Kamikaze Pilots
Image taken from aviation-art.net
After the events of September 11, we are no stranger to the notion of suicide pilots. These people believe in an ideology so strongly they are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to show their commitment to their belief. During World War Two, the Japanese had their own code of honor. This code was that any Japanese military person who saw that no victory was possible, was to take their own lives by way of crashing their planes into enemy installations. These pilots were known as kamikaze pilots.
When the United States declared war on Japan, the Japanese knew they would have to revert to deadly tactics in order to guarantee victory for their country. During many navy battles, Japanese pilots would be strapped into their planes and loaded with so much ammunition it was almost impossible to take off. They were given only enough fuel for them to complete their mission. The planes would take off and go as fast as possible and crash into an enemy battleship or aircraft carrier. The hope was that when the plane impacted, the explosion would disable the enemy ship and kill everyone on board.
