Barometer: The kamikaze pilot who retired after three missions

A kamikaze pilot at 80

The Japanese city of Minami-Kyushu was attacked for wanting to add the letters of 1,036 kamikaze pilots who died on suicide missions in the second world war to a UN archive. Not all kamikaze pilots died, and a few are still alive.
— Shigeyoshi Hamazono, who is now in his eighties, achieved the unique distinction of surviving three kamikaze missions.
— In the first two he developed technical problems with his plane and turned back. This did not lead to court-martial but to his being sent on a third mission.
— On this occasion he was intercepted by US fighters before he could find his target. They holed his plane but failed to cause it to crash. Instead, Hamazono limped home.
— The war ended before he could be sent on a fourth mission.

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