Akihiro's mother's father was telling war stories this holiday when we were with him. Here is one of the most interesting ones!
He was 17 years old and was a pilot for the Japanese navy. He was so skilled that he was training other pilots and not commissioned for kamikaze duty--thankfully--there wouldn't be an Akihiro otherwise! Anyway, when the war ended, he was given two options--go to Okinawa and be a kamikaze or go home. He chose to go home and made plans to go with several other pilots. They would take their navy planes and tour Japan a little bit first! They flew to Kyoto and many other famous sites, landing at the navy bases to refuel, saying they were on a mission. One of the bases knew of Grandpa's skill at stunt piloting and asked him to show him a few tricks. Grandpa was happy to oblige. (In later years, Grandpa was able to meet some of these same people who asked him to do his stunts!) After touring with his buddies, he flew to his home town, but knew there was no landing strip. He warned the towns people that he was coming home by dropping his shoes and other belongings out the plane and began circling the area, knowing that he had to run the fuel out before landing or he would blow up the plane. This drew a crowd of townspeople to see their hometown hero! He picked out a farmer's field and glided in for a safe landing! He knew he would be in trouble if his plane was found, so he had no trouble getting help from the townspeople to dig a deep hole to bury his plane! After that he had to run from the U.S. government because of his situation, but after 3 years he could return to his home and go on with life. He ran a number of retail businesses after that, but never did fly again! At an age of over 80 years old, he will close his restaurant at the end of this month. We are prayerful that his transition to retirement will go well!
Here's a picture of Akihiro's mother's family minus one cousin and Tsuyoshi and Yuko (I am taking the picture!). We were celebrating Noboyuki's 60th birthday!
