his torturer Mutsuhiro Watanabe but he refused to see him. After that, Zamperini sent him a letter saying that he forgave him
They had baals that's for sure but the fire bombings of cevilians under ww2 wasent heroic actions. The more I finde out about ww2 the more I know it was all build on a lie like most wars. One prouf is USA could have stopt Germany in 2 weeks by stop selling a adjective for their air plain engines
@@eriknielsen1849 Your ignorance shows loud and clear in both the moral aspects of the war and the technical portions which you know nothing about. Go back to school that is taught by real and not woke teachers. BTW, retake grammar, you need it big time!
@@desertlvr I think you need to take your own advice. Stop listening to zionist propaganda and think for yourself. Or maybe it's already too late for you.
The fact that he became friends with the Japanese ace that spared his life goes to show that they were just doing what they were ordered, even the enemy are still human.
I met "Hap" Halloran at a VMF-214 squadron reunion in the early 1990s in SoCal. He was present because he was a POW with Greg Boyington (deceased at the time of this reunion) in Japan. He was a very nice man and it was an honor to spend time speaking with him.
What a great heart warming story. That these men would become great friends many years after the war goes to show what a truly class generation of men they were.
The Japanese used may more capable fighters than just the zero, especially the IJA. Research your content a bit better and stop referring to every Japanese fighter plane a zero.
Sergeant Vittie! Been seeing notifications for "flak alley" and remember thinking that I didnt recognize the name. I didnt think about why I was getting the notifications if I didnt recognize the name though lol. But I'm assuming you changed the channel name or this is a 2nd channel that I didnt remember subscribing to and ringing the bell. But regardless, I remember finding that one video about the flying fortress that was really popular a few days after you posted (coincidentally) and feel some sort of loyalty towards you and your work bc of it. But I digress, I'll make sure to watch more of your future uploads now that I know flak alley is you lol. Great video as always Sgt V! Edit- PS: congrats on getting over 100k subs! Happy to see you cross that milestone! You deserve it. Looking forward to future uploads and seeing you get to 200k and ¼M subs (and beyond) in the future too. Take care buddy
I know. I was looking to show a couple of people on his old channel, and was like, hey uh hum. I was telling them that his stories are in fact the most unusual of WWII.
@@cassiecraft8856 With the Growth, this channel became an organisation rather than a sole individual running the channel. The name change was more suiting for the content as it is the nick name of a Bomber from WW2. Thanks for watching and sharing the stories.
@@Moonshine-jx1ib With the Growth, this channel became an organisation rather than a sole individual running the channel. The name change was more suiting for the content as it is the nick name of a Bomber from WW2. Thanks for watching and sharing the stories.
Great video brother thank you for what you do and your knowledge and expertise I am a new subscriber I can't wait to see all of your videos thank you again
You DO realize that a 20mm is a .79 caliber high explosive CANNON SHELL, not a solid slug...you are NOT surviving that....most survivors of 20 and 30mm hits weren't hit but wounded by shell fragments..
there was armored glass protecting the rear gunner, so in theory it is possible to survive a direct 20mil hit, because when the 20mil penetrates through the glass, its slowed down drastically and might have been survivable and if it was HEF then it wouldn't have gone through the armored glass period
yeah, that didn't happen. If you want to know what really happens to you when you get hit by a 20mm, google Loyce Green, he was a navy gunner who was killed in action, while flying in a Dauntless. They had to throw the whole plane over the side.
The B-29 was a chronically faulty aircraft with immature system designs and major production issues. Therefore the aircraft with the most success in downing B-29’s was the B-29
As interesting a story is of a plane flying without its tail, the real story here is that of this American aviator, who survived because a Japanese pilot spared his life, and later found peace in friendship with him.
That story makes me speechless. I am 57 years old I was born in 1964. If all humans on this planet could only work together the things we could accomplish.. maybe one day that would happen and come true.. from Mark
That concept borderline terrifies me. I've seen waaaaaaaaaay too many "entitled" people to really want to contemplate the flip side to humanity working hand in hand. First analogy that comes to mind is Edison, second would be Werner von Braun. While yes there would be room for positives, there would also be room for a new manhatten project which just adds in Oppenheimer and Marley... which leads me to think of Windscale and just how driven people can be to accomplish a task. Free love is great and all, but it still requires an available STD clinic...
The World Economic Forum and the elites who meet there think they have the answer-- global fascism/communism of the sort that is currently in place in China. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. Their plan is for the elites to own everything, and manage "the people" like livestock on a farm.
Wow. Two patriots in their own right, arch enemies - but each able to express their own humanity on their terms. They are proof that we can overcome horror, and that we will overcome our current horrors.
Thank you for the video. My dad fought in World War 2 at the Battle of the Bulge with the 3rd Army. I do not think we realized back then what these soldiers all went through, sadly.
Standard procedure on all B29's was that as they approached the Japanese coast the cockpit and gunner crew members would don oxygen masks and depressurise the cockpit to prevent catastrophic depressurisation if the cockpit was hit.
Wars are so stupid...a random act of kindness more lasting than the hate generated by those on both sides who sent their young men out to die. Hate is on the rise again...how many young men, women and civilians will die to satisfy the hate lust of a few...a few who seldom experience the brutality of war themselves. Let Peace Survive or all mankind will die.
This is an amazing story and I've seen stories other rare occurrences during the war on both several fronts. It's amazing what men did on all sides of the war.
