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PO1c Saburō Sakai, Tainan Kōkūtai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, New Britain island, August 1942
Saburō Sakai is best known Japanese fighter
pilot, thanks to his memoirs and meetings
with Allied airmen after World War II. He was
born in 1916 and served from September 1938
with the 12th Kōkūtai in China. In October 1941,
he was assigned to the newly organized Tainan
Kōkūtai in Taiwan and took part in campaign
heading South until he was wounded on August
7, 1942 off Guadalcanal. After recovering,
he served as an instructor with Ōmura Kōkūtai,
and later, despite bad eyesight, was combat
deployed with Yokosuka Kōkūtai on Iwo Jima.
At the end of war he served with Kōkūtai
343 (II) and Yokosuka Kōkūtai. He is listed as
an ace with 64 victories, but Sakai himself
claimed the number of his victories was lower.
With the first two units he actually achieved
12 individual victories, 8 shared and 4 probables.
The V-128 was also flown by PO2c Arita and
PO1c Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, who is credited
with 87 victories. The color of the stripes is
chosen from Sakai's recollection, but there
are other interpretations, such as a black or
yellow stripe on the fuselage. During a fighter
escort to Guadalcanal on August 7, Sakai shot
down Wildcat “F12” from VF-5 piloted by "Pug"
Southerland in an epic dogfight. Sakai was later
severely wounded in the face by fire from VB-6
Dauntless near Tulagi Island. After nearly five
hours and more than 1,000 km, he managed to
land back at Rabaul. Sakai died in 2000 after
formal dinner with members of the US Navy.
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