The Twilight Warriors (62 page)

4
Zeke fighter pilot lands at Yontan, jumps from the cockpit with his gun drawn: Morison,
Victory in the Pacific
, 171.

5
“Please send us a dead Jap. A lot of my men have never seen one”: “Buck’s Battle,”
Time
, April 16, 1945.

6
Nimitz vetoes choice of Lt. Gen. Holland Smith and picks Buckner to command at Okinawa: Hastings,
Retribution
, 376.

15
Bourbon and Puddle Water

1
“May you walk in the ashes of Tokyo”: Buckner quote in
Time
, April 16, 1945.

2
Col. Yahara clashes with Lt. Gen. Cho. Keith Wheeler,
The Road to Tokyo
.

3
“They were obviously scared to death …”: Ernie Pyle describing Okinawa natives in
Last Chapter
, 108–9.

4
Windy Hill learns that he will be aboard
Sea Dog
another five weeks. Hill recollection in
Tail End Charlies!
107–8.

16
Ten-Go

1
“Yamato
and the Second Destroyer Squadron will sally forth”:
Yamato
’s orders and the preparations for her last sortie are drawn from Yoshida’s
Requiem for Battleship
Yamato, 3–17, and Spurr’s
A Glorious Way to Die
.

2
Impressions of
Yamato
crewmen are drawn, in part, from the
Nova
PBS series “Sinking the Supership.”

3
“We are fine. Please do put your best effort into your duties”: Kunai Nakatami, quoted in Yoshida’s
Requiem for Battleship
Yamato.

4
“It is a great opportunity as well as a great honor to be skipper of a ship in this sortie to Okinawa”: Capt. Tameichi Hara,
Japanese Destroyer Captain
, 268.