Usa Naval Air Group Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Monument
A monument was erected in 2008 to honor the 154 men from Usa Naval Air
Group who died in special (suicide)
attacks as members of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps from April 6 to May 4,
1945. The monument lists the men's names and home prefectures by squadrons and
aircraft types. In total, 93 men in 32 three-man Type 97 Carrier Attack
Bombers (Allied code name of Kate) and 61 men in 49 Type 99 Carrier Dive Bombers
(Allied code name of Val) died in battle while carrying out special attacks. The
men moved from Usa, in Ōita Prefecture near the northern coast of Kyūshū, to air bases in Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Kyūshū
in order to make their final sorties toward Okinawa. The
Kate attack bombers took off from Kushira Air Base, and the Val dive bombers
took off from Kokubu No. 2 Air Base.
The five Kamikaze Special Attack Corps squadrons from Usa Air Group were
named 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Hachiman Goō Squadrons; Hachiman Jinchū Squadron; and
Hachiman Shinbu Squadron. Hachiman is the Japanese god of military power. Usa
City has the first Hachiman Shrine, which was established in the early 8th
century. Goō means "protecting the emperor" in Japanese. Jinchū literally
means "divine loyalty." Shinbu means "military might."
The following table summarizes the number of Usa Naval Air Group men engraved on the
monument by Kamikaze Corps squadrons:
1st Hachiman Goō Squadron (sortie date of April 6, 1945)
- 39 men in 14 Type 97 Carrier Attack Bombers
- 19 men in 15 Type 99 Carrier Dive Bombers
2nd Hachiman Goō Squadron (sortie date of April 12, 1945)
- 30 men in 10 Type 97 Carrier Attack Bombers
- 19 men in 16 Type 99 Carrier Dive Bombers
3rd Hachiman Goō Squadron (sortie date of April 16, 1945)
- 6 men in 2 Type 97 Carrier Attack Bombers
- 23 men in 18 Type 99 Carrier Dive Bombers
Hachiman Jinchū Squadron (sortie date of April 28, 1945)
- 9 men in 3 Type 97 Carrier Attack Bombers
Hachiman Shinbu Squadron (sortie date of May 4, 1945)
- 9 men in 3 Type 97 Carrier Attack Bombers
The monument has the following inscription after the names of the Usa Air
Group men who died in special attacks as Kamikaze Special Attack Corps members:
Our 154 friends who gave their precious lives for their homeland and died
gloriously in battle in the skies of Okinawa during the Pacific War's latter
stage that had become critical, watch over the path of our homeland from the
skies of the southern seas.
April 6, 2008
Planes at Usa Air Base were stored in camouflaged concrete hangars
to protect them from enemy air attacks. The Usa hangar shown below is among the best-preserved in Japan.
The Usa Naval Air Group Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Monument stands just to
the left of this hangar. There are a total of ten such wartime hangars that
remain in Usa City.
The following last letters and diary entries were written by Kamikaze Special
Attack Corps members from Usa Air Base who died in special attacks:
Wartime aircraft hangar in Usa City with Usa Naval Air Group
Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Monument to left
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