Native name 岡部 健二 Name Kenji Okabe | ||
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Battles/wars World War II:Attack on Pearl HarborIndian Ocean raidBattle of the Coral SeaSolomon Islands CampaignBattle of Leyte Died 1943, Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea Unit Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku, 634th Naval Air Group, 601st Naval Air Group | ||
Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji, born 1915) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Participating in many of the Pacific War battles and campaigns as a member of several units, Okabe was officially credited with destroying 15 enemy aircraft. Okabe was credited with shooting down eight enemy aircraft on 8 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the IJN's official record for the number of aircraft destroyed in a single encounter. He is famous for his strong opposition to the kamikaze attacks, rare in IJN at the time. Okabe survived the war.
References
Kenji Okabe Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA