FIRST TO LAND
TWO AMERICAN AIRMEN
NEW YORK, August 25. The first Americans to land in Japan since the end of hostilities were two Lightning pilots who descended on Kyushu airfield today because of fuel trouble, reports the Okinawa correspondent of the Associated Press. The airmen were well received by the Japanese. One pilot said, however: "The Japanese did not act as though they were defeated. They were meeting us on an equal basis. Nobody showed up when we landed, though from»the air we saw men about. We climbed out- of the planes and walked about the airfield; then an officer and several soldiers came up. We checked our guns and waited. The Japanese officer had a big sword. As he came closer he smiled and saluted. I returned the salute. Then we shook hands and conversed with the aid of an English-Japanese dictionary."
When a Fortress rescue plane arrived with fuel the crew gave the Japanese a box of rations, which they ate hungrily, and then helped to refuel the Lightnings.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 49, 27 August 1945, Page 5
Word Count
172FIRST TO LAND Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 49, 27 August 1945, Page 5
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