Commander Minoru Genda
General Minoru Genda was the one who planned the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He died of heart disease in a Tokyo hospital on Tuesday on the 44th anniversary of the end of the World War II. He would have been 85 years old yesterday.
General Genda was an early advocate of the naval air power over surface vessels, was a native of Hiroshima. A 1924 graduate of the Japanese Naval Academy, where he introduced aerobatics teams that were popularly known as ''Genda's circuses.''
He became a fighter pilot while bombing and strafing cities in China and was increasingly regarded by Japanese leaders as one of the nation's brightest young officers. As a commander in the navy, he was assigned to the general staff and was directed to draft the air tactics for the Pearl Harbor assault. Which crippled the American Pacific fleet and plunged the United States into World War II. He was aboard one of the carriers that staged the strike on Dec. 7, 1941, but illness kept him from piloting a bomber. Low-Flying Torpedo Bombers
General Genda was an early advocate of the