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The Assassination of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto


aznation
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Scratch one Admiral !!

 

Barber’s P38 sported four Browning M2 .50-caliber machineguns as well as a single Hispano 20mm cannon all clustered in the nose. It was this tight arrangement of weapons that made the Lightning such an accurate and effective aerial combat weapon. Barber sprayed the lead plane with fire until the one engine began streaming smoke. The Japanese bomber crashed violently into the jungle. Barber then turned his attention to the second Japanese plane, earning partial credit for shooting it down.

While there have been some exceptionally acrimonious controversy regarding who fired the fateful shots, Barber’s narrative seems the most reliable. Barber’s plane sported 104 Japanese bullet holes when he finally landed. One P38 was lost on the mission.

The Kill
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This is the wreckage of Yamamoto’s plane in more modern times.

A Japanese search and rescue party located the Admiral’s crash site the following day. Yamamoto was thrown clear of the plane yet remained strapped in his seat. He was found sitting upright and intact with his head slumped forward. His gloved hand was supposedly gripping the hilt of his katana sword, but I remain skeptical. This revelation just reeks of wartime propaganda.

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Yamamoto’s aircraft was catastrophically damaged in the attack. The Admiral himself was killed by American gunfire.

Yamamoto had been hit twice with .50-caliber rounds. One of the big half-inch bullets penetrated his left shoulder. The second struck him in the left lower jaw and exited his right eye. The specific details of his post-mortem examination were withheld from the Japanese public to help preserve wartime morale.

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