Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!bellcore!att!cbnews!military From: fiddler@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Saburo Sakai (was: Re: dogfighting) Message-ID: <7664@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 22 Jun 89 11:50:51 GMT References: <7022@cbnews.ATT.COM> <7128@cbnews.ATT.COM> <7210@cbnews.ATT.COM> <7640@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 22 Approved: military@att.att.com From: fiddler@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) > From: Yngve Larsson > > I seem to remember that at the end of the war, Saburo Sakai still had > almost no rank whatsoever, in spite of being one of the top scorers. > I think he was something like sergeant or so. Is this true, or am I making > a fool of myself? If this is true, why is this so? Insubordination or lack > of social standing? Sakai wrote a book (with Martin Caidin) about his flying career, called "Samurai!". It's pretty good. I think he first flew as a Petty Officer, but was still only a Lieutenant when the war finished. Maybe Commander. I have the impression that operational JN pilots did not rise above Commander until they transferred to desk positions. Mitsuo Fuchida might be one example. (He helped plan and led part of the Pearl Harbor and Midway operations.)