- Thread starter
- #21
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
I personally disagree here. Sugita criticised Sakai's story with logic and his own experience. He is entitled to say his view since he isn't just saying it's a lie for no reason. He explains his view. It can come across as insensitive, but for me, he is entitled to say it.
As for my opinion, I am somewhere in the middle. I do believe Sakai may have misremembered some of the events due to trauma but I also believe Sugita is incorrect for calling it a complete lie. So I agree with Sakai that the event definitely happened, but I agree with Sugita in that some parts sound too far fetched
I don't agree with calling anyone a liar unless I have ironclad evidence, and I don't think highly of anyone who does so. When some parts sound far-fetched, call them that rather than lies.
So you're judging someone's personality on a translation of what they wrote ?I guess we have to agree to disagree. I think incredibly highly of Sugita due to his kind personality and superb combat skills.
Sugita was rare among Japanese pilots. Unusual in skill and also combative and disrespectful to someone who was older.I guess we have to agree to disagree. I think incredibly highly of Sugita due to his kind personality and superb combat skills.
Sugita was rare among Japanese pilots. Unusual in skill and also combative and disrespectful to someone who was older.
It's good to hear from you as well. Great post, by the way.
There was a movie made which was loosely based on his life called "Zero Fighter" which is a fairly good film. It was not a jingoistic piece of trash like Eternal Zero (AKA "The Fighter Pilot") (which IMO is a shocking and inexcusable film, given Japan's anti-war constitution).
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nk564qtzL0
EDIT: That Youtube clip clearly says that the name of the film is "The Sky's Samurai" so I don't know where they got the name "Zero Fighter" from.
Thanks for the link to the documentary on Sakai, I'm looking forward to watching it soon. Also thank you for the reference to 祖父たちの零戦 "our grandpa's zero sen". I have access to an AI translator (which doesn't do well with vertical, right-to-left languages) which can retain formatting and overlay text onto the PDF if that's available. Or do you read Japanese?
T tyrodtom the people who flew with Sugita had high praise for him. One student explained that Sugita's instruction method was very easy to understand and that without him, he would have died. The other instructors were less able to communicate complex flight ideas
One more thing, regarding Sakai's probable PTSD and TBI (which are both related conditions as TBI causes PTSD): Many Japanese instructors punched students in the face and head. So there were likely a higher number of TBIs among Japanese pilots in general. The fact that Sugita did not use violence as punctuation on lessons is also the reason why his students tended to learn his lessons more effectively.