I realized that the only way to find my answers was to move to Japan and interview these veterans while they were still alive.  However, I couldn’t speak or write Japanese (still can’t!).  So, I started to write Japanese museums, collectors, historians for several years before I met some people who understood my passion and agreed to help me.  This all took place back in mid-1990s and I ultimately moved to Japan in 1999.

I ended up working my tail off in Japan with my Japanese friend Keigo “Hammer” Nakahama and doing interviews just about free chance that we could get such as on weekends, vacation, etc.  At the same time, I worked as an English teacher to help pay the bills.  Remarkably, we met all the veterans by word of mouth and by mutual veteran friends.  Ninety-five percent of the veterans could not speak English and for sure would not have granted interviews had we not followed Japanese protocol. 

Most Western people don’t understand that you could not just write these veterans and expect to be granted an interview.  They are very private people and in many cases talk very little about the war even to family or friends.  Consequently, I cannot give my veteran contact’s addresses to other people because it could destroy our friendships that have developed after years of work and trust.

My trusty buddy “Hammer” worked incredibly hard to not only to translate our interviews properly but also to guide me through various Japanese cities and also on proper Japanese etiquette.  To make a long story short, we ended up traveling all across Japan and interviewing almost fifty veterans; which I still can’t believe! We also met many veterans that either died soon after our meeting or were not interviewed by anyone. They provided us with incredible wealth of insight on their war experiences, how they felt, what they saw, etc.  I ended up coming back to America (almost broke due to the high cost of living in Japan) but it changed my life forever.  I also met my wonderful wife Kaori during my stay.

What are my future plans?  Well, I plan on using about half of my interviews for my first book Beyond Pearl Harbor: The Untold stories of Japan’s Navy Airmen.  The book will be the first exclusive English-language oral history of not only WW II Japanese Navy pilots, but also the vital mechanics who serviced their planes.  It will all be in their words which were taken verbatim from my interviews, letters and rare wartime diaries.  All of their stories will be supported by research from the national archives in both Japan and America along with my own research.  Finally, all of these incredible accounts will be illustrated by a large amount of rare wartime photos which were provided by the veterans, the national archives and many different veterans.

My other project is to collect everything related to WW II Japanese navy pilots and mechanics.  For example, flying gear, uniforms and insignia.  I strongly feel many of these priceless artifacts are simply thrown in the garbage when veterans pass on and their surviving family members don’t know what to do with their wartime mementoes.  I plan on using these items to help teach others about the war.  For example, I once brought a WW II Japanese fur-lined flight suit to school and students couldn’t believe that people used gear like this to fly combat.

I have been fortunate because many veterans gave me their artifacts to preserve for future generations.  My ultimate goal is to create a traveling museum that I can use to teach people especially the younger generation about the war.  I feel kids need to know history, otherwise, all of those men died in vain.  They also need to know the cold hard facts about what really happened and the terrible destruction brought on by the war.  This is the only thing (in my eyes) that will prevent future wars from happening.