I remember Hap Halloran well from my days at CF. He was retired but still had an office at the Menlo Park office in a corner near where my cube was. He was promoting his book "Hap's War" about his ordeal from his office and I'd see him out at the Redwood City Airport form time to time. I was in my early 20s but I'd sneak away from my desk and go and listen to him tell me stories. I told him about my grandfather as a ball-turret gunner on the B-17s in the 8th Airforce in Europe. He had nothing but great comments about the ball turret guys and their bravery. He was a good dude. It was cool getting to meet him at the very tail end of his career while mine was just starting. He died a few years later, but I always remember him.
My father was a Crew Chief B29 Engine Mechanic in WWII. At that time in history the B29 was the most sophisticated airplane in the world. Those men and pilots were the great ones.
My Father was a Member of the 509th. The same group that dropped the Atom Bomb, And was in Roswell in 1947. And I can prove it.. Greatest Generation I rise and Salute..
Actually if you read LeMay's biography, the very strong jet streams over Japan rendered accurate high altitude bombing impossible. This, along with the lack of centralized Japanese industrial areas led to the tactic of incendiary raids at low level which would also necessitate night operations since at lower altitudes flak would be a much higher threat. It also helped that most Japanese building were made of wood. Reconnaissance pictures after the incendiary raids would show large burnt areas with small workshop machines standing out against the charred remains. The Japanese basically relied on home workshops to feed the parts into the assemble factories. Just one more reason they were destined to lose the war.
Or nearly an entire gone wing. I’ve seen footage of those guys landing on aircraft carrier decks and hardly have a wing on one side. AMAZING is right. Part of it too is the fact that it is also not your time.
Do you know of The Lancaster's Fatal Flaw? Check it out here : th-cam.com/video/XXvlB8kheW0/w-d-xo.html
My father never talked about war, except for one event. He was the mechanic on an LCT (Landing Craft Tank) attacking Okinawa. A young Japanese Kamikaze pilot decided to put his plane down in the water, rather than attacking a ship and dying for the Emperor. My father's superior ordered him to shoot the pilot with his rifle. Dad refused, and instead picked the pilot up. I know he felt proud that he did not kill that man in the middle of all that fighting, but he did not later meet with him as in the above story (probably didn't have the pilot's name).
A true measure of power & self control, having the ability to take life but not to do so unless there is no other choice. He kept his head when all around were losing their own. IF - Rudyard Kipling
Almost as incredible as this story itself is that any of these men survived the war and were then later in life to meet in person. Thanks for telling this amazing story...
If only governments were as honorable as these warriors.
You said the ultimate truth .
Wow! Captain Stubing! Say hi to Gopher for me. Happy sailing...
But they aren't Cap, they aren't. They can send us off to war, but they won't be in the trenches.
Governments don't have honor. This is not a criticism. People have honor.
As for governments sending you off to war, but won't be there themselves, well. At least in America - you volunteer to join the military. Don't complain when they ask you to do the job you literally signed up for.
@@Ruefus But it is an honor to serve you country
During the 2nd World War. Even with all its horrors the very few moments of gallantry, forgiveness, & kindness, far out shined!
In the darkest times of life, the smallest light is noticeable
many Christian so called "NAZIS" who got caught up in the conflict did so many kind deeds
In the first world war my great grandfather served on the battlefields in France. Only to return home and be hung by his neck by a white mob. Because they did not like him wearing his uniform.
I remember my Dad, who served in the Pacific during WW II, saying that when he died he knew that he didn't want to go to Hell, because he had already been there and didn't want to go back.
My granddad followed a simpler concept, but went "I'll never get into hell, they kicked me out and sent me home already."
My dad was in the South Pacific during WWII in the Navy. He was a radioman first on the Battleship Idaho which was an old ship, then on The Commencement Bay Air Craft carrier. He was at The Battle of Midway which was fierce. My dad prayed constantly to survive this war. I felt bad about the bomb but when I learned of the horrors that the Japanese did to our men I realized we had to end it. My dad said we lost so many men and we didn’t fight a war like the Japanese did. We did not use suicide planes who would dive bomb ships to destroy the Americans. We also didn’t start it, they did. My dad and my husband both worked for the defense of America, not to start wars but to stop them. They both told me that only the fear of America stopped the attacks or another country from starting something again. Never underestimate the USA. At least Japan had one man who realized that they had awakened a sleeping giant. I love Japanese gardens but I still don’t like your people because I took my dad to Hawaii to the Arizona Memorial at age 80 and there was a group of about 20 Japanese teenager standing over the sunken Arizona ship, they were pointing down at it and laughing their heads off. They are lucky I didn’t push them in the sea for that terrible disrespect. Talk about rude obnoxious behavior. Somebody forget to tell them, they may have struck the first blow but we ended it.
I flew into Iwo Jima on a Coast Guard C130. , After we landed the Japanese Crew formed a semi circle around the back ramp as we lowered it,,, They Bowed,,, We Bowed as we realized this was a Solemn Moment that we Both Shared,, on Sacred Ground.. They handed us a Case of Kirn Beer.. we made up a song about it and sang it half way home on our flight back to Barbers Point Hawaii,
we only hade a few hours on the ground so I walked to the Beach below Mount Saribachi where 250 Marines went up the Hill,, but only 50 made it back down alive,,,,,including
"Drunken IRA HAYES" the Pima Indian that Went to war and drowned in a ditch... I noted how steep the beach was and how far my boots sank into the large diameter corral sand sank as I descended to the waterline,,, I decided to walk down into the water,, shin deep,, to Imagine what the landing must have been like,, I walked up,, feet sloshing in my boots,, sinking into the Coral sand,, Heavy,, Hard to do.. Up the steep bank,, then up a little further,, saw the top of Surabachi,, and Imagined,, Just Offshore,,,, the Cheers of the US Fleet,, as the First Flag was raised,,
then my thoughts went back to the Japanese,, who knew by then that this was a last outpost,, against defeat of their homeland,, sacrificing 25 thousand of their lives against US Marines 5000 or so..
