[sharkbit]

I'm no expert on the subject, but my two cents worth....

I think one thing left out in this discussion is the cultural differences and mentality between East and West during that time. I think we tend to look at this subject through the lenses of our Western Culture.

The Emperor was considered a god at that time. To die for him was a great honor. To people in the West, that concept is too foreign to us. I myself can't fathom why someone would do what the Kamikazes did, but I'm a Westerner also. I wasn't brought up in that time and culture. If you were in that culture, you probably wouldn't think twice about it because you didn't know any better.

Throw in the Code of Bushido that was so prevalent in the Japanese military at that time and it is no wonder there were so few Japanese prisoners taken. The suicides when the battle was lost on so many islands in the Pacific and the Banzai charges aren't so suprising.

I worked with an ex-Marine that was stationed on Okinawa for a time in the '80's. I remember him saying how different the culture is and how difficult it was to get used to it. He said many people couldn't get used to it. Maybe other people on this forum could share any experiences they might have had if they were stationed in Japan or something.

One of the best books I've read on the battle for Iwo Jima was "So Sad to Fall in Battle" by Kumiko Kakehashi. Based on letters from the garrison commander on Iwo, General Kuribayashi, to his wife. It puts a very human face on the "enemy".(Clint Eastwood based his movie "Letters From Iwo Jima" on the book.) It's been a while since I read it but one thing I remember was that he went to Iwo knowing he was going to die. There was no regrets or wishing otherwise.

So, were the Kamikazes brave, crazy, or stupid? I think that is pretty difficult to answer based on cultural differences.