• Login
    View Item 
    •   IDA Home
    • Students -- Research, Data, Projects, and Papers
    • Student Theses and Honors Collection
    • View Item
    •   IDA Home
    • Students -- Research, Data, Projects, and Papers
    • Student Theses and Honors Collection
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The Kamikaze Pilots of World War II and their Image in American Media

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    228.pdf (1.609Mb)
    Date
    2011-02-16
    Author
    Konstantopoulos, Gina
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    In October of 1944, during the late stages of World War II, Admiral Ōnishi Takijiro of the Japanese Navy proposed one final solution to Japan s situation: to organize suicide attack units composed of Zero fighters armed with 250-kilogram bombs, with each plane to crash dive into an enemy carrier (Rikihei, The Divine Wind). From that proposition the Special Attack Corps, or as they were commonly known in America, Kamikaze Corps, formed. In its ten-month lifespan roughly 3,000 pilots died trying to crash their planes into American ships. While not incredibly effective from a military standpoint the success rate of attacks was approximately ten percent the dramatic nature of the attacks created an enduring image, one that masked the true nature of the pilots. The kamikaze pilots were among the best and brightest in Japan; highly educated young men well-versed in literature and philosophy and each with their own reasons for participating in the program. Through analysis of their writings, it is clear that every pilot was completely aware of all the consequences of his actions and driven by a sense of duty to his family and his country. The kamikaze pilots were a recognizable icon of the war, and the American propaganda machine seized upon that image and used it for a variety of ends. Throughout the course of the war and the years following the perception of the pilots changes, beginning with brainwashed fanatics and gradually shifting to acquire a sense of dignity and nobility in their actions. Through tracing the use of the word in popular American media, we can see how America absorbed the word and altered its meaning until it could be applied to a variety of other circumstances. However, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center raised issues on how the kamikaze pilots are delineated from modern-day Islamic terrorists. While similar in outward method, the aim and execution of the two groups remains dissimilar, as comparative analysis of Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks illustrates.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10166/731
    Collections
    • Student Theses and Honors Collection

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | MHC Accessibility Barriers Form
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of IDACommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | MHC Accessibility Barriers Form
    Theme by 
    @mire NV