My Dad flew in the south Pacific too, he was friends with (and delivered to) Greg (Pappy Boyington) Vella La Vella Island VMF 214 ..(Black Sheep)
Cool history!!! God bless!!
@@patsmith5947
I fear the Chinese CCP will start a war, and we again will have to end it. Honestly think the world is bracing for it. CCP are cowards provoking world war 3.
"war thunder matchmaking in a nutshell"
Truuuuuuuue!
Bombers have tails on war thunder?
@@Feuervix hah, _no_
TAIL CUT LOOSE
Two men who met on the battlefield, men who experienced great horrors!! in that moment found mutual respect, now many years later become friends! What an amazing story,thank you for this!!
@Greg Nuckinfutz You have no humanity, which is normal for soulless demoncrats.
@@ZilogBob he's not wrong snowflake... whine harder!
@Greg Nuckinfutz Idiot troll muted.
True.Can you believe in all the chaos of war that they were able to meet afterwards? So profound. What a fantastic encounter to know about!
Why does there have to be war in the first place. War is a waste And a racket.
I’ve read that making the atomic bomb cost two billion dollars and building the b29 cost three billion.
War Thunder B-29 in a nutshell. Great vid btw.
When will war thunder cut the repair cost
@@dalliskal4827 the repair cost was made expensive to be realistic as the b-29 project was one of the most expensive projects during ww2. So they'd probably won't cut the repair cost.
War Thunder B-29 breaks apart after 3 hits from a 20mm gun
B29 IRL : true fortress chad
B29 in war thunder: Shit fortress virgin.
The plane shown at 0.02 "P9" and 0.28 "P9" dropping bombs was my Uncle Lens plane. The name of the plane was "Confederate Soldier" on one side and "City of Youngstown" on the other named after his hometown. Uncle Len (Leonard P Round) was the right gunner. Flew 22 missions. R.I.P.
So cool !
I love comments like this and envy their writers.
The treatment of the P.O.W’s in Japan is why my WW2 soldier father hated the Japanese for the rest of his life!
The world would have been better off if many of Imperial Japan's Officers had been Executed for their War Crimes...
And the thing is people are moaning how Japanese Americans were interned in the USA. The Japanese were dreadful to everyone they encountered
Had a few guys around my hometown that survived Batan....same for them
And they've still never apologized.
One of my long gone family members fought the Japanese and came home with a skull that he used to collect gold teeth he pulled for the dead which was confiscated of course.
B-29 had 1 20mm tailgun on earlier models, that was removed on later ones, due to problems with it tracking properly. All the rest were M-2 .50 cal Browing machine guns. I volunteered at Boing Museum of Flight in Seattle and spent many hours working on "T-Square 54" (tail insignia). The best part was meeting veterans who served in WW II , and a real "Rosie the Riveter". A great plane, and even greater hero's. It was an honor !
I am 66 years old, born in Seattle in 1955, and my mother, during WWII was a Rosie the riveter and worked in a shipyard for a while building Liberty ships.
I too LOVE the Boeing flight museum. I look forward to seeing it again.
Although I know that I hate to see any of these warbirds be retired or retired early, I would love to have the ability to fly them and experience what the pilots and their crews did. I think some would be pretty formidable today just cause everything goes way to fast now.
@Samuel Warner my grandma and two of my great aunts worked in the steel mills in youngstown. RIP, girls.
My grandfather was a USAF mechanic during the Korean War. If I recall, he worked on the radio equipment on B-29s.
Yep, when I heard 20mm "cannons". I' was thinking WTF?!
"There is a beast... deep inside of you. It will not die, It will fight back!"
In all seriousness, tons of respect to all those who served, and went through pain nobody should witness.
was looking for this comment 😂
Being a forces brat, I truly enjoy your stories and knowledge!!! You and
I are a breed that most people woulnt understand, so happy that you keep our heritage alive. 😁👍
Top banana!!!!
Pure warriors each and every one of the rover boys Express crew.a salute and heartfelt thank you
BOMBER HARRIS NACHFOLGER?
Wenn ja- dann tuts mir LEID. Sir Harris hat die MORDE aus der LUFT befohlen!💥💥💥💥💥
I joined the Air Force in 1960. My first duty station was at Yokota AFB working as a mechanic on KB-50s air refuelers which were B-29s with added refueling drogues and two J-47 jet engines to try to keep up with the jet fighters. On my first day, my Sgt. told me to get in a jeep and go to a hangar somewhere on the huge airbase to fix an aircraft. I was lost. Eventually, after driving everywhere, I found the hangar and managed to figure out how to get in. I never worked on an actual aircraft before, just the engines. When I entered the hangar there was a B-29. It was a massive silver monster. It took my breath away. I had no idea how to get to the engines, but I knew what the job required. I figured out the cowlings, fixed the aircraft, then spent time in the cockpit and gun positions alone in that hangar. It was like the dreams I had as a kid during and after the war. An amazing experience. This plane had seen action in the Pacific. The B-29 was fragile and the engines failed often, but it held together until they were decommissioned in 1965, a year after I was also "decommissioned". A hell of an aircraft for its time and a hell of a memory for me.
