National Geographic Untold Stories of World War II

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00:00:03 In a century riddled with unrest,
00:00:07 World War Two remains the epic tale...
00:00:14 an event of unparalleled impact.
00:00:18 Even now,
00:00:22 about secret weapons...
00:00:26 and villainous tactics,
00:00:29 about extraordinary heroism...
00:00:32 and boundless shame;
00:00:36 about a time when one life
00:00:42 separated infamy and glory...
00:00:46 defeat and victory...
00:00:50 tyranny and freedom...
00:00:55 untold stories of World War II.
00:01:15 On the 16th of July, 1945...
00:01:19 a bomb exploded in the American desert
00:01:24 The furious energy of
00:01:29 That power might have landed
00:01:32 had a few brave men not waged a secret
00:01:40 At the height of the Second World War,
00:01:42 Germany's Nazi Party
00:01:46 led by its ambitious,
00:01:52 Adolph Hitler had the will
00:01:56 All he needed was the weapon.
00:02:01 And he had found the means to make one
00:02:04 in the most unlikely place.
00:02:10 It was here,
00:02:13 that a handful of soldiers on
00:02:18 of possessing the ultimate weapon.
00:02:24 Old men now,
00:02:25 they remember how they risked their
00:02:30 They would stop at nothing
00:02:35 So the feeling that they had to be
00:02:41 We were quite certain that
00:02:45 we would all have been executed.
00:02:50 It would take three daring attempts
00:03:03 April 9, 1940.
00:03:05 German warships penetrated Oslo Fjord.
00:03:10 The blitzkrieg had come to Norway.
00:03:15 Within two months, the besieged nation
00:03:21 Well, it took some time to realize it,
00:03:24 But when Autumn 1940 came,
00:03:29 you certainly realized that it was not
00:03:37 To understand it, you need to have
00:03:44 To live in an occupied country is
00:03:57 A vast occupying army flooded
00:04:02 The Nazis now controlled all aspects
00:04:08 No actually war between each Norwegian
00:04:13 We had to do the best out of it.
00:04:15 I think that was the common opinion.
00:04:18 Inside, of course,
00:04:26 They introduced Gestapo in Norway,
00:04:28 when they understood that
00:04:34 started arresting people,
00:04:37 killing people, et cetera et cetera.
00:04:39 And then we certainly understood
00:04:51 Hitler's grasp extended
00:04:57 In this remote Norwegian valley,
00:04:59 the Germans seized
00:05:04 the Norsk Hydro factory.
00:05:07 Surrounded by mountains,
00:05:12 of a cliff overlooking a deep
00:05:17 For the Nazis,
00:05:18 it was an ideal location
00:05:22 to bomb and easy to defend.
00:05:27 But, to the generals in Berlin,
00:05:34 In 1940, it was the only
00:05:39 producing large amounts
00:05:43 deuterium oxide,
00:05:54 As soon as they took control
00:05:56 production went into high gear.
00:06:05 When word reached Great Britain,
00:06:06 a powerful sense of foreboding swept
00:06:11 As the most likely target
00:06:14 Britain faced the greatest peril.
00:06:18 Is it possible they do not realize
00:06:23 to persevere against them until
00:06:27 which they and
00:06:31 Winston Churchill's spirited defiance
00:06:36 for resistance fighters from
00:06:42 Young Norwegians eager
00:06:45 of exiles gathering in Britain.
00:06:48 There was no sacrifice that was
00:07:00 The British created
00:07:03 the Special Operations Executive
00:07:09 You volunteered and you were trained
00:07:13 and work behind the lines
00:07:18 reporting radio information,
00:07:22 and that sort of thing.
00:07:28 A few young resistance fighters would
00:07:33 armed with a plan to destroy
00:07:40 They were country boys and city kids,
00:07:43 engineers and outdoorsmen,
00:07:46 university students
00:07:51 Shock troops in a clandestine
00:07:55 they would become legends
00:08:01 And some of them would even star
00:08:05 chronicling their real-life exploits.
