Honda, Friendly Black Sheep Foe

THE PILGRIM

THE PILGRIM

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I think that Japanese pilot Edward Chikaka Honda shows up on the TV show but I didn't realize that he was real.
Honda was raised in Hawaii and flew for the Japanese Navy against the Black Sheep.
Once he taunted Pappy in English on the radio to come down and fight.
After Pappy and some Americans were shot down and captured, he convinced the Japanese brass to send them to Japan for questioning and debriefing.
Honda thought, probably correctly that if Pappy stayed in the S Pacific he would be killed.
 
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I wonder if that is where they got the character Hiroki (Rice Ball) from?

In my best Japanese accent: "That You Boyington?"

BTW--so far--unless you have a region free player--the only way to get legit copies of season 2 for the series is to get other than region 1 copies. I cant fathom WHY--the dadburn studios have failed to release season 2 for region 1?? That 1st season set record sales purchases.

Luckily--I have a player which plays all regions and im ordering it after Christmas.
 
the ringo kid said:
I wonder if that is where they got the character Hiroki (Rice Ball) from?

In my best Japanese accent: "That You Boyington?"

That would be my guess. I know we have seen the stereotypical Japanese military guys speaking English usually after our guys were captured.
But Honda is the only one that I ever heard of that taunted our guys on the radio during combat.
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Forgot to mention, in an earlier season of Magnum P.I.--a true to life Japanese pilot who flew on the raids to bomb Pearl Harbor--appeared in an episode where he was playing the part to a Japanese holy man of soem sort. Sorry i cant think of his actual name off-hand? but--also Soburo Sakai (SP?) another Japanese ace--played a bit and uncredited role in the same episode.
 
According to Bruce Gamble’s book Black Sheep One: the Life of Pappy Boyington Edward Chikaki Honda was a civilian interpreter for the Imperial Japanese navy there is no indication that he was ever a pilot or that he was the officer that taunted Boyington to come down and fight.

Gamble also speculates that Honda was more trying to save himself than Boyington and used transporting the prisoners to Japan as an excuse to get himself out of the South Pacific.

Above all Honda was not Boyington’s friend. If you read between the lines (Gamble almost states it explicitly) the Japanese were playing good cop/ bad cop and Honda was the good cop.

He played his role well. He got Boyington to break the prime directive for POWs: you do not speak to your captors.

I have no idea and Boyington probably didn’t either but I will bet anything he (inadvertently I’m sure) gave the Japanese information he shouldn’t have while he and Honda were having their “Talks”.

Honda spent the rest of his life in prison for his role in interrogating prisoners
 
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Now I feel bad because I apparently killed this thread :(
 
You didn't kill it. Your information, if accurate (and I don't know if it is or not) did.
Can't go wrong if what you say is the truth. Maybe some one else can refute it. I can't.
 
Smoke said:
According to Bruce Gamble’s book Black Sheep One: the Life of Pappy Boyington Edward Chikaki Honda was a civilian interpreter for the Imperial Japanese navy there is no indication that he was ever a pilot or that he was the officer that taunted Boyington to come down and fight.

Gamble also speculates that Honda was more trying to save himself than Boyington and used transporting the prisoners to Japan as an excuse to get himself out of the South Pacific.

Above all Honda was not Boyington’s friend. If you read between the lines (Gamble almost states it explicitly) the Japanese were playing good cop/ bad cop and Honda was the good cop.

He played his role well. He got Boyington to break the prime directive for POWs: you do not speak to your captors.

I have no idea and Boyington probably didn’t either but I will bet anything he (inadvertently I’m sure) gave the Japanese information he shouldn’t have while he and Honda were having their “Talks”.

Honda spent the rest of his life in prison for his role in interrogating prisoners
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Hans Scharff was the German interrogator and a lot of POWs gave him information - except one, Gabreski. The irony is that Gabreski and Scharaff were friends after the war.

Scharaff's techniques were used by the USAF and the Army as a part of their interrogation schools. I think his techniques are
still being taught today.
 
