Naoki Hyakuta - The Eternal Zero

It was the middle of November when the carrier group completed intensive training, gathered in Saeki Bay, and set course to the north. The aircrew was furnished with winter clothes, but they didn’t tell us anything about our destination. We sensed that something special was in the works but had no idea as to the specifics. We were in the thick of the Sino-Japanese War at the time, and the Chinese alone were giving us plenty of trouble. We knew, however, that America and Britain were putting terrific pressure on Japan. Our allies the Germans were already fighting the British, so there was a sense that we, too, would end up fighting the Allied forces. Plus, the Navy had for a long time run drills where the hypothetical enemy was the United States.

We reached Hitokappu Bay on Iturup Island. The Sea of Okhotsk was frigid in November. A large number of military vessels of the Navy’s Combined Fleet assembled in the freezing mist. It was quite a spectacle.

Then, on November 26th, once the entire aircrew from all the carriers was gathered together, the flight commander announced, “Simultaneously with a declaration of war, we will attack the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.”

I was astonished but at the same time thought, “So the time has come at last.” My whole body brimmed with tension like never before. I’m sure that all the other aircrew felt the same. No one even flinched at the thought of attacking Pearl Harbor. Everyone looked forward to making the hated Americans froth at their mouths.

After that, they announced our individual assignments for the mission. My name wasn’t on the list of members of the attack force. Everything before my eyes went black. I was being delegated to combat air patrol. I would be milling in the skies above the fleet and protecting my mothership from hostile aircraft.

I tearfully begged the commander to let me join the attack force. Even though I knew that it wouldn’t change a thing, I just couldn’t accept it without complaint. Other aircrew excluded from the attack force or assigned to the reserve component were crying and pleading with the commander too. That night, several fights broke out among the pilots. I understood how they felt. We had all undergone excruciating training just for that day. If the operation was successful, even if it resulted in our deaths we’d have no regrets. There were some particularly intense displays of dejection among the attack and dive bomber pilots who found themselves in the reserve component.

That night, Miyabe called out to me on the afterdeck. There were two decks under the flight deck, fore and aft, reminders that the Akagi had originally been designed as a battle cruiser before it was rebuilt as an aircraft carrier.

“Ito-san, CAP is a very important mission.” Miyabe had been chosen to participate in the first attack wave.

“Can’t you understand my disappointment?” I shot back.

“CAP duty is more important than the attack force in my opinion. You’re protecting the lives of everyone aboard the carrier.”

“Then switch with me.”

“I’d gladly trade places if I could.”

“Then do it!”

But we both knew it wasn’t possible. It would be unreasonable to allow aviators to rearrange mission assignments according to their own wishes.

I plopped down on the deck, tears of frustration welling up in my eyes. Miyabe sat down next to me.

I gazed out absentmindedly at the dark seas. There were no stars in the sky and it was a freezing night. But I didn’t feel the cold.

Miyabe kept me company without uttering a word. After a while I started to calm down. I think having Miyabe sit quietly by my side probably helped.

Unexpectedly, Miyabe said with a sigh, “I told you I’m married, right?”

I nodded.

“I got married after coming back from Shanghai, before leaving for Omura. I had just one week to enjoy my newlywed life.”

I hadn’t known that. It came as a surprise.

“If I’d known I was going to participate in the attack on Pearl Harbor, I wouldn’t have gotten married,” Miyabe said, and then smiled.

That was the extent of that conversation, but for some reason I remember it very well. I still wonder why he decided to tell me that just then.

Hm? Did they marry for love? Oh, I didn’t ask about that. In our day, such marriages were rare, though. You married the person that people around you said you should. Rushed marriages before heading to the front weren’t uncommon. Parents and relatives probably wanted the young men to at least experience marriage before they faced possible death in battle. And of course there was probably also the desire to create an heir beforehand.

Back then, marriage wasn’t thought of as some big deal. It was just something that everyone did. No one really considered the reasons for it. Young people these days seem to think differently—that you only get married when you find your ideal life partner. My granddaughter apparently feels that way, which is why she’s still single even though she’s in her mid-thirties. She says she’ll happily spend the rest of her life alone if she doesn’t find the right man. What a handful.

I don’t know why Miyabe got married so hastily. Perhaps it was a marriage of love. Not getting married if he’d known he was going to attack Pearl Harbor can be taken either way.

Even though there were brawls and fights on the night of the mission assignments, the next day everyone, me included, faithfully carried out our duties without any hint of enmity. I just pulled myself together and resolved to fulfill my mission to protect the aircraft carrier.

At dawn on December 8th, I took off with the CAP team to patrol the skies above the carrier group. Soon afterwards the first attack wave departed. I saw off the formation with a salute from my cockpit.

During the operation, not a single enemy aircraft was spotted in the skies above the carriers, so I never engaged in combat.

As you are aware, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a resounding success. In the first-ever, all-aircraft naval attack, the two waves sank five battleships and extensively damaged three more. Over 200 land-based aircraft were destroyed. It was an unprecedented exploit. Right after the attack on Pearl Harbor ended in triumph, the pilots and crewmembers all celebrated wildly.

With one exception. Miyabe. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself,” I asked him.

“Twenty-nine planes didn’t make it back today.”

I was already aware of that. “It is unfortunate. But compared to the damage we inflicted, our losses are almost nothing.”

Miyabe nodded silently. His face put a damper on my good mood.

“It’s war. People are going to die,” I pointed out.

“I saw an attack bomber destroy itself today,” Miyabe said quietly. “After dropping its torpedo, it was hit by an anti-aircraft gun while passing over an enemy ship. Initially, the bomber ascended. I drew up to her. I could see a long white stream of fuel leaking from one of her wings, but luckily it hadn’t caught fire. The bomber was flying toward the carrier, but suddenly turned around and headed back towards Pearl Harbor. I turned as well and pulled up alongside her. The pilot looked at me and pointed downward. Then he went into a dive and rammed the bomber into an enemy battleship.”

His story made me shudder. In fact, I’d heard that many of the planes we had lost that day had similarly immolated themselves. We had been ordered to destroy our aircraft if it was damaged during battle in a manner that precluded a return trip. We’d been taught to avoid the shame of being taken captive, so it seemed inevitable.

“Before they dove, all three crewmembers looked at me and saluted, smiling.”