Saburō Sakai Sub - Lieutenant was a Japan ese naval aviator and flying ace ( " " Gekitsui - O " " , 撃墜王 ) of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II . Sakai was the Imperial Navy ' s fourth - ranking ace and Japan ' s second leading fighter pilot to survive the war , surpassed only by Tetsuzō Iwamoto . Early life . Saburō Sakai was born on August 25 , 1916 , in Saga , Japan , into a family of samurai ancestry whose ancestors had taken part in the Japanese invasions of Korea but who were forced to make a living as farmers following " haihan - chiken " in 1871 . Sakai , the third born of four sons ( his given name literally means " third son " ) , had three sisters . Saburō was 11 when his father died , leaving Saburō ' s mother alone to raise seven children . With limited resources , Sakai was adopted by his maternal uncle , who financed his education in a Tokyo high school . However , Sakai failed to do well in his studies and was sent back to Saga after his second year . With no other options , on May 31 , 1933 at the age of 16 , Sakai enlisted in the Japanese Navy as a Sailor Fourth Class ( Seaman Recruit ) ( 四等水兵 ) . Saburō Sakai describes his experiences as a naval recruit : After completing his training the following year , Sakai was graduated as a Sailor Third Class ( Ordinary Seaman ) ( 三等水兵 ) . Sakai then served aboard the battleship for one year . In 1935 , he successfully passed the competitive examinations for the Naval Gunners School . Sakai was promoted to Sailor Second Class ( Able Seaman ) ( 二等水兵 ) in 1936 , and served on the battleship as a turret gunner . He received successive promotions to Sailor First Class ( Leading Seaman ) ( 一等水兵 ) and to Petty Officer Third Class ( 三等兵曹 ) . In early 1937 , he applied for and was accepted into a pilot training school . He graduated first in his Naval Class at Tsuchiura in 1937 , earning a silver watch presented to him by Emperor Hirohito himself . Sakai graduated as a carrier pilot , although he was never actually assigned to aircraft carrier duty . Promoted to Petty Officer Second Class ( 二等兵曹 ) in 1938 , he first took part in aerial combat flying the Mitsubishi A5M in the beginning of the Second Sino - Japanese War in 1938 - 1939 and was wounded . Sakai shot down a Soviet built DB - 3 bomber in October 1939 . Later he was selected to fly the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter in combat over China . Service in World War II . Southeast Asia . When the war with the United States began , Sakai participated in the attack on the Philippines as a member of the Tainan Air Group . On 8 December 1941 , Sakai flew one of 45 Zeros from the Tainan Kokutai that attacked Clark Air Base in the Philippines . In his first combat against Americans , he claimed a Curtiss P - 40 shot down and two B - 17 strafed on the ground . Sakai flew missions the next day during heavy weather . On the third day of the battle , he shot down a B - 17 Flying Fortress flown by Captain Colin P . Kelly . This was the first B - 17 shot down during the Pacific war , and Sakai admired its capacity for absorbing damage . Japanese aviators destroyed most of the Allied air power in the Pacific in just a few months . Sakai ' s Tainan Kokutai became known for destroying the most enemy planes in the history of Japanese military aviation . Early in 1942 , Sakai was transferred to Tarakan Island in Borneo and fought in the Dutch East Indies . The Japanese high command had instructed fighter patrols to down all enemy aircraft encountered , whether they were armed or not . On a patrol with his Zero over Java , just after shooting down an enemy aircraft , Sakai encountered a civilian Dutch Douglas DC - 3 flying at low altitude over dense jungle . Sakai initially assumed it was transporting important people and signaled to its pilot to follow him ; the pilot did not obey . Sakai came down and got much closer to the DC - 3 . He spotted a blonde woman and a young child through the window , along with other passengers . The woman reminded him of Mrs . Martin , an American who had occasionally taught him as a child in middle school and had been good to him . He decided to ignore his orders and flew ahead of the pilot , signaling him to go ahead . The pilot and passengers saluted . During the Borneo campaign , Sakai achieved 13 air victories , before he was grounded by illness . When he had recovered three months later