Kaname Harada, 98
years old, holding a photo of himself as a Japanese fighter pilot in World War
II. His final
mission, he said, was to warn Japan to never go to war again / Credit Ko Sasaki for The New
York Times
"That is how war robs you of your humanity,” he added, “by putting you in a
situation where you must either kill perfect strangers or be killed by
them.." Kaname Harada
The Mitsubishi Zero was introduced early in
World War II, the Zero was considered the most capable carrier-based fighter in the world,
combining excellent maneuverability with effective fire power.
The
New York Times on April 3, 2015 profiled a story about 98 year old Kaname
Harada, a Japanese fighter interceptor in World War II
~ a story superbly written by Martin
Hackler who fully captured how Harada's innate urge to unite ran far deeper
than his wartime urge to kill and destroy
~ a phenomenon I continually witness in my role as a heart centered consultant
with combat veterans with PTSD.
Excerpt:
"Kaname Harada was once a feared samurai of the sky, shooting down 19 Allied aircraft as a pilot of Japan’s legendary Zero fighter plane during World War II. Now 98 years old and in failing health, the former ace is on what he calls his final mission: using his wartime experiences to warn Japan against ever going to war again. This has become a timely issue in Japan, as the conservative prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has called for revising Japan’s pacifist Constitution.
“Nothing is as
terrifying as war,” Harada began, before spending the next 90 minutes
recounting his role in battles, from Japan’s early triumph at Pearl Harbor to
its disastrous reversals at Midway and Guadalcanal. “I want to tell you my
experiences in war so that younger generations don’t have to go through the
same horrors that I did.”
It is a warning that Mr.
Harada fears his countrymen may soon no longer be able to hear. There are only a dwindling number of Japanese left who fought in the war,
which in Asia began when Imperial Japan invaded northeastern China in 1931, and
claimed tens of millions of lives over the following 14 years.
In an interview after his speech, Mr.
Harada described himself as “the last Zero fighter,” or at least the
last pilot still alive who flew during that aircraft’s glory days early in the
war with the United States. He recounted how in dogfights, he flew close
enough to his opponents to see the terror on their faces as he sent them
crashing to their deaths…..
"I fought the war
from the cockpit of a Zero, and can still remember the faces of those I killed,” said Mr. Harada, who said he was able to meet and befriend some of his
foes who survived the war. “They were fathers and sons, too. I didn’t hate
them or even know them.”
“That is how war robs
you of your humanity,” he added, “by putting you in a situation where you must
either kill perfect strangers or be killed by them….. ”
"I realized the war had turned me into a killer of men,” he said, “and
that was not the kind of person I wanted to be.”
"He said the nightmares finally ended when he found a new calling by
opening a kindergarten in Nagano in 1965. He said he was able to alleviate the
pangs of guilt by dedicating himself to teaching young children the value of
peace. While he has now retired, he said he still visits the school every day
so he can to see the children’s smiling faces."
See NY Times article / http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/world/asia/retired-japanese-fighter-pilot-sees-an-old-danger-on-the-horizon.html?emc=eta1
Wise and true words from a combat
veteran who is now a samurai of the heart and advocate for peace
but not too different than the combat veterans I work with who are
rediscovering that same need to unite versus
fight ~ to go beyond their deep sense of guilt and unworthiness as well as
respond to a genuine need to be in service to mankind.
My F3H
Demon Interceptor fully loaded with deadly Sparrows and heat seeking
Sidewinders.
The final option, which happened during active duty carrier operations in 1960, became a split second of surrender and transcendence, an
experience beyond the normal or physical level, and in the process I
experienced the timeless and fearless world of soul consciousness ~ where all
the answers are
clear but can only be truly accessed in that moment of total surrender.
At
age 81, I have had many personal experiences of the
sensory sensation of being in this Unified Field
of love and soul consciousness that exists not only beyond time and
space but also beneath our deepest fears but this one stands out ~ for it
was a matter of life and death and it became the foundation of my belief in a
loving and timeless state of soul
consciousness that lies beneath our deepest fears.
See The Final Option http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/05/11/the-final-option/
Here is a
link to my updated Kindle eBook: http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Therapy-Surrender-Yourself-Sessions-ebook/dp/B00JGE5VQE
And
here is a link to the YouTube sessions
of the process I teach and watch Marina conquer her
deepest fear that being herself is not enough : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r12MoNnwPKg&feature=youtu.be
As a
heart centered spiritual consultant or advisor ~ I teach a seven session
process that anyone can do with my book and demonstrated by watching the sessions on YouTube. That brief
moment of inner
peace and clarity I surrendered to that
night on the South China Sea, with my
life in the balance,
can be the authentic experience of anyone willing to go beyond their fears,
surrender to love and heal themselves in the process.
In summary, the last mission of fighter
interceptor pilots Kaname Harada
and myself was to
be in service as
light workers and protect mankind with our common message of peace and love ~ particularly now during a current dark time in mankind's quest for true meaning.
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/last-mission-of-fighter-pilot.html