00:08:09 Scenes from this film give a revealing
00:08:17 October, 18, 1942
00:08:21 Four of the men returned home
00:08:25 Their mission:
00:08:28 to the heavy-water plant.
00:08:32 When we were leaving
00:08:35 you felt that some
00:08:38 didn't expect to see you once more,
00:08:40 so we had to more or
00:08:43 It's not that this easy
00:08:46 We'll be back. Just wait and see.
00:08:54 Our target is
00:08:57 That was all. They said it's important
00:09:03 I knew that the heavy water
00:09:07 for the Germans' weapon production,
00:09:10 but in which way I had no idea.
00:09:17 The commandos' first objective was to
00:09:21 on the Hardangervidda,
00:09:29 Crossing that bleak expanse,
00:09:31 the Norwegians took over an empty cabin
00:09:37 The operation could begin.
00:09:43 For the first sortie, the British sent
00:09:49 a plan that needed clear weather.
00:09:52 But over Norway, clouds, winds,
00:09:55 and snow had cut visibility
00:10:01 For the Norwegians on the ground...
00:10:03 the flight had become
00:10:07 I tried to get a connection
00:10:09 and warn them that
00:10:16 And then, suddenly,
00:10:18 I heard interference in my headphones
00:10:24 And shortly after, we also heard
00:10:29 and it came dead on us,
00:10:35 After about half an hour,
00:10:38 the next plane with a guide glider came
00:10:45 turned, and went away.
00:10:50 The British troops never arrived
00:10:57 We got a message from
00:11:01 and one of the Halifaxes had crashed
00:11:07 That was the end of
00:11:10 It was a complete disaster.
00:11:14 The soldiers who survived the crash
00:11:22 The Allies' secret war against the
00:11:29 To avoid detection,
00:11:30 the commandos withdrew deeper
00:11:36 For weeks, perhaps months,
00:11:38 they would have to live off a land
00:11:43 When this mission
00:11:47 we had actually no supplies
00:11:52 So we were dependent upon reindeer,
00:11:56 but at that moment, there were few
00:12:01 because of the wind directions.
00:12:05 It was so very difficult
00:12:09 but the day before Christmas,
00:12:17 Jens learned that if you take
00:12:23 you get vitamins
00:12:25 So we cut up the stomach and
00:12:33 the contents, and mixed it
00:12:37 and made a nice porridge mixed
00:12:44 And we were eating it
00:12:50 So on Christmas Eve...
00:12:52 we had a real fun party.
00:13:21 We chatted; we had a good time
00:13:25 I remember well.
00:13:32 You know your comrades outside
00:13:36 You know what he is going to say
00:13:40 They had endurance, they had the will
00:13:48 in you except the will which says
00:13:53 They would have to hold on through
00:13:58 But each day the Nazis' supply
00:14:02 drop by precious drop.
00:14:06 London had to make a move.
00:14:09 A second Norwegian squad,
00:14:13 would drop onto the Hardangervidda
00:14:17 in an assault on the heavy-water plant
00:14:23 February, 16, 1943
00:14:28 under cover of night
00:14:33 Now the commandos were ready to strike
00:14:38 if they could penetrate the factory's
00:14:53 To the commandos, the heavy-water
00:14:59 To reach the factory, the saboteurs
00:15:05 There was only one road in.
00:15:08 over a suspension bridge.
00:15:10 And the bridge was patrolled 24 hours
00:15:17 Any direct assault would be doomed.
00:15:21 But the chasm itself, with its steep,
00:15:27 Someone said he thought it was rather
00:15:33 But it was decided that one should
00:15:38 In daylight,
00:15:41 I climbed down the gorge,
00:15:44 and started climbing up
00:15:47 And then the same way back up
00:15:52 and told the fact that was possible
00:16:13 You felt that this may be serious,
00:16:19 and you accepted that
00:16:32 We climbed down the river and up
00:16:34 and our plan was to get in position
00:16:41 because at 12 o'clock at night,
00:16:42 there was guards down
00:17:14 We wanted to see the German guards
00:17:18 coming up in the factory area,
00:17:20 and enter the barracks,
00:17:32 We all thought we would be discovered
00:17:37 But nothing happened.
