Warbird Information Exchange

I think it's a real photograph (as opposed to a composite) for these reasons...

1)Lt. Wada is out of focus. The photographer tried to get all the depth of field he could, but being so close to Wada, there was no way to get him sharp and all the aircraft as well. If you were going to fake the shot, surely you'd make Wada in focus when you took that shot.

1a) Additionally, based on the placement of the flash (near to and just above/right of the lens...note the length of shadow under the metal rim vs the lack of shadow from his glasses or his headphones), the camera was pretty close to Wada. With the photographic technology available at the time and the size of the cross section of the aircraft, the lieutenant is probably too close to the shooter to be in focus.

2) Wada is clearly lit by a flash. Look at the flash flare on the headphones as well as the shadow under the metal rim where his hand is.

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

Lt Wada lead this raid of PBJs from VMB-611 and F4U Corsairs from VMF-115 to the headquarters of General Harada's 100th Imperial Japanese Army near the Kibawe-Talomo Trail in the Davao area on August 10, 1945.

Excerpts from a 1976 article, WWII Journal:

The US Marine flyers pounded the the headquarters and billet area with fragmentation bombs, napalm, rockets, and heavy machine gun fire. The area was devastated.

Details of Lt Wada's involvement in this incident, plus information about the raid itself, are still smoothered in security, even today - more than 30 years later.

A hero in one camp and a traitor in the other, Wada became an outcast, a man without a country. From that point on, Wada became a new person, with a new identity and appearance to protect him from the past. What he is today, if he is alive, and any other facts about Wada are not known.

Today, more than 30 years after it happened, the saga of Minoru Wada remains tightly classified and the entire incident simply does not exist in the war records of the US Marine Corps - officially, that is.









And yes, the photos are real and not "touched up."

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In Honor and Memory of Marine Bombing Squadron VMB 611 "Black Seahorse" 1943-1945
Remembering 1st Lt Doit L Fish, MIA May 30, 1945 in PBJ-1J "MB 11"
Cherry Point - Parris Island - Emirau - Zamboanga

That's so bizarre. Why would he do such a thing?

Looks like my crazy guess was not so far out after all!

Too bad Tamiya doesn't make a B-25! Would make a cool diorama at TamiyaCon!

The below link is to the full article (January 1976) "Japanese Officer Led a U.S. Air Strike Against His Own Troops" in the World War II Journal - War In The Pacific.

It explains Wada's motive with several photos in preparation of the strike.


http://www.merriam-press.com/ww2ejour/a ... 001_01.htm


Dave

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In Honor and Memory of Marine Bombing Squadron VMB 611 "Black Seahorse" 1943-1945
Remembering 1st Lt Doit L Fish, MIA May 30, 1945 in PBJ-1J "MB 11"
Cherry Point - Parris Island - Emirau - Zamboanga

Interesting. Thank you.

In the United States, we call an officer like that a "traitor" and his actions "treason".

I don't see any glory or honor in such actions, regardless of which side it helped.

Even if his stated reasons, that he hated what was being done in prison camps by his country, is accurate?

Wow. I kinda wish there's been more of him, and in Germany as well.

_________________
"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

Here's Wada giving the location of Japanese positions. From the book, Leatherneck Bombers: Marine Corps B-25/PBJ Squadrons in WWII.

What would your opinion be if that officer was an American and he was saying that he hated what was being done in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay?

Again, there is such a thing as honor in a military officer regardless of which country he serves for.

I did not post this to glorify or honor his actions...but to relate a small piece in the history of VMB-611.

I am certain that this incident may not have been well received by many, especially the Japanese. I'm also sure he paid some kind of a price for his actions, as I posted earlier:

"A hero in one camp and a traitor in the other, Wada became an outcast, a man without a country."

_________________
In Honor and Memory of Marine Bombing Squadron VMB 611 "Black Seahorse" 1943-1945
Remembering 1st Lt Doit L Fish, MIA May 30, 1945 in PBJ-1J "MB 11"
Cherry Point - Parris Island - Emirau - Zamboanga

In Wada's case, I believe he was well aware that Japan was going to lose the war anyway. Perhaps he thought that by helping the Allies make faster progress, he would actually save the live of many civilians, who were being bombarded every day? Sacrifice of military personel after all wasn't a strange thing in Japan, perhaps Wada had his own views of it.
Traitor? Technically yes. But from a humanitarian point of view what he did was perhaps the right thing and he actually saved lives - both Japanese and American.

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Please visit my aviation art gallery at www.aviationart.aero
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So let me get this straight.

You would rather have a soldier serve an evil regime with distinction and tenacity thatn see the error it its ways and fight it in his own way?

So folks like Colonel Stauffenberg is to be deplored as well?

Wow. Okay. I disagree.

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

You didn't answer my question about how things might be different if this were an American officer helping the other side because he felt the actions of his country were inhumane, unjust, what have you.

Still a not a traitor? Still honorable because he sees the error of his country's ways and is trying to fight it in his own way?

If you don't want to fight in your country's war, fine -- be a concsientious objector, or refuse to fight, or just be very poor with your aim. As soon as you start intentionally helping the other side, it's a completely new ball game.

The big difference with Stauffenberg is that he was a German and trying to offseat his country's leadership to "take it back". The German resistance was not a US-led campaign...big difference.

I agree it cannot be argued that it was NOT a traitorous act. I just find it interesting that a Japanese officer would do such a thing since they hold honor (seemingly) above almost everything else.

Man without a country? Assuming he was able to live with the guilt, I would think he would have been set up in the US with a fresh start after the war. Why else would it have still been kept so hush hush?