in April , Petty Officer First Class Sakai joined a squadron ( " chutai " ) of the Tainan Air Group ( " kokutai " ) under Sub - Lieutenant Junichi Sasai at Lae , New Guinea . Over the next four months , he scored the majority of his victories , flying against American and Australian pilots based at Port Moresby . Sakai never lost a wingman in combat , and tried to pass on his hard - earned expertise to more junior pilots . His squadron included fellow aces Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and Toshio Ōta . On the night of May 16 , Sakai , Nishizawa and Ota were listening to a broadcast of an Australian radio program , when Nishizawa recognized the eerie " " Danse Macabre " " of Camille Saint - Saëns . Inspired by this , Nishizawa came up with the idea of doing demonstration loops over the enemy airfield . The next day , at the end of an attack on Port Moresby that involved 18 Zeros , the trio performed three tight loops in close formation over the allied air base . Nishizawa indicated he wanted to repeat the performance . Diving to , the three Zeros did three more loops , without receiving any AA fire from the ground . The following day , a lone allied bomber came roaring over the Lae airfield and dropped a note attached to a long ribbon of cloth . The soldiers picked up the note and delivered to the squadron commander . It read " Thank you for the wonderful display of aerobatics by three of your pilots . Please pass on our regards and inform them , that we will have a warm reception ready for them , next time they fly over our airfield " . The squadron commander was furious and reprimanded the three pilots for their stupidity , but the Tainan " Kokutai " s three leading aces felt Nishizawa ' s aerial choreography of the " " Danse Macabre " " had been worth it . Pacific Theater . On 3 August , Sakai ' s air group was relocated from Lae to the airfield at Rabaul . On 7 August , word arrived that U . S . Marines had landed that morning on Guadalcanal . The initial Allied landings captured an airfield , later called Henderson Field by the Allies , that was under construction by the Japanese . The airfield soon became the focus of months of fighting in the Battle of Guadalcanal , as it enabled U . S . airpower to hinder the Japanese attempts at resupplying their troops . The Japanese made several attempts to retake Henderson Field , resulting in continuous , almost daily air battles for the Tainan " Kokutai " . U . S . Marines flying F4F Wildcat s from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal were using a new aerial combat tactic , the " Thach Weave " , developed in 1941 by the U . S . Navy aviators John Thach and Edward O ' Hare . The Japanese Zero pilots flying out of Rabaul were initially confounded by the tactic . Saburō Sakai described their reaction to the Thach Weave when they encountered Guadalcanal Wildcats using it : On 8 August , Sakai scored one of his best documented kills against an F4F Wildcat flown by James " Pug " Southerland , who by the end of the war became an ace with five victories . Sakai , who did not know Southerland ' s guns had jammed , recalled the duel in his autobiography : They were soon engaged in a skillfully maneuvered dogfight . After an extended battle in which both pilots gained and lost the upper hand , Sakai shot down Southerland ' s Wildcat , striking it below the left wing root with his 20 mm cannon . Southerland parachuted to safety . Sakai was amazed at the Wildcat ' s ruggedness : Not long after he downed Southerland , Sakai was attacked by a lone SBD Dauntless dive bomber flown by Lt . Dudley Adams of Scouting Squadron 71 ( VS - 71 ) from . Adams scored a near miss , sending a bullet through Sakai ' s canopy , but Sakai quickly gained the upper hand and succeeded in downing Adams . Adams bailed out and survived but his gunner , R3 / c Harry Elliot , was killed in the encounter . According to Saburō Sakai this was his 60th victory . Serious wounds . During the air group ' s first mission of the battle of Guadalcanal , having just shot down Southerland and Adams , Sakai was seriously wounded in a failed ambush near Tulagi of eight SBDs , a mixed flight from Bombing Squadrons Five and Six ( VB - 5 and VB - 6 ) . Mistaking the SBDs for more Wildcat fighters , Sakai approached from below and behind , targeting a VB - 6 Dauntless flown by Ens . Robert C . Shaw . The sturdy dive bombers with