Poem: Veterans, In Dust

Banzai!!! Oh my,
Another suicide run
When will those Japs ever be done?
Is this what they do for fun?

The ship's been holed
The deck's aflame
There's no one but
the Japs to blame

Pilots in Zero's
Thinking they're heroes
Diving head first
Erupting in flames

Metal against metal
Debris falls like rain
Weapons wrecked
And lives, the same

Courage and loyalty
In abundance they possess
But fanaticism and fatality
In them, in excess

Actually, we shouldn't blame the Japs
The Allies had the war under wraps.
They're dying to protect their land,
Doing their part, the best they can

Now veterans in dust,
That war's long past
But is there and answer to this question:
"Why war?" We ask

--> LT1, Raffles Institution, 4th October 1994

I've always been intrigued by the Defense of Japan at the closing stage of WWII. This is my attempt to even begin to understand the patriotic fervour they displayed then.