Saburō Sakai (坂井 三郎) was a Japanese naval aviator and flying ace ("Gekitsui-O", 撃墜王) of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Sakai had 28 aerial victories, including shared ones, according to official Japanese records, though he and his ghostwriter Martin Caidin claimed much higher numbers.
1592
Their ancestors were themselves samurai and had taken part in the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) but were later forced to take up a livelihood of farming after haihan-chiken in 1871.
He was the third-born of four sons (his given name literally means "third son") and had three sisters.
Sakai was 11 when his father died, which left his 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.
1916
Saburō Sakai was born on 25 August 1916 in Saga Prefecture, Japan.
He was born into a family with an immediate affiliation to the samurai and their warrior legacies.
1933
On 31 May 1933, at the age of 16, Sakai enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Navy as a Sailor Fourth Class (Seaman Recruit) (四等水兵) at the Sasebo Naval Base.
Sakai described his experiences as a naval recruit:
After completing his training the following year, Sakai graduated as a Sailor Third Class (Ordinary Seaman) (三等水兵).
He then served aboard the battleship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Kirishima for one year.
1935
In 1935, he successfully passed the competitive examinations for the Naval Gunners' School.
1936
Sakai was promoted to Sailor Second Class (Able Seaman) (二等水兵) in 1936, and served on the battleship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Haruna 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).
1937
In early 1937, he applied for and was accepted into the navy pilot training program.
He graduated first in his class at Tsuchiura in 1937 and earned a silver watch, which was presented to him by Emperor Hirohito.
Sakai graduated as a carrier pilot although he was never assigned to aircraft-carrier duty.
One of Sakai's classmates was Jūzō Mori, who graduated as a carrier pilot and served on the Japanese aircraft carrier Sōryū by flying Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers early in the war.
1938
Promoted to Petty Officer Second Class (二等兵曹) in 1938, Sakai took part in aerial combat flying the Mitsubishi A5M at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938–1939 and was wounded in action.
Later, he was selected to fly the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter in combat over China.
1941
When Japan attacked the Western Allies in 1941, 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 Kōkūtai (a Kōkūtai was an Air Group) that attacked Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
In his first combat against Americans, he shot down a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and destroyed two B-17 Flying Fortresses by strafing them on the ground.
Sakai flew missions the next day during heavy weather.
On the third day of the battle, Sakai claimed to have shot down a B-17, flown by Captain Colin P. Kelly.
Sakai, who has often been credited with the victory, was a Shotai leader engaged in this fight with the bomber although he and his two wingmen do not appear to have been given official credit for it.
1942
Early in 1942, Sakai was transferred to Tarakan Island in Borneo and fought in the Dutch East Indies.
The Japanese high command instructed fighter patrols to down all enemy aircraft that were encountered, whether they were armed or not.
On a patrol with his Zero over Java, just after he had shot down an enemy aircraft, Sakai encountered a civilian Dutch Douglas DC-3 flying at low altitude over dense jungle.
Sakai initially assumed that it was transporting important people and signaled to its pilot to follow him, but the pilot did not obey.
Sakai descended and approached the DC-3.
He then saw a blonde woman and a young child through a window, along with other passengers.
The woman reminded him of Mrs. Martin, an American who occasionally had taught him as a child in middle school and had been kind to him.
He ignored his orders, flew ahead of the pilot, and signaled him to go ahead.
The pilot and the passengers saluted him.
Sakai did not mention the encounter in the aerial combat report.
During the Borneo Campaign, Sakai achieved 13 more victories before he was grounded by illness.
When he recovered three months later in April, Petty Officer First Class Sakai joined a squadron (chutai) of the Tainan Kōkūtai under Sub-Lieutenant Junichi Sasai at Lae, New Guinea.