their rear - mounted twin machine guns proved tough adversaries , and a blast fired by one or more of the SBDs ' rear gunners , possibly including Shaw ' s gunner , AO2 / c Harold L . Jones , shattered and blew away the canopy of Sakai ' s Zero . The description of this aerial battle from Saburō Sakai is different . He spotted eight planes in two flights of four and initially identified them as F4F Wildcat fighters . When he attacked - followed by three other Zero fighters , he discovered that the airplanes were TBF Avenger s because he clearly distinguished the top turret and the ventral machine gun . He shot down in flames two of the TBF Avenger s and these two victories ( 61st and 62nd ) were verified by the other three Zero pilots but during this day , no TBF Avenger s were reported lost . This is an example how even an experienced pilot during the heat of battle , may not identify correctly enemy airplanes or receive verified credit for airplanes not shot down . Sakai sustained grievous injuries from the return fire ; he was struck in the head by a bullet , blinding him in the right eye and paralyzing the left side of his body . The Zero rolled over and headed upside down toward the sea . Unable to see out of his remaining good eye due to blood flowing from the head wound , Sakai ' s vision started to clear somewhat as tears cleared the blood from his eyes and he was able to pull his plane out of the steep seaward dive . He considered crashing into one of the American warships : " " If I must die , at least I could go out as a Samurai . My death would take several of the enemy with me . A ship . I needed a ship . " " Finally , the cold air blasting into the cockpit revived him enough to check his instruments , and he decided that by using a lean fuel mixture he might be able to make it back to the airfield at Rabaul . Although in agony from his injuries ( he had a serious head wound from a bullet that had passed through his skull and the right side of his brain , leaving the entire left side of his body paralyzed , and was left blind in one eye , ) ( The wound is described elsewhere as having destroyed the metal frame of his googles , and " creased " his skull , meaning a glancing blow that breaks the skin and makes furrow in , or even cracks the skull , but does not actually penetrate it . ) Sakai managed to fly his damaged Zero in a four - hour , 47 - minute flight over back to his base on Rabaul , using familiar volcanic peaks as guides . When he attempted to land at the airfield he nearly crashed into a line of parked Zeros but , after circling four times , and with the fuel gauge reading empty , he put his Zero down on the runway on his second attempt . After landing , he insisted on making his mission report to his superior officer before collapsing . His squadron mate Hiroyoshi Nishizawa drove him , as quickly but as gently as possible , to the surgeon . Sakai was evacuated to Japan on 12 August , where he endured a long surgery without anesthesia . The surgery repaired some of the damage to his head , but was unable to restore full vision to his right eye . Nishizawa visited Sakai while he was recuperating in the Yokosuka hospital in Japan . Recovery and return . After his discharge from the hospital in January 1943 , Sakai spent a year training new fighter pilots . With Japan clearly losing the air war , he prevailed upon his superiors to let him fly in combat again . In November 1943 , Sakai was promoted to the rank of warrant officer ( 海軍准尉 ) . In April 1944 , he was transferred to Yokosuka Air Wing , which was deployed to Iwo Jima . On 24 June 1944 , Sakai approached a formation of 15 U . S . Navy Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters which he mistakenly assumed were friendly Japanese aircraft . In a chase that has become legendary , Sakai demonstrated his skill and experience . Despite his loss of one eye and facing superior enemy aircraft , Sakai eluded attacks by the Hellcats for more than 20 minutes , returning to his airfield untouched . Sakai was ordered to lead a " kamikaze " mission on 5 July , but he failed to find the U . S . task force . He was engaged by Hellcat fighters near the task force ' s reported position , and all but one of the Nakajima B6N2 " Jill " torpedo bomber s in his flight were shot down . Sakai managed to shoot down one Hellcat , then escaped the umbrella of enemy aircraft by flying into