00:17:39 Two of us carried a full set
00:17:43 in case one should be shot,
00:17:49 The task for the demolition team:
00:17:52 To attach explosives
00:17:54 located in a basement room.
00:18:00 Meanwhile, their comrades
00:18:03 Each passing moment increased
00:18:07 If we had been discovered,
00:18:10 I knew that during such circumstances
00:18:15 Do I shoot? A shot would, of course,
00:18:19 maybe spoil the whole operation.
00:18:26 Inside, they overpowered
00:18:30 Holding him at gunpoint,
00:18:33 pausing only to decide how much time
00:18:37 before the blast.
00:18:39 Suddenly, they were interrupted
00:18:43 He broke in and said, It's all right,
00:18:46 that's all right.
00:18:47 But may I have my glasses?
00:18:49 Because it's hopeless to get
00:18:54 And you would have thought that
00:18:59 We have no time for looking
00:19:01 But instead,
00:19:03 and you searched all around
00:19:05 you found the-the holster for
00:19:10 thank you very much,
00:19:41 So far, they had beaten the odds.
00:19:43 Now the commandos had only seconds
00:19:48 And after a few minutes one minute,
00:19:53 with us on the railway line.
00:19:55 And we ran the same way back
00:20:04 The road conditions and
00:20:07 because on the railway,
00:20:08 quite a lot of the snow had blown
00:20:11 and that was frozen solid ground,
00:20:17 So everything was actually on our side
00:20:22 With determination, skill, and daring,
00:20:25 the saboteurs had dealt a
00:20:29 without losing a man.
00:20:33 But heavy water had become
00:20:37 and within six months,
00:20:43 The Allies had to assume the worst:
00:20:45 Nazi scientists were close than ever
00:20:50 Another attack on the factory
00:20:54 this time, from the air.
00:21:00 In a bold noonday raid,
00:21:02 176 American bombers
00:21:10 The raid damaged factory buildings and
00:21:16 But the heavy water, secured in
00:21:24 With production halted,
00:21:25 the Germans decided to move
00:21:27 the operation to the safety
00:21:30 and inadvertently gave the commandos
00:21:37 We had got information
00:21:41 had planned to take down
00:21:51 Team members secretly scouted
00:21:56 The heavy water would be loaded
00:21:58 and taken by train to Lake Tinnsjo.
00:22:02 Here, the cars would go aboard a
00:22:04 for the two-hour trip across the lake.
00:22:09 A well-placed charge could sink the
00:22:16 But sinking a public ferry
00:22:21 Our conclusion was that the sinking
00:22:25 was about the only possible solution.
00:22:29 It would have to be civilian sabotage,
00:22:31 which was naturally a
00:22:37 There was no doubt in our mind
00:22:39 that there were going to be
00:22:42 and furthermore, it could be anybody.
00:22:46 And Rjukan was a small town,
00:22:49 and it was really
00:22:54 Fearing neighbors and
00:22:56 the Norwegians sent
00:23:03 The British reply was immediate
00:23:08 It has been talked over
00:23:10 and the conclusion is they heavy water
00:23:16 Good luck and when you get such a
00:23:21 Not to be.
00:23:21 They were sad.
00:23:22 But everyone in my family
00:23:25 I couldn't do anything about it.
00:23:42 The Germans never put any guards
00:23:47 They were watching their barrels
00:23:52 But the ferryboat itself
00:24:10 At ten o'clock
00:24:12 the ferry men cast off
00:24:21 Forty-five minutes later,
00:24:25 a blast tore through the bottom
00:24:34 It was a very, very bad blow,
00:24:40 and the cargo on the ferry-there
00:24:45 so they rushed down and
00:24:54 Within moments, the mortally damaged
00:24:59 carrying with it innocent passengers
00:25:02 and Nazi Germany's atomic ambitions.
