World War II veteran Marvin Shields shares a chilling tale about locking eyes with a Japanese kamikaze jet pilot moments before he flew his aircraft into a U.S. Naval ship. Shields was on his way from his duty assignment to a gun located on the top deck of his ship Navy ship. While Shields was en route to his battle station a low-flying Japanese jet pilot and Shields made eye contact for a brief moment, the Japanese pilot gave Shields what appeared to be a friendly wave, then flew his aircraft into a nearby by Navy Ship.
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This story reminds us that our service members are constantly placed in life-or-death situations that could end their lives at any moment. The last minute decision made by the Japanese pilot to crash his plane into a different ship spared Shields’ life and causes him to ponder whether or not that shared moment between himself and the Japanese pilot spared his life.
“This plane cAme past us and the Jap looked at us and went on and he crashed into another ship over there. I looked at him, he looked at me.”
Listen to Shields retell the entire tale in the AudioBurst below:
Do you know any WWII veterans that have similar life or death stories? Share them in the comment section below!
