Flyboys

James Bradley, “Flyboys: A True Story of Courage” Little Brown & Co, 2003, 552pp.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII-- the Pacific theater. Flyboys gives a comprehensive account of the fate of the six aviators who were captured by the Japanese on the little known island of Chichi Jima. The stories were compiled through extensive research of governmental records combined with personal accounts of those who were there, those who flew the missions (including former President George Bush) and family members of those who never returned.

Bradley begins the book by reviewing the history leading to the militarism of modern Japan and the indoctrination of an entire nation to serve the emperor at all costs. The fanatical militarism was a recent development which began after WWI. Contrary to the story put out just after the war, Hirohito was not manipulated by the militarists, as General MacArthur maintained in his analysis. MacArthur, true to character, disobeyed orders to investigate the Japanese for war crimes. Instead, he put out the story that the emperor had been controlled by the military and it was essential that Hirohito be kept as emperor to ensure a peaceful transition. Had the story of these six airmen not been kept secret, I believe many more war criminals would have been convicted, including Hirohito. Of course, as General LeMay stated: if the U.S. had lost the war, he (LeMay) would have been convicted as a war criminal.