00:25:06 And the heavy water being
00:25:11 and it's still on the bottom
00:25:22 Later, the Allies would learn that
00:25:24 the Nazis were never close
00:25:30 The U.S. won the A-bomb race.
00:25:39 Within months of the German defeat,
00:25:47 But in the Allies hands,
00:25:52 not perpetuate one.
00:25:55 If Hitler had the bomb, he might
00:26:02 The Norwegian resistance fighters
00:26:08 Their mission was one of the greatest
00:26:14 something that had to be done,
00:26:21 You have to fight for your freedom
00:26:26 It's not something that
00:26:28 You have to fight for it every day,
00:26:31 to keep it.
00:26:33 It's like a glass bowl;
00:26:38 It's easy to lose.
00:26:50 Half a world away, on December 7, 1941
00:26:54 American learned the cost of freedom,
00:26:57 when Japan devastated Pearl Harbor.
00:27:02 That sneak attack included
00:27:07 midget submarines
00:27:09 They were sleek, deadly, and,
00:27:28 The National Park Service
00:27:31 have searched for the wreck
00:27:35 An hour before the
00:27:38 a U.S. destroyer sank the tiny vessel.
00:27:41 The encounter could have
00:27:44 that bombs and torpedoes were
00:27:49 But it did not.
00:27:52 Marine archeologist Dan Lenihan
00:27:57 Jim Delgado was the project's historian
00:28:03 Their collaboration grew out
00:28:05 below the surface of Pearl Harbor.
00:28:12 They searched for evidence
00:28:15 a battle waged underwater
00:28:23 One sub played a special role.
00:28:26 It was particularly exciting about the
00:28:31 It would have represented the
00:28:34 between the United States
00:28:37 And, because, remember,
00:28:42 an hour before
00:28:46 An incredibly important,
00:28:52 The search for the midget sub
00:28:53 focused on a square mile
00:29:00 The area is a graveyard of war relics,
00:29:06 A thousand feet down, in the darkness,
00:29:11 But what they're looking for is
00:29:16 It carried two torpedoes and was
00:29:21 They were going to come on in,
00:29:24 And then, when the attack occurred,
00:29:27 when all hell broke loose
00:29:31 fire their torpedoes,
00:29:32 and wreak as much havoc as they could,
00:29:36 head back on out, and rendezvous
00:29:39 with their mother subs to be
00:29:48 The mother ships moved into position
00:29:52 December 6, 1941.
00:29:55 They arrived ahead of
00:30:00 Each mother ship had a
00:30:04 The larger craft would release
00:30:07 and retrieve them after the attack.
00:30:10 But the tiny vessels would
00:30:13 a clash of giants that
00:30:19 From Manchuria to French Indochina
00:30:23 Japan had rolled up a long list
00:30:29 Despite an Allied embargo on war
00:30:34 By late 1941,
00:30:38 lay before the "Rising Sun".
00:30:42 Their only protection:
00:30:43 a scattering of British
00:30:46 and the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
00:30:49 I think there was a general sense
00:30:52 I don't think anybody expected that it
00:30:57 Successfully surprising an island
00:31:01 also seemed impossible
00:31:06 But admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
00:31:10 was the only way to disarm
00:31:14 Japan had to
00:31:17 even if that meant attacking its
00:31:25 Japanese pilots trained hard through
00:31:30 So did the crews handpicked
00:31:33 the fastest boats of their kind.
00:31:36 Soon they would have their chance
00:31:41 In Washington,
00:31:42 Japanese diplomats continued
00:31:46 until the final hour.
00:31:49 Not even Japan's ambassador knew
00:32:01 December 7, 1941.
00:32:05 As Oahu slept, the Japanese task
00:32:10 into striking distance of Pearl Harbor
00:32:16 In Washington,
00:32:18 military intelligence teams had
00:32:23 They knew an armada was somewhere
00:32:27 But they did not know its destination.
00:32:30 Near diamond Head,
00:32:33 The Japanese mother subs surfaced
00:32:37 But something went wrong.