My dad flew in the Superfortress. I have his many medals. He was given a military burial...
Blessings to Dad n your family Steven🙏🏼❤️🇺🇸. Love to know such service from the past🙂☝️
My upmost respect for his service and sacrifices for this country.
Our dads were awesome giants of men. Heros of magnitude of the highest order. I'm not half the man that my father was. We are so blessed to have had their generation to protect and lead us.
@@ZommBleed Amen...
I have the utmost respect. 🇺🇸
In all human savagery mayhem, there are those who find some humanity in their hearts. I salute that Japanese soldier who spared the life of an enemy soldier. I also salute the American soldier who went through hell in captivity and some how managed not to hate the Japanese people.
You meant "Aviator." Soldiers fight on the ground. Aviators fight in the AIR.
@@LuisRamos-ou8zb a soldier is a soldier whether he is flying an airplane or diving a submarine and anything in between. Use your head. Well I guess you are an American. English language is not even my native language and all I see is you are struggling to understand an extremely simple comment. You shouldn't questioned about my comment. It makes you look bad.
@@AbdiPianoChannel he is correct though, a soldier is an army personnel, as an airman is to the Air Force and a seaman to the navy. It is a mark of respect to call him an airman as he was no soldier and it is a way of honouring his service. It would be unfair to call him the wrong thing as that was not his service.
In short, you are wrong about all military men being soldiers.
@@kevindowling157 Because the US use these terminologies that does not mean other non US people are not allowed to disagree. Not every country is using the same. Did you notice how many different English spell checkers exist ? I know native English speakers who even don't understand other native English speakers yet I have no problem understanding abdi Piano. No wonder you guys are still using the imperial system :)
@@etiennedaniels6346 bruh I’m not even American I’m just respectful of the type of service people gave. These terms are translated into many languages because they are separate things.
As a child I lived next door to George Caron who was a very nice old man I always enjoyed playing with. He died in 1995 when I was still too young to understand anything about war. I later learned he was the tail gunner on a very famous airplane called the Enola Gay and that his mission had dropped the Atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. I remember he once showed me a very old camera that he said he had taken a picture of 'the bomb' with. I didn't really understand becasue I was just 6 years old but later I learned it was the camera he used to take the picture of the Little Boy mushroom cloud over Hiroshima. As the tail gunner he had the only vantage point to take pictures. There were several cameras fixed to the Enola Gay but they all failed that day and the US government ended up using just the photo from the George's camera. The next day over a million copies of that photo were made and were airdropped over Japan as propaganda.
Thanks for sharing - what a fantastic time in your life to have met such a big player in history !
So thats the reaspn of the bad quality video??
Cruel as the two A bombs were, they saved an estimated two million lives or more that would have been lost had we invaded Japan. The loss to the world of Japan's ancient buildings and shrines would have added to the disaster.
@@roberte.andrews4621 if it was not for the threat of Russia invading Europe, th ed bombs would not have been dropped. It was politics in the end.
@@jackychan6971 My understanding is that when Russia declared war on Japan is what convinced them to surrender more than the our atomic bombs did.
America 2021 is SO UNWORTHY of the sacrifices of those WWII veterans - ALL OF THEM.
never wass. jim crow laws were still a thing back then
GREAT story, brave men.
Thank you very much for posting this great story. My mother was a young teenager in Japan during WWII. She met my father, who was from Spanish Fork, Utah, while he was stationed in Kobe with the occupation forces. They married, returned to Twin Falls, Idaho and raised 3 beautiful girls and one boy. She and her husband, Jim, live in Eagle, Idaho.
I hope you won't mind me pasting a post that I wrote earlier on my Facebook page on the last anniversary of Japan's surrender:
Japan Surrenders, and My Mother, Keiko
I have studied WWII most of my adult life. I think I understand it pretty well. But, my mother lived it.
Keiko Naemura was born in Kobe, Japan and experienced the war as a 13, 14, 15 and 16 year old girl. She watched the B29s flying over her city, dropping incendiary bombs that ignited city-wide conflagrations. She witnessed the thousands of people who died, many from suffocation as walls of fire surrounded them and stole the very oxygen they desperately gasped for.
She remembers running from the city to her home in the nearby hills during bombing raids and recognizing friends lying dead in the street. She remembers seeing the black, body-shaped cinders after the fire bombings, and people on the beach being strafed by fighter planes. As a little girl, the beach had always been her favorite place; but now it was a very dangerous place to be.
She remembers starving and her older sister, Satoko, handing her a small ball of rice to eat, then both of them handing their rice balls to their 5 year old brother, Kenji, so he would not starve.
She remembers bombs landing only a few hundred feet from her home. A few years ago I had the opportunity to walk around their home in Kobe with my uncle Kenji. He suddenly stopped, pointed to different nearby spots, and said, “A bomb landed there... and there... and there.” Although damaged, their home remained intact.
She told me about the day she walked several miles to visit her aunt with plans to spend the night with her. She was shocked to discover that her aunt’s house had burned to the ground, and her aunt was nowhere in sight. She could only imagine that her aunt had been killed just as thousands of others had been. After walking back home, she was filled with relief to realize that somewhere she had unknowingly crossed paths with her aunt, who had walked back to her home in Kobe.
She remembers hearing the emperor’s radio broadcast telling the citizens of Japan that they must now surrender. She was angry. Despite all of their deprivation and loss, she was united with other Japanese citizens to fend off the American soldiers using kitchen knives and bamboo spears.
