Ben Kuroki, only Japanese-American who flew over Japan in WWII -- RIP

[steve58]

Another from the Greatest Generation gone, may he rest in peace  :(

Ben Kuroki, who overcame the American military's discriminatory policies to become the only Japanese American to fly over Japan during World War II, has died. He was 98.

Kuroki died Tuesday at his Camarillo, California, home, where he was under hospice care, his daughter Julie Kuroki told the Los Angeles Times on Saturday.

The son of Japanese immigrants who was raised on a Hershey, Nebraska, farm, Kuroki and his brother, Fred, volunteered for service after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

They were initially rejected by recruiters who questioned the loyalty of the children of Japanese immigrants. Undeterred, the brothers drove 150 miles to another recruiter, who allowed them to sign up.

At the time, the Army Air Forces banned soldiers of Japanese ancestry from flying, but Kuroki earned his way onto a bomber crew and flew 58 bomber missions over Europe, North Africa and Japan during the war. He took part in the August 1943 raid over Nazi oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, that killed 310 fliers in his group. He was captured after his plane ran out of fuel over Morocco, but he managed to escape with crewmates to England.

Because of his Japanese ancestry, he was initially rejected when he asked to serve on a B-29 bomber that was to be used in the Pacific. But after repeated requests and a review of his stellar service record, Secretary of War Harry Stimson granted an exception.

Crew members nicknamed him "Most Honorable Son," and the War Department gave him a Distinguished Flying Cross. He was saluted by Time magazine in 1944 under the headline "HEROES: Ben Kuroki, American."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/06/ben-kuroki-japanese-american-wwii-war-hero-who-flew-over-japan-dies-at-age-8/?intcmp=hplnws

[LongBlade]

Wow. So many great men. So many we have lost.

[mirth]

58 missions?! Incredible.

RIP, Mr. Kuroki.

[Boggit]

58 missions?! Incredible.

RIP, Mr. Kuroki.

Not really. I have seen a Bomber Command crew logbook (from a WW2 veteran I knew) with well over 100 missions (of all types; raids, milk runs, gardening (mine dropping) etc), when officially they were supposed to do 25. The official quota was a misrepresentation that you see in films like Memphis Belle. It might have happened in 1942, but later on experienced bomber crews were in short supply. I suspect fighter pilots may have done even more missions in their tour.

None of the above detracts from Mr Kuroki's sterling contribution to the war effort. I'm just pointing out that a crewmember could end up doing a LOT of missions.

[mirth]

58 is still a pretty solid number.

[Staggerwing]

And he flew during the daytime, when the Experten were at their best.

[bbmike]

Wow, never heard of him but that's amazing! RIP Ben Kuroki.

[Boggit]

58 is still a pretty solid number.

Oh, I agree. Many crews would never make even that.

All I was saying was 58 missions did not seem particularly exceptional for many crews, some of whom did a lot more. The guy I mentioned, whose log book I saw said that he was nothing unusual amongst survivors, and other crews had more missions on their logs.

Maybe he was being modest? I don't know. I remember him as modest, but also very down to earth and honest. I thought having over 100 missions was a heck of a lot, but Bob just seemed to think it wasn't so unusual. (And I kid you not - he did have over 100 missions on his log book covering wide range of WW2 bombers, from Wellingtons, Halifax', and Lancasters - I saw it with my own eyes). Scary thing was him telling me about some of the raids (this was about 20 years ago, and it still sticks in my mind).

IIRC, his logbook started out mid 1942 until the end of the war, so you're looking at 2.5-3 years of combat flying, which is about 30 missions a year, 2-3 a month.

[mirth]

I came across an interesting doc about crew rotation in the USAAF. There was a lot of variation in length of tours over the course of the war and between theatre commands. I'll post a link once I get home tonight.

[Boggit]

That sounds very interesting. O0

I'll bet the Memphis Belle '25 mission tour' was more isolated the longer the war went on, with crews being pushed to the limit in many cases.

[mirth]

They really went back and forth on it. There was a lot of pressure to get as many missions as possible out of the crews, but also realization that you could only push them so far. It's an interesting read.

[mirth]

Here ya go. I was able to find the link through my phone

http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080424-048.pdf

[bbmike]

Here ya go. I was able to find the link through my phone

http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080424-048.pdf

Translation: I haven't left the bar yet.

[mirth]

She's super cute. And you're welcome for the link :P

[LongBlade]

Here ya go. I was able to find the link through my phone

http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080424-048.pdf

Cool. I read about a third of it. In a way it was like a time machine. Neat experience.

Thanks!