Imperial Japanese Navy Warrant Officer Takeo Tanimizu poses beside his Mitsubishi A6M5c Model 52 Reisen fighter. June 1945.
At the time this photograph was taken, Tanimizu was assigned to the 303 Hikótai, 203 Kókūtai which was based at Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan. He is credited with between 18 to 32 kills, making him an ace.
It was rare for Japanese fighters to have kill markings -as kill scores weren't officially kept- but Tanimizu chose to put them on his aircraft as a way to boost morale among the many inexperienced pilots that predominated the ranks by 1945. The five stars with arrows through them indicate a sure victory, the remaining one indicates a probable. Obscured by the strong sun's reflection there were two head-on silhouettes of B-29s painted above the stars.
Despite, like any other pilot, following a 'kill or be killed' philosophy, Tanimizu seems to have been an honorable combatant who felt compassion for his opponents.
It is said that on January 4, 1944, while returning from combat, he saw a lone Corsair pilot parachute from his damaged aircraft into the waters off Cape St George. Tanimizu struggled out of his life preserver, came down at low altitude, opened his canopy, and threw his life preserver to the pilot, Captain Harvey F. Carter of VMF-321. Apparently, Carter collected the life preserver and waved to Tanimizu but he was never found again and is still listed as MIA.
Claiming to feel regret and sadness for the lives he took in combat, after the war Tanimizu erected a small Buddhist shrine in his residence and every night would offer prayers to those men whose lives he had cut short.
Tanimizu's Reisen fighter survived the war but was eventually collected in Nagasaki and reduced to scrap in November 1945. Tanimizu himself passed away on March 12, 2008 at the age of 88.
Original: T. Tanimizu
I just noticed the different shades of grey of the stars, here they've been colored red and blue, any idea why that is? Destroyed and damaged, confirmed and probable?
Also, 5 of the stars have an arrow through it while one doesn't....again, destroyed and damaged?