She remembers when the American forces were landing on the Japanese islands. She was terrified as she and other civilians had been told that the American soldiers were savages and would torture and massacre them all. She went with the other women and children who were told to hide in the nearby hills for safety.
Then she told me about when they heard that the Americans had landed and had brought many tons of food and were feeding them, medical supplies and were treating their wounded and sick, and helping them rebuild their destroyed homes. Of the American soldiers, she softly, almost reverently said, "They were so kind to us."
Growing up, we now and then asked our mom about her experiences during WWII. She has shared a few things, but would soon turn silent as her mind sank into dark and painful memories that she had tried to keep away for many years. She would then quickly change the subject and become irritable if we tried to press her beyond that point.
Keiko is almost 91 (2020). Her memories are still clear, and she is now opening up more and more about what she experienced during the war. She is a wonderful woman and a good mother, grandmother and great grandmother. We love her dearly and hope we have inherited some of the deep strength and commitment that she has always displayed.
Wow, it was very interesting to read this. Thank you for sharing. I hope & pray that your mother will overcome those dark & painful memories so she can share more of them with you.
I hope you have a great day & be safe. :)
Richard Mikesell,
Wonderful story. God bless your Mother, yourself and your family. It's great to hear that your Mother is still with us.
Stay safe.
92歳で記憶がはっきりしておられるのはすごいことですね
@@アルゲン-z3v ??
Thank you very much for sharing this story, and to your mother for telling it for you. It really gives a different perspective on the war, hearing what it was like on the receiving end. And especially after reading about it here - and with no disrespect to the fliers who dropped the bombs because they certainly didn't make the decision - and even though I don't know the reasoning behind it, I now think from what I know that it was very wrong, maybe even really inhumane, to drop incendiaries on cities like Tokyo and Dresden with the knowledge that this would kill tens of thousands of civilians and in an awful way. Tho of course the harm the Nazis and Japanese caused civilians was awful, too, even apart from the unspeakable horror of the Holocaust.
A truly moving story of heroism , respect and kindness.
O0o0o0hhhh... kindnesss, after the crew of the bomber has pulverized how many civilians?
Individual honor and humanity bring politicians and state actors to shame every time. Great story; greater men!
Simple words, but Powerful & True Meaning !
Comment to feed the algorithm to get more eyes on this channel!!
Admirable, integrity of warriors was uplifting. I want to believe this happened many more times. It’s sad that ended when he landed and was beaten and treated like an animal in a zoo cage.
Imperial Japan was well known for its Brutality & Racism...
Japan is still a very racist nation...
He was treated worse than an animal. They gave medical treatment and fed and cared for the zoo animals. He was beaten, denied medical treatment and tied to the bars of the cage at the front so civilians could beat him with sticks and rope. How this amazing man survived is a miracle!! This kind of treatment would have killed King Kong!!!
Planet of the Apes
The Japanese displayed many naked American, Australian, British and other POW’s in zoo cages leaving their captive victims to harassment and beatings by the zoo visitors.
I’m thankful these men could reconcile their differences in friendship.
@@skychief399 equating that to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki death toll it is a matter of perception.
great uplifting stories, i love them!!
Any idea of what happened to the tail gunner after the tail was separated? A friend of mine’s uncle was a B-17 tail gunner in Europe and his tail was severed from his plane at altitude. The tail floated back to Earth and managed to land safely. The tail gunner was taken captive by German soldiers and spent the rest of the war as a POW.
Ok, I thought it was a bullshit story, but it turns out it was true. My apologies for doubting this story.
He cracked his head on his .50 cal didn't he.
@@ReapersKid07 These things did happen. You don’t have to believe it, even so, they happened.
@@elkabong6429 No I'm not saying they didn't. I just remember a story, probably this one, where when the tail hit the ground, the gunner cracked his skull open on his gun. I was asking to see if it was the same one.
@@ReapersKid07 Oh, ok, I gotcha. My bad.I don’t believe it was the same instance, no. Unfortunately, I have no way of finding out now, as all of the people that I could ask about this have passed away.
To this day I still cannot fathom the bravery of these service men facing what seems like certain death.
Some acts of kindness, and love are so deep I can’t find the words to say. I believe that it is even greater that they would fight each other in war, and decades later sit at the same table and eat in peace together. TOO COOL!!! Thank You Flak Alley!
Forgiveness is redeeming.
@@grizzlygrizzle That act was unforgivable.
@@grizzlygrizzle Die Mörder der Zivilbevölkerung kam aus der LUFT. Ach welch grandiosen HELDEN:
@@strad.franzschnell836 -- In Nanking? In Changjiao? In Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, etc?
@@strad.franzschnell836 6 million murdered Jews, and you're going to pass judgment on anything? STFU.
When i saw the original it, with no tail section , i thought about the poor, lonely tailg-unner, and what must have happened to him...
That shot when the single B-29 was dropping bombs- That was my Dad’s B-29. He was the flight engineer and right blister gunner.
Do the one about the B-17 pilot named Charles Brown. Tears every time.
I trust that you have heard the Sabaton song about that event, yes?
There's a book on that called "A Higher Call" if you want to read it
The greatest generation at their best!
Those were real men back then, tuff, fearless....
They were tough, but they had fear that they learned to harness because they had to. My Pop was an aviator and to conquer fear he focused on what had to be done.
Not literally any more "fearless" than the rest of us, just forced to overcome it. Rising above one's fear is the definition of courage, having no fear is something else.