a cloud . Rather than follow meaningless orders , in worsening weather and gathering darkness , Sakai led his small formation back to Iwo Jima , preserving the aircraft and pilots for another day . In August 1944 , Sakai was commissioned an ensign ( 少尉 ) — a record - breaking 11 years from enlistment to commissioning in the very rank - conscious Japanese navy . He was promoted to sub - lieutenant ( 中尉 ) one year later , just before the war ended . About the same time , Sakai married his cousin Hatsuyo , who asked him for a dagger so she could kill herself if he fell in battle . His autobiography , " Samurai ! " , ends happily with Hatsuyo throwing away the dagger after Japan ' s surrender , saying she no longer needed it . Sakai destroyed or damaged more than 60 Allied planes during World War II , mostly American . He was one of just three pilots from his pre - war unit who had survived . Sakai never said how many victories he had . His total of 64 was determined by Martin Caidin , co - author of Sakai ' s autobiography . Saburo Sakai participated in the IJNAF ' s last wartime mission , attacking two reconnaissance B - 32 Dominator s , " Hobo Queen II " s / n " 42 - 108532 , " and unnamed " 42 - 108578 , " on 18 August , which were conducting photo - reconnaissance and testing Japanese compliance with the cease - fire . He initially misidentified the planes as a B - 29 Superfortress es . Both aircraft returned to their base at Yontan Airfield , Okinawa . ( Sakai says in his book " Samurai " , that he did not attack any planes on this date or time , ( Caidin ) therefore making a mistake . ) Back to civilian life . After the war , Sakai retired from the Navy . He became a Buddhist acolyte and vowed he would never again kill any living thing , not even a mosquito . Sakai harbored no animosity toward those who had been " the enemy " during WW2 , and urged others not to do so either . When asked about Japan ' s eventual surrender , he responded : " Had I been ordered to bomb Seattle or Los Angeles in order to end the war , I wouldn ' t have hesitated . So I perfectly understand why the Americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima . " Times were difficult for Sakai ; finding a job was difficult for him because of conditions imposed by the Allies , and because of anti - military provisions placed into the new Japanese Constitution . He eventually started a successful printing shop , which he used to help his former comrades and their families with employment . Sakai ' s wife died in 1954 and he later remarried . He visited the U . S . and met many of his former adversaries , including Harold " Lew " John , the tail - gunner who had wounded him . In 2000 , Sakai served briefly as a consultant for the popular computer game Combat Flight Simulator 2 . In his later years , Sakai was asked to appear as a motivational speaker at Japanese schools and corporations . His theme was always the same , the credo by which he lived his entire life : " " Never give up . " " Sakai expressed concern for Japan ' s collective inability to accept responsibility for starting the war , and over the popular sentiment that only the military — not the political leaders — were responsible . He decried the " kamikaze " campaign as brutally wasteful of young lives ; Sakai also drew attention with his critical comments about Emperor Hirohito ' s role . " Who gave the orders for that stupid war ? " he asked in an interview reported August 10 , 2000 , by The Associated Press . " The closer you get to the emperor , the fuzzier everything gets . " Just months before he died , Sakai officially admitted to reporters that he still prayed for the souls of the airmen ( Chinese , American , Australian and Dutch alike ) he had killed in action . " I pray every day for the souls of my enemies as well as my comrades , " he said . " We all did our best for our respective countries . . . Glorifying death was a mistake ; because I survived , I was able to move on - to make friends in the U . S . and other countries . " Saburo Sakai died of a heart attack in 2000 , following a U . S . Navy formal dinner - where he had been an honored guest - at Atsugi Naval Air Station . He was 84 . Sakai had sent his daughter to college in the United States " to learn English and democracy . " There she married an American , and gave Saburo two American - born grandchildren . He is survived by all three .