00:32:39 At 6:30 a.m., a seaplane pilot
00:32:43 reported a strange sub
00:32:48 The captain of a nearby destroyer,
00:32:51 realized intruders were trying to
00:32:56 His gunners opened fire.
00:32:59 The midget sub began sinking
00:33:03 Depth charges finished her off.
00:33:09 The Ward reported the sinking twice.
00:33:13 But before notifying Pacific Fleet
00:33:16 district headquarters waited
00:33:20 The delay was all the attackers needed
00:33:23 News of the sub might have prevented
00:33:27 Well, the message was radioed in
00:33:29 that they fired
00:33:32 It didn't reach Admiral Kimmel.
00:33:34 It wasn't until just a few minutes
00:33:38 with the planes coming in, that the
00:33:42 look, we got this message in
00:33:44 of the Ward saying that
00:33:46 operating in the defensive zone.
00:33:47 Kimmel says,
00:33:50 He's putting his uniform on,
00:33:53 and that moment the planes come
00:33:56 the bombs start dropping.
00:34:03 At five minutes to eight, forty
00:34:07 bearing the mark of the Rising Sun.
00:34:11 Accompanying them were
00:34:14 forty-nine high-level bombers,
00:34:17 and forty-three fighters.
00:34:20 American sailors thought they
00:34:24 Bombs and bullets found them
00:34:29 or staring into the fatal sky.
00:34:38 Arizon... Oklahoma... California.
00:34:45 One by one, great ships sank.
00:34:49 The West Virginia alone took
00:34:56 Pearl Harbor's air defense
00:35:00 Only a handful of pilots managed
00:35:02 to scramble into a sky
00:35:10 The midget subs' moment had come.
00:35:13 But one had been sunk by the Ward.
00:35:17 A second was depth-charged outside
00:35:20 Of the three that remained,
00:35:25 Between waves of attacking planes,
00:35:32 Moments later,
00:35:35 by a destroyer making for the open sea
00:35:40 Sub and crew hit bottom.
00:35:46 Overhead,
00:35:49 But now smoke and anti-aircraft fire
00:35:54 The "sleeping giant" had awakened.
00:36:00 Ripped by a bomb that set off
00:36:03 battleship Arizona blazed toward
00:36:08 Survivors staggered into waters aflame
00:36:13 Japan's brilliant, relentless attack
00:36:18 Americans and crippled most
00:36:33 For the midget subs, though,
00:36:37 Two still roamed Hawaiian waters.
00:36:41 Number Four, which may have fired
00:36:44 radioed news of Japan's victory to
00:36:48 Then she disappeared,
00:36:54 The subs may not have seen
00:36:58 But Japan needed heroes,
00:37:01 so the propaganda machine
00:37:05 as the nine young gods of Pearl Harbor
00:37:10 This wartime Japanese feature
00:37:12 told their story
00:37:16 In truth, quarters were cramped,
00:37:21 The midget subs helped create
00:37:24 but didn't affect the war's outcome.
00:37:29 And what of the last midget sub
00:37:32 Commanded by ensign Kazuo Sakamaki,
00:37:35 it suffered a fate worse than sinking.
00:37:38 On December 8,
00:37:39 as President Franklin D. Roosevelt
00:37:43 Sakamaki's sub washed up
00:37:46 undone by a faulty gyroscope.
00:37:50 The submarine wouldn't function right.
00:37:52 So he drifted all the way around
00:37:55 and then went ashore on the morning
00:38:01 where he and his crewman assigned to
00:38:05 It didn't work.
00:38:08 The crewman then drowned,
00:38:09 but Sakamaki washed ashore
00:38:11 and became the first prisoner of war
00:38:14 in the Pacific: P.O.W. Number One.
00:38:19 Sakamaki spent the war in prison.
00:38:23 His sub toured the U.S.,
00:38:26 a souvenir of dark days.
00:38:34 At war's end,
00:38:39 Japan let slip a new weapon of terror.