My dad was out in the Far East during WW2. He survived luckily and told some stories but never opened up much. It's really hard to imagine what things were really like. Most of those who fought are nearly all gone and our generation who heard their accounts first hand will soon be gone. I heard so many fascinating stories from those at home who were too young to fight but lived through it all. I can only imagine it to be like living in a movie. Maybe in just 30/40 years time we'll be gone too and as todays generation are so removed I think with our passing WW2 will be properly consigned to the history books.
I salute the many men who survived that brutal conflict only to seek out and befriend their enemies, many their personal enemy. I hope it truly helped heal thier hearts and minds. Unfortunately my grandfather was never able to heal or forgive.
My Great Great Grandfather got his arm blown off facing Stonewall Jackson at 2nd Bull Run.. he once threw his boss out a 2nd Storey factory window in Pawtucket RI,,, If he was alive he would have Punched the Teeth out of anyone Tearing Down a Stonewall Jackson statue,, much the way that I would have punched the Teeth out of those Taliban that blew up a 2000 year old Buddhist statue...
or,, later, when I visited Wake Island and Iwo Jima with the Coast Guard,, I would Punch the teeth out of anyone defacing a Japanese Memorial to the Spirit of the men who fought there and opposed us.... Even though on Wake,, the Japanese committed Actual,, Real War Crimes.
@@trance02861 - Have you ever actually punched the teeth out of anyone?
@@davidearea242 lol. It's not easy unless you pick out those with already bad teeth to punch our.
There's a Hungarian comedy film which contains a far from comedy line: "My father told me that 'if you are on the floor, pick up something from there'". That's what these honourable men did.
My dad was on Guadalcanal all the Solomon Islands he was a combat medic attach to a rifle company saving a man's life he got two purple hearts Bronze Star Oak Leaf cluster he said the Japanese we're not nice he passed away in 2003 I put his name up on the World War II Memorial John s caleca
My grandpa was a machine gunner on Guadalcanal. He had the same view of the Japanese soldiers. He lived in Japan for many years and said he could never trust them.
@@jeffreykershner440 that's what my dad told me sneaky the Japanese my father platoon got ambushed he lived off the island for 21 days just ate coconut at night they come with the Banzai charge
@@jeffreykershner440 my father died of Merkel cell cancer I found out the military use Agent Orange in World War II it came out now you could look it up it's called poisoning the Pacific in 2003 when my father passed away the VA Hospital never mentioned it
My grandfather was a marine that went to guadal canal. He was with a tank battalion. Peace and love homie!
War makes men mad.
My uncle Elvin was a tail Gunner. His PTSD was pretty horrible, at times. It was the worse of all assignments, in WW2, suicide mission.
Thanks for your comment and supporting the channel, We hope you have a great day
my dad was a navigator on B-24s in Europe. He had screaming nightmares almost every night until he died. I used to feel so bad for him.
Thank you for this video and narrative. I'd like to point out, however, that the pilot wasn't Edmund Gilbert as the narrator says, he was Edmund Gilbert (Snuffy) Smith, as reflected on the plaque that is pictured briefly at 0:17. That was my uncle. I was too young to appreciate his experience shortly after the war, and I will forever regret not trying harder to connect with him years later when I was in the Air Force and visiting him. He was not forthcoming and I was not insistent. It would have been an absorbing and poignant quest to visit the (Aomori?) site where Emmy was held, during my multi-year assignment in Japan 16 years after the war. I found the Japanese to be a delightful people and learned a lot during my stay. I heard enough of his stories of incredible brutality and inhumanity at the hands of his Japanese captors, however. The impact on Emmy was devastating and he obviously did his best to leave it all behind and go forward, but it impacted his health and his marriage big time. But he carried on bravely, and I have the strongest remembrance of a hearty laugh that started in his belly and worked its way up. May the Lord bless him and each of the other members of his crew! They were all heroes in my book!
Incidentally, I met Hap Halloran at Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, CA many years ago when he was giving a talk about the big war. These stories and narratives that get told long after the event itself really give insight into the events of that day. Thank you for making them available!
Great story about humans & the compassion they have for each other. I recall the stories about Germans & allied men leaving their trenches to celebrate Christmas together.
So we're just going to ignore the fact that he was kept in a zoo and beated daily with sticks and rocks?
That was WW1
@Moto John Name me one person who forgave the germans who survived a concentration camp. Somethings are just unforgivable.
@Moto John Mr. Pete did not even address that. Forgiving is fine, but forgetting history is always wrong. Don't you agree, Moto John? Or does history make you feel bad?
@@TheMrPeteChannel not German camp but it's the same. Louis Zamperini (his story is portrayed in the movie "unbroken").
In 1998, he tried to see his torturer Mutsuhiro Watanabe but he refused to see him. After that, Zamperini sent him a letter saying that he forgave him
Salute to the ROVER BOYS 4 gunners who fought to the bitter end. May their souls have eternal peace, RIP.
They were outstanding; true defenders of their country loved ones and friends. True heroes
“There is a beast inside you, it will not die, it will fight back.”
Thank you for telling us about these incredible lesser known stories
think?
You your wondering way I edited I axadeintly miss spelled thank
@@mykillak thanks for telling me
@@tacticalideasdefense4243 i get auto corrected too and misspell...
Thank you for exposing these hero’s to history. May today’s people learn from their sacrifices
They had baals that's for sure but the fire bombings of cevilians under ww2 wasent heroic actions.
The more I finde out about ww2 the more I know it was all build on a lie like most wars.