In my book accumulation is a collection of Japanese 1st person accounts of WW2 that were collected in the late 1960s in Japan. In the book one Japanese officer stated they had a formal policy to execute Allied airmen in the islands. Mainly because they didn't want the Japanese troops to realize how far they had been pushed back. So transferring Boyington to Japan probably did save his life.
 
Smoke............ please check about the new rules of resisting torture/interrogation for American POW's....got a good friend who flew on Medivacs in Nam.... was shot down & captured and spent several years up north in Hanoi...........I so truly admire Tom and the other POW's.
 
da gimp said:
Smoke............ please check about the new rules of resisting torture/interrogation for American POW's....got a good friend who flew on Medivacs in Nam.... was shot down & captured and spent several years up north in Hanoi...........I so truly admire Tom and the other POW's.
Click to expand...

Remember we're not talking about new rules we're talking almost 70 years ago.

walnutred said:
In my book accumulation is a collection of Japanese 1st person accounts of WW2 that were collected in the late 1960s in Japan. In the book one Japanese officer stated they had a formal policy to execute Allied airmen in the islands. Mainly because they didn't want the Japanese troops to realize how far they had been pushed back. So transferring Boyington to Japan probably did save his life.
Click to expand...

I'm not disputing that the move may have saved Boyington's life I'm just a little skeptical of Honda's motives
 
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One of my favorites is when they shoot down an American raised and educated Japanese pilot. He went back to Japan to fight for his home country, but was emotionally torn between sides. IIRC Clyde Kusatsu played the part.
 
no sir, but the rules were unrealistic in their severity for WWII..... written by men who had never been POW's.. much less suffered the tortures & agonies they all did.......... American servicemen who were POWs of the Nazi's had it dam tough, my good late neighbor was US Army Air Corps that was shot down & captured by them.......... we lost if I remember right a lil less that 1/10th of our POWs in Europe/N Africa. at the hands of the Nazis..........

we lost 1/4 to 1/3 of our POWs in the hands of the Japanese to torture & out right murder..........most people accept that the Japanese regulars were at least as brutal as the NVA & VC were in their treatment of our POWs.. the only thing that stayed the hand of the NVA & the VC was public opinion............ something the Japanese Army & navy never worried about sir.
 
Where might I find episodes of the Black Sheep Squadron online, preferably for free? I have checked Netflix, Hulu plus, YouTube and Amazon Prime w/o success.

Edit: I did find it is available as a dvd from netflix.
 
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da gimp said:
no sir, but the rules were unrealistic in their severity for WWII..... written by men who had never been POW's.. much less suffered the tortures & agonies they all did.......... American servicemen who were POWs of the Nazi's had it dam tough, my good late neighbor was US Army Air Corps that was shot down & captured by them.......... we lost if I remember right a lil less that 1/10th of our POWs in Europe/N Africa. at the hands of the Nazis..........

we lost 1/4 to 1/3 of our POWs in the hands of the Japanese to torture & out right murder..........most people accept that the Japanese regulars were at least as brutal as the NVA & VC were in their treatment of our POWs.. the only thing that stayed the hand of the NVA & the VC was public opinion............ something the Japanese Army & navy never worried about sir.
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I understand what you’re saying but I think you need to read Boyington’s own words in his autobiography.

After Boyington’s first or second interrogation with Honda as interpreter, the Japanese officers left and according to Boyington Honda said “ I know you’re lying like Hell Boyington but keep it up because it sounds like a good story.”

Honda then offered Boyington a Cigarette and again, according to Boyington, that’s all it took.

Boyington goes on to recount several discussions including one where he took an aerial photograph and pointed out the location of “Colonel Lard’s” ( AKA Colonel Joe Smoak) headquarters and told the Japanese the best way to bomb it.

Again, this was Boyington's own account of what happened
 
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RonJ said:
One of my favorites is when they shoot down an American raised and educated Japanese pilot. He went back to Japan to fight for his home country, but was emotionally torn between sides. IIRC Clyde Kusatsu played the part.
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That was oneof my top favorite episodes too. He was an excellent table tennis player (in the episode). George Takai was in an episode where the japs took Vela la Cava from the squadron capturing all but two of them.

The real Boyington was in at least 3 episodes in the first season. I still needto get season 2.

BTW--I thought Red West was great as Sergeant Micklin.
 
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