Flyboys changed the way I looked at the Pacific War. I knew about kamikazis, Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, but I guess I never really put it all together. In reading Flyboys, I saw the brutality that can be committed in war on both sides and how even enemies can become friends.
James Bradley wrote Flags of Our Fathers, which is about the battle for Iwo Jima and the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi. Flyboys focuses on the next island closer to Japan, Chichi Jima, and the American airmen who were shot down and captured near the island.
All of the flyboys were eventually executed, but this book puts together the stories of their last days. Some were executed quickly by beheading. Others were kept alive for some time due to the compassion of some of the Japanese officers, but eventually these men were also executed and eaten.
I thought the book started fairly slowly by reaching back to look at American-Japanese relations from the time the two cultures first met. Much of the information was not relevant to the main story and what was could have been worked in later. It would have been much better if the book had started with the Pearl Harbor chapter. That’s when I became engrossed.
Though it’s sad that the Americans committed some atrocities, they were far from being the only guilty party in the conflict. I’m not even sure I could tell you who acted worse.
What I was encouraged to see was that humanity that was demonstrated when the interactions came down to a personal level. It’s hard to hate a stereotyped enemy if you have to live with him day after day.
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