There’s something beautiful to me about a suicide mission.

I know, it’s a sensitive topic right now considering all the acts of terror going on and 9/11 being a not so distant memory despite it happening over ten years ago, but I beg you to let go of all of those preconceptions and think about it in the most unbiased way that you can.

Besides, I’m not talking about the type of suicide missions that are used to spread terror and further some extremist’s agenda.

I’m talking about the purer type.  The type born out of commitment to duty and love of something whether it be their family, country or anything.

A perfect example are these brave men right here:

Now I understand, Japan was our enemy in World War II.  I understand that their kamikaze pilots killed many of our men and did an untold amount of damage to Pearl Harbor, etc.

But think about what it must have been like for them.

Look at those men in the picture.  They knew the moment they got into their planes that they would never land safely again.  They would never see their homes again, nor their families.

They knew that if they did their job properly they would die.  There was no coming back for these gentlemen.  Just the idea of that gets me a little upset, but look at how calm and collected they are.

Hell, the one guy all the way to the right is smiling!  He’s happy!  He probably feels more honored than any of us can understand.  Chances are, this is the best day of his life.

Do you understand that amount of commitment?

I sure don’t.

In our country we call them crazy, or sick in the head, or whatever slurs we choose.  Others of us hear the word kamikaze and think of a drink you’d order at the bar.

When I hear Kamikaze a few different things go through my head.

Commitment.

Bravery

Honor

Determination

These men had grit, more grit than I or anyone I know have.  I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could deliberately kill myself for the war effort by crashing a perfectly good plane into the enemy.

I don’t think I could make the ultimate sacrifice like that, but to be honest with you, I’d love to read about one of their lives.

I’d love to know the type of thoughts that go through a person like that’s head.

It makes me think of the quality I spoke of in my post about the Unsung Hero.

These men are the ultimate Unsung Hero.

Now I’m not sure if I mentioned, but I studied Japanese language and culture for years in college.  I found a deep connection and appreciation for their very different, but at the same time, very beautiful and austere philosophies.

I think these are things we should adopt into our own lives to some extent, and we should always look for a way to put them into our characters.

Think about it.  Self sacrificing heroes never go out of style.  Personally, I think a self satisfying villain would be much more interesting, but hey you guys know me by now.

I have always felt a draw toward the shadow aspect of our personalities.

So to end this post, I want to say that I’m going to do my best to work this type of self-sacrifice into some kind of creative endeavor I undertake at one point or another, and I honestly hope some of you do too.

I promise, it won’t steer you wrong.

So in honor of all the Japanese I’ve learned and understood I’ll leave you with this farewell for the day.

元気で or All the Best for the English speakers out there!

So what do you think?  Agree?  Disagree?  Think I’m nuts?  Whatever you’re thinking leave your thoughts in the comments section.

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