00:38:49 For decades,
00:38:53 enforced a silence on both sides.
00:38:59 But the men who fought those battles
00:39:08 Nineteen forty-four.
00:39:10 Japan, its back to the wall,
00:39:13 fanatic effort to stave off defeat.
00:39:17 In an act incomprehensible to Americans
00:39:21 the empire orders thousands
00:39:27 Before an attack,
00:39:31 a warrior's welcome
00:39:38 They were kamikazes named for a typhoon
00:39:45 Some were veteran pilots,
00:39:47 many were idealistic students eager
00:40:04 Kamikazes inflicted awful punishment
00:40:09 More than three thousand fliers dove
00:40:13 They sank fifty-seven ships and
00:40:19 Their attacks killed at
00:40:22 and wounded more than six thousand.
00:40:24 The kamikazes were the deadliest weapon
00:40:30 so frighteningly effective that their
00:40:34 from the American public.
00:40:50 On April 16th, 1945, kamikazes knocked
00:40:57 The Laffey was rebuilt;
00:40:59 she now is a museum ship in Charleston
00:41:03 Today, she's receiving visitors her
00:41:08 from World War II.
00:41:14 The sight of their ship raises a tide
00:41:22 Rear Admiral F. Julian Becton,
00:41:24 who died in 1995,
00:41:30 He commanded the Laffey during
00:41:31 the invasions of Normandy
00:41:34 Steaming toward Okinawa,
00:41:39 The kamikazes were
00:41:41 that the Japanese developed
00:41:44 And it was a desperate effort
00:41:47 but they were terribly they had a
00:41:56 Ensign James Townley would win
00:41:59 for his valor aboard the Laffey.
00:42:03 My opinion of the kamikazes were that
00:42:08 Then we learned more about them.
00:42:10 We found out that, yes, they were the
00:42:15 or whatever they chose to call them.
00:42:18 We called them "One-Way Charlies".
00:42:20 And we were really scared
00:42:24 because no matter what you did,
00:42:25 unless you could shoot them out
00:42:29 Gunner's Mate Second Class
00:42:32 would earn a Bronze Star
00:42:35 Everybody has their own way of thinking
00:42:37 and their own way of thinking,
00:42:39 And their ways didn't suit us.
00:42:42 There was-I certainly didn't feel
00:42:48 45 years later.
00:42:50 At that point,
00:42:57 In Japan, another group of
00:43:02 These men were once the elite of the
00:43:09 They should be long dead,
00:43:10 but they survived some
00:43:14 others because seniority
00:43:17 to await American's invasion
00:43:21 Now largely forgotten, they once
00:43:27 Their weapon was the okha, which meant
00:43:32 But Americans gave it the code
00:43:38 The weapons were another type
00:43:40 a baka bomb captured on Okinawa.
00:43:43 It's a two-and-a-half-ton flying bomb,
00:43:45 dropped from a mother plane
00:43:50 Three rocket propulsion units are
00:43:53 giving a maximum level speed
00:44:03 The baka's punch is an
00:44:07 It's the first
00:44:09 for the Kamikaze Flying Corps.
00:44:20 Reserve Lieutenant Hachiro Hosokawa
00:44:32 There is a Japanese word,
00:44:37 meaning to die in vain.
00:44:40 It is a wasteful death without honor.
00:44:43 When I became a pilot, this situation
00:44:47 that fighting in
00:44:52 We were chosen as elite pilots.
00:44:54 Each of us received a headband
00:44:59 We thought it was a
00:45:02 of the Human torpedo Unit,
00:45:04 the elite Okha Corps,
00:45:07 and that we would die gloriously.
00:45:20 These were the Thunder Gods.
00:45:22 All had volunteered;
00:45:28 Each year, they gather to pray
00:45:35 Commander Kunihiro Iwaki
00:45:46 The war situation was going so badly
00:45:51 that we realized that any semblance
00:45:56 could not possibly succeed.
