I read the book and found that I couldn't put it down once I got into it. The part that affected me the most was sitting there reading the book with my 20 year old son sitting across the room. As many of the pilots that were executed were right at about his age, it brought home to me just how brutal war must actually be - when you kill off the best and brightest of your youth like that. When they described the Corsair pilot who insisted on rolling down his own shirt collar before they beheaded him, again, I couldn't help comapring that young pilot to my son and wondering if he would have been so brave at the moment he knew he was about to be killed.
It was very disturbing to me to read the parts about "kimo". As one who has lived and worked in Japan for many years, I struggled for many days with the thought of the people that I had grown to love acting in that fashion. I finally realized, however, that the Japanese people that I know today are several generations removed from those who practiced blind obedience to the Emperor.
All in all, a good read and one that gives you a much different perspective on the Pacific war than what we are usually taught.