One prouf is USA could have stopt Germany in 2 weeks by stop selling a adjective for their air plain engines
@@eriknielsen1849 An adjective? Did you mean additive?
@@RattlerBK sorry for my spelling
Yes I meant a cemical you have to put in the gasoline to protect the engine
@@eriknielsen1849 Your ignorance shows loud and clear in both the moral aspects of the war and the technical portions which you know nothing about. Go back to school that is taught by real and not woke teachers. BTW, retake grammar, you need it big time!
@@desertlvr I think you need to take your own advice. Stop listening to zionist propaganda and think for yourself. Or maybe it's already too late for you.
Pilots: bomb non-military facility
Also Pilot: THEY SHOT AT ME!! WHY?! I ALMOST GOT HURT.
The fact that he became friends with the Japanese ace that spared his life goes to show that they were just doing what they were ordered, even the enemy are still human.
America's enemies aren't human.
The Americans aren’t human, look they are bombing civilians
Done, subscribed as requested.
This video choked me up a bit.
Meeting with a former adversary and befriending him, that is awesome!
"It's no much of a tail....." Sorry, couldn't resist. Amazing story.
I met "Hap" Halloran at a VMF-214 squadron reunion in the early 1990s in SoCal. He was present because he was a POW with Greg Boyington (deceased at the time of this reunion) in Japan. He was a very nice man and it was an honor to spend time speaking with him.
What a great heart warming story. That these men would become great friends many years after the war goes to show what a truly class generation of men they were.
really *_heart warming_* were phosphorus bombs on woman and little childs. But bombing is the only that US can.
This is an incredible event, & act of humankindness that should be immortalized in a major motion picture for the world to experience !
Thank you for bringing us our history back to life from the greatest generation that ever lived on both sides
The Japanese used may more capable fighters than just the zero, especially the IJA. Research your content a bit better and stop referring to every Japanese fighter plane a zero.
Great comment. The pictures shown are not Zeros, but probably Army Nakajima Ki-84.
Sergeant Vittie! Been seeing notifications for "flak alley" and remember thinking that I didnt recognize the name. I didnt think about why I was getting the notifications if I didnt recognize the name though lol.
But I'm assuming you changed the channel name or this is a 2nd channel that I didnt remember subscribing to and ringing the bell. But regardless, I remember finding that one video about the flying fortress that was really popular a few days after you posted (coincidentally) and feel some sort of loyalty towards you and your work bc of it. But I digress, I'll make sure to watch more of your future uploads now that I know flak alley is you lol. Great video as always Sgt V!
Edit- PS: congrats on getting over 100k subs! Happy to see you cross that milestone! You deserve it. Looking forward to future uploads and seeing you get to 200k and ¼M subs (and beyond) in the future too. Take care buddy
He changed his name
@@Moonshine-jx1ib ahh gotcha. That was my assumption but thanks for letting me know for sure though still
I know. I was looking to show a couple of people on his old channel, and was like, hey uh hum. I was telling them that his stories are in fact the most unusual of WWII.
@@cassiecraft8856 With the Growth, this channel became an organisation rather than a sole individual running the channel. The name change was more suiting for the content as it is the nick name of a Bomber from WW2. Thanks for watching and sharing the stories.
@@Moonshine-jx1ib With the Growth, this channel became an organisation rather than a sole individual running the channel. The name change was more suiting for the content as it is the nick name of a Bomber from WW2. Thanks for watching and sharing the stories.
Awesome video
Great video brother thank you for what you do and your knowledge and expertise I am a new subscriber I can't wait to see all of your videos thank you again
Damn it, this story really hit my in the feelings, I didn't cry but I can't deny my eyes are a bit teared up.
It will not die, it will fight
So you know.
Absolutely brilliant true story, showing how humanity and forgiveness are possible and restorative, during and after bitter wartime.
Indeed! Thanks for watching and supporting the channel. We hope you can find enjoyment in our latest videos also.
b-17: fights without tail
war thunder plane: lose elevator = lose hope
(b-29)
It takes a lot to take a 20 mil to the chest, then get up and take out a zero. God damn madman, true American hero
You DO realize that a 20mm is a .79 caliber high explosive CANNON SHELL, not a solid slug...you are NOT surviving that....most survivors of 20 and 30mm hits weren't hit but wounded by shell fragments..
@@sethkimmel7312 - yes - that was a tall story - LOL.
there was armored glass protecting the rear gunner, so in theory it is possible to survive a direct 20mil hit, because when the 20mil penetrates through the glass, its slowed down drastically and might have been survivable and if it was HEF then it wouldn't have gone through the armored glass period
A 20mm cannon shell would blow a hole through a double brick wall. You don't shrug one off unless you 're the terminator. It's a ridiculous claim
yeah, that didn't happen.
If you want to know what really happens to you when you get hit by a 20mm, google Loyce Green, he was a navy gunner who was killed in action, while flying in a Dauntless.
They had to throw the whole plane over the side.
Chivalry at war. In the middle of the life-or-death moment. Glad to know 2 of them met again on the ground at peace time and befriended each other.
I could never befriend anyone from a nation like that if that ordeal happened to me.
The B-29 was a chronically faulty aircraft with immature system designs and major production issues. Therefore the aircraft with the most success in downing B-29’s was the B-29
Small acts of humanity during events of great inhumanity prove that there is hope. Thanks for creating this excellent piece.
Salute to these brave men and to you FlakAlley for keeping their stories alive.
As interesting a story is of a plane flying without its tail, the real story here is that of this American aviator, who survived because a Japanese pilot spared his life, and later found peace in friendship with him.
