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Fugaku-tai no jūhachinin
(Eighteen men of Fugaku Squadron)
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Last Letters of Captain Motoo Nemoto
On January 12, 1945, Captain Motoo Nemoto took off from Marcot
Airfield in the Philippines in a Type 4 Heavy Bomber (Allied code name of Peggy)
and died at Lingayen Gulf in a special (suicide) attack at the age of 22 [1]. He was a member of the Fugaku [2] Squadron.
On October 24, 1944, this special attack squadron was formed at Hamamatsu Air
Base in Shizuoka Prefecture, and on October 26 it officially was named the
Fugaku Squadron in a ceremony [3]. After
his death in a special attack, he received a two-rank promotion to Lieutenant
Colonel. He
was from Toyohashi City in Aichi Prefecture and graduated from the Imperial Japanese
Army Air Academy in the 55th Class.
He wrote the following final letter at Hamamatsu Air Base on October 24,
1944:
Before my sortie
Suddenly I received an Imperial command. Dancing for joy, I will make a
sortie.
Since it was so sudden, there was no opportunity for a meeting and
communication with you.
I will carry out some great exploit in the next two weeks. I know that I
will achieve honor in the world for the family name.
Please take care.
He also wrote the following last letter:
The decisive battle for the Philippines is becoming more urgent moment by
moment. We are on the verge of involvement in a crisis unprecedented since
the dawn of history.
I will seize this favorable opportunity. Nothing can replace the joy of
repaying the country by devoting my individual strength.
Having a fervent fighting spirit, I am focused after giving up
everything. Therefore, I expect to die like a comet without leaving behind
any splendid words.
Everyone, please take good care.
December 9
Translated by Bill Gordon
May 2025
The letters come from Kawachiyama (2000, 176-177, 237). The biographical information
on this page comes from Kawachiyama (2000, 241), Osuo (2005, 190), and Tokkōtai
Senbotsusha (1990, 254).
Notes
1. Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1990, 254) indicates
that he was born in 1922, so he could have been either 22 or 23 at the date of
his death on January 10, 1945.
Kawachiyama (2000, 241) gives his age at death as
23.
2. Fugaku means Mount Fuji.
3. Kawachiyama (2000, 175-177, 179-180), Osuo
(2005, 10).
Sources Cited
Kawachiyama, Yuzuru. 2000. Fugaku-tai no jūhachinin:
Tokkō taichō Nishio Tsunesaburō no shōgai (Eighteen men of Fugaku
Squadron: Life of special attack squadron leader Tsunesaburō Nishio). Tōkyō:
Kōjinsha.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (rikugun hen)
(Record of special attack corps (Army)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei
Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1990.
Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (Special Attack Corps). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha
Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.
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