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Sinking of the USS Drexler and the Tragic Tale of the Kamikaze Pilot behind it

We’ve already talked about the first Japanese kamikaze pilots that Japan utilised during the Second World War. These, often young men, of course, had to be trained. One of their instructors was First Lieutenant Hajime Fujii. Now, throughout the war, Fujii requested the army high command for permission several times to join his students in kamikaze attacks. But he was refused time and time again because he was more useful as an instructor. Fujii could not help but feel that he was ‘betraying’ his students by sending them off to die while he remained on the mainland. Eventually, it led to Fujii’s family to take drastic action in order for him to be allowed to fulfil his perceived duty. The story of First Lieutenant Fujii’s is incredibly tragic and shows how rampant nationalism and total war leads to individuals taking radical action. ►Consider Supporting HoH: https://www.patreon.com/HouseofHistory ►My Twitter:https://twitter.com/Oscar_HoH My videos tend to get arbitrarily demonetized. That is why I decided to open up a Patreon where people can support the channel. If you decide to pledge as little as 1$/month you will gain access to a monthly series exclusive to my Patrons! Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:06 Hajime Fujii Watch my documentary series: ►History of Prussia playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjJjSlui3iOOz0P3KI7-v3o5 ►End of Empire - Downfall of the Qing Dynasty playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjLnVJY6NyQX8JlVApf40DLs ►World War 2 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjLYTXde713nRftdAPj7YW_a ►Hitler's Spies playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjJGQ4c1q7mQhTh5vM54_17o The content of this video covers events, people or concepts via a lecture-style presentation that is educational and historical in nature. Every video is original content by House of History. The events relating to conflict in this video are portrayed in their historical context without either value judgment or an ideological message attached to it. There is no intent to shock, upset or disgust. The goal of my channel is to make interesting lecture-style videos, no more, no less. Thank you for taking the time to check out House of History, I hope you will find the films informative, interesting and enjoyable! Hajime Furii was born on August 30th 1915. He grew up with six siblings on a farm in Eastern Japan. Although his parents wanted him to take over the family farm, Fujii volunteered for the army, joining as an infantryman and manning a machine-gun. As a machine-gunner, he fought in China at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war. During combat, a mortar shell blew his left hand to pieces and he was subsequently transported to a field hospital. In the field hospital, he met Fukuko, a Japanese nurse that treated him. They fell in love with each other and decided to marry. Against the wishes of both their families, after all, arranged marriages were the norm in Japan back then. The couple had two daughters, Kazuko and Chieko. Now, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, war broke out between Japan and the United States. As Japanese men were sent to the frontlines, Fujii was actually in training. Regardless of his loss of hand, the army sent him to the Army Air Corps Academy. He graduated in the spring of 1943 and became a company commander at the Kumagaya Army Aviation School. Fujii was tasked with training character and mental fortitude among the pilots-in-training. Pilots in training were taught a sense of moral duty to the emperor and their fatherland. There are multiple anecdotes of students of Fujii that confirmed he would often state that if he could, he would die with them on the frontlines of battle. One of the grim realities of warfare was that pilots were trained to crash their aircraft into enemy ships or positions if they saw no other way out, even before kamikaze was officially adopted as a strategy. Still, during this time Fujii was convinced he too would eventually be called to battle, telling his students he “will not let only them die, but he as their company commander will also surely go.” If you have any feedback, questions or criticism feel free to leave a comment. Your opinion truly aids me in improving the content of the channel! If you have a question, feel free to leave a comment and I will either write a reply, answer your question in a Q&A video, or make an entire video about it! Sources: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/the-tragic-tale-of-hajime-fujii-a-kamikaze-fighter.html https://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/kamikaze/stories/fujii/index.htm Photos, paintings and imagery: Public Domain, Wikicommons #HouseofHistory #History #WW2