Agreed. Such a heart warming thing to happen. These things often follow terrible wars, bringing closure in reconciliation.
I met Raymond, in 2004 on Saipan. My hat is off to this fine gentleman
Is this the prequel of that guy who survived on a fall cause his on the tail of plane ?
That story makes me speechless. I am 57 years old I was born in 1964. If all humans on this planet could only work together the things we could accomplish.. maybe one day that would happen and come true.. from Mark
That concept borderline terrifies me. I've seen waaaaaaaaaay too many "entitled" people to really want to contemplate the flip side to humanity working hand in hand. First analogy that comes to mind is Edison, second would be Werner von Braun. While yes there would be room for positives, there would also be room for a new manhatten project which just adds in Oppenheimer and Marley... which leads me to think of Windscale and just how driven people can be to accomplish a task.
Free love is great and all, but it still requires an available STD clinic...
The World Economic Forum and the elites who meet there think they have the answer-- global fascism/communism of the sort that is currently in place in China. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. Their plan is for the elites to own everything, and manage "the people" like livestock on a farm.
@@grizzlygrizzle Not going to happen to this country - Americans have seen the topic shite they. are spreading
@@nunyabidness674 Es waren MÖRDER aus der LUFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The horror that Raymond endured reminds me how good I have things in my modern safe life
Fear not... the commies are taking over. You may yet suffer.
Great story!
Firs love your channel ceep it up!😀
Thankyou!
THANKS FOR THE HART!!!!😀😀
@@FlakAlley OMG!!!! 😁😁😁😁😁😁👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Wow. Two patriots in their own right, arch enemies - but each able to express their own humanity on their terms. They are proof that we can overcome horror, and that we will overcome our current horrors.
Sorry but one was misguided
Thank you for the video. My dad fought in World War 2 at the Battle of the Bulge with the 3rd Army. I do not think we realized back then what these soldiers all went through, sadly.
Standard procedure on all B29's was that as they approached the Japanese coast the cockpit and gunner crew members would don oxygen masks and depressurise the cockpit to prevent catastrophic depressurisation if the cockpit was hit.
Where was the P-51 lil buddies air cover??? poor planning..we had air superiority
Lovely story
How gallant - he didn't shoot a man hanging helpless in his chute rigging and was going to be captured
anyway...
Thankful for all these aviators, God bless them all.
War is so ridiculous. Men doing what they are ordered to do but just want to live in peace! ...
Respect........
Wars are so stupid...a random act of kindness more lasting than the hate generated by those on both sides who sent their young men out to die. Hate is on the rise again...how many young men, women and civilians will die to satisfy the hate lust of a few...a few who seldom experience the brutality of war themselves. Let Peace Survive or all mankind will die.
This is an amazing story and I've seen stories other rare occurrences during the war on both several fronts. It's amazing what men did on all sides of the war.
I remember Hap Halloran well from my days at CF. He was retired but still had an office at the Menlo Park office in a corner near where my cube was. He was promoting his book "Hap's War" about his ordeal from his office and I'd see him out at the Redwood City Airport form time to time. I was in my early 20s but I'd sneak away from my desk and go and listen to him tell me stories. I told him about my grandfather as a ball-turret gunner on the B-17s in the 8th Airforce in Europe. He had nothing but great comments about the ball turret guys and their bravery. He was a good dude. It was cool getting to meet him at the very tail end of his career while mine was just starting. He died a few years later, but I always remember him.
My father was a Crew Chief B29 Engine Mechanic in WWII. At that time in history the B29 was the most sophisticated airplane in the world. Those men and pilots were the great ones.
My Father was a Member of the 509th. The same group that dropped the Atom Bomb, And was in Roswell in 1947. And I can prove it.. Greatest Generation I rise and Salute..
what did he have to say about the Roswell "incident" ?
@@lw216316 Nothing,,he wasnt briefed on that topic..That was all Classified..Need to know only.
Sad and interesting story men of war good luck to all of you and God Bless You All.
I believe the severity of aerial defense caused the B-29 bombings to shift to night missions.
Actually if you read LeMay's biography, the very strong jet streams over Japan rendered accurate high altitude bombing impossible. This, along with the lack of centralized Japanese industrial areas led to the tactic of incendiary raids at low level which would also necessitate night operations since at lower altitudes flak would be a much higher threat. It also helped that most Japanese building were made of wood. Reconnaissance pictures after the incendiary raids would show large burnt areas with small workshop machines standing out against the charred remains. The Japanese basically relied on home workshops to feed the parts into the assemble factories. Just one more reason they were destined to lose the war.
Great story, one that I've not heard. I really like this channel and it's format. You do a great job, keep up the good work.
Outstanding! Unfortunately, 400+ knee-takers and flag-pissers, said no...
Brought a tear to my eye ,The honor of these men , Boris and Joe could learn a thing or two
Amazing! Thanks for watching and supporting the channel
Uhm... on the clip you've shown those aren't zeros, but Ki-43s...?
Probs extremely rare to find actual footage.
If you see the description
Its amazing how tailless planes can fly for a while
Or nearly an entire gone wing. I’ve seen footage of those guys landing on aircraft carrier decks and hardly have a wing on one side. AMAZING is right. Part of it too is the fact that it is also not your time.
@GbbJunkie watch Victory at Sea. There is a plane landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and it has very little wing left at all on one side.
Hand Salute to al the patriots that gave it all for our freedom
THANKS please respond
Love your channel
That's the human spirit for you....after all that, forgiveness and friendship!! 💪👍.