What do you imagine if I say 'Zero'?
I've been reading a book about the Zero. The Zero was a exceptional Japanese fighter plane in World War II. It is a special thing for Japanese. But most of Japanese know just its name now. We, under 50 years old, don't know its devastating background.
This story is about a pilot of a Zero fighter. One day his grandchildren decided to investigate their grandfather. He died when he was twenty-six years old. His wife had married again, so they hadn't known about their real grandfather. Then they started to search veterans who knew him. They met some veterans and heard shocking, unexpected and proud stories. First, someone told that he was a coward because he tried to live in the war. He always said never die to his subordinates. At that time saying never die was strictly forbidden. When they heard this, they were a little ashamed of him. But as they've heard other stories, they could understand why he said so. One of the reasons was that it was more important to live and attack than losing life. However the biggest reason was that he loved his wife and child. He really wanted to meet them again. He was a standout pilot, so he could live untill almost the end of the war, but at last he died in a suicide attack. Why such a man died in such way? I do not know the reason yet.