00:45:59 And we had to do the unthinkable
00:46:04 in terms of the military acts
00:46:06 in last ditch attempt to primarily get
00:46:12 Given that situation,
00:46:15 the men realized they had to become
00:46:20 in that last, final struggle.
00:46:25 Lieutenant Morimasa Yunokawa commander
00:46:33 The thought of my death crossed my mind
00:46:38 I was then thinking of only to serve.
00:46:41 No matter how you try to understand
00:46:45 now in this peace time,
00:46:52 A kamikaze could send
00:46:56 but each flier only had one chance
00:47:00 Pilots were supposed to aim
00:47:04 but destroyers and
00:47:09 Aboard the Laffey,
00:47:10 nervous sailors repeated tales
00:47:14 and sinking immediately.
00:47:18 The crew would always debate
00:47:21 That was always the big talk.
00:47:22 Is it safer to be below,
00:47:27 or in the bridge, or wherever.
00:47:28 They all had their own theories
00:47:32 Of course, there was no safe place.
00:48:04 In April 1945,
00:48:11 As the Battle of Okinawa began,
00:48:13 destroyers patrolled fifty miles
00:48:17 tempting kamikazes taking off
00:48:24 Suicide attackers had sunk several
00:48:29 now it was the Laffey's turn
00:48:33 On April 16th, the ship began its
00:48:39 The mood aboard was tense.
00:48:42 At 8:27 a.m.,
00:48:52 Well, the first ones were just they
00:48:57 maybe, oh eight, ten thousand yards.
00:49:01 And then all of a sudden,
00:49:03 it's like some sort of a signal,
00:49:06 And first they just came in one
00:49:09 and you just couldn't take them
00:49:16 So that's when we started getting hit.
00:49:21 For eighty minutes,
00:49:22 the Laffey's crew fought off
00:49:26 on a single ship.
00:49:32 Our closest call was a plane coming in
00:49:38 and it was, when I first saw it,
00:49:41 was low on the water,
00:49:45 I figured it was about
00:49:48 Unless our gunners got it.
00:49:49 And our Mount 52,
00:49:51 which was just forward of the bridge,
00:49:54 I noticed that the bursts
00:49:59 So I just moved it,
00:50:05 hit him right in the nose,
00:50:07 And that one is the one that would
00:50:10 And it just literally disintegrated,
00:50:13 and everybody heaved
00:50:16 And just after that,
00:50:17 then there came one in out of the sky
00:50:20 and one came in low on the water
00:50:25 and we were at it all over again.
00:50:46 On the morning of April 16th,
00:50:48 we had a suicide plane hit us
00:50:52 It hit with enough impact
00:50:56 was blown up, canted upward at
00:51:03 The motor of that plane skidded along
00:51:08 and wound up at the hatchway
00:51:13 And when he hit over there, I was
00:51:19 When I regained consciousness,
00:51:28 Ripped from stem to stern
00:51:30 by the attacks of Jap suicide pilots
00:51:33 the destroyer U.S.S. Laffey comes home
00:51:36 the Laffey was struck by everything
00:51:38 In the savage attempt
00:51:40 22 suicide pilots roared over her.
00:51:43 Seven bomb-loaded planes crashed
00:51:46 the final score was:
00:51:47 nine enemy planes shot down
00:51:50 but 32 of her brave men were dead
00:51:58 In the worlds of her skipper,
00:52:00 she was truly
00:52:08 Flying conventional aircraft,
00:52:14 but the okha Corps never really got
00:52:19 The bombers that carried
00:52:22 and American fighter pilots shot down
00:52:25 before they could release
00:52:29 By war's end, Hosokawa was
00:52:35 He found the transition
00:52:44 All of a sudden, the war was over,
00:52:46 and I had the feeling of someone
00:52:50 And suddenly the typhoon is gone,
00:52:57 No one, nothing is left but myself,
00:53:02 It's a very strange feeling that
00:53:05 why the typhoon spared me.
00:53:13 They were doing
00:53:16 just as we were doing
00:53:19 It had to be.
00:53:21 How else could you put your life
00:53:23 on the line for something