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Fugaku-tai no jūhachinin
(Eighteen men of Fugaku Squadron)
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Last Letter of Captain Kunio Soga to His Parents
On January 10, 1945, Captain Kunio Soga took off from Marcot
Airfield in the Philippines in a Type 4 Heavy Bomber (Allied code name of Peggy)
and died at Lingayen Gulf in a special (suicide) attack at the age of 24 [1]. He was a member of the Fugaku [2] Squadron.
On October 24, 1944, this special attack squadron was formed at Hamamatsu Air
Base in Shizuoka Prefecture, and on October 26 it officially was named the
Fugaku Squadron in a ceremony [3]. After
his death in a special attack, he received a two-rank promotion to Lieutenant
Colonel. He
was from Tōkyō Prefecture and graduated from the Imperial Japanese
Army Air Academy in the 55th Class.
He wrote the following final letter to his parents:
Since I will not live very long after being sent to the front line, I at
last was promoted to Captain.
Squadron Leader Nishio already has gone.
However, squadron members are more and more enthusiastic.
When the Squadron Leader went, I also participated, but not having good
fortune in battle, I returned to base.
However, a phenomenal deed is getting near for me.
Now I as your son certainly will perform a deed that will not be
disgraceful.
Please wait for that time.
Translated by Bill Gordon
May 2025
The letter come from Kawachiyama (2000, 232-233). The biographical information
on this page comes from Kawachiyama (2000, 241), Osuo (2005, 190), and Tokkōtai
Senbotsusha (1990, 254).
Notes
1. Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1990, 254) indicates
that he was born in 1920, so he could have been either 24 or 25 at the date of
his death on January 10, 1945.
Kawachiyama (2000, 241) gives his age at death as
25.
2. Fugaku means Mount Fuji.
3. Kawachiyama (2000, 175-177, 179-180), Osuo
(2005, 10).
Sources Cited
Kawachiyama, Yuzuru. 2000. Fugaku-tai no jūhachinin:
Tokkō taichō Nishio Tsunesaburō no shōgai (Eighteen men of Fugaku
Squadron: Life of special attack squadron leader Tsunesaburō Nishio). Tōkyō:
Kōjinsha.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (rikugun hen)
(Record of special attack corps (Army)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei
Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1990.
Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (Special Attack Corps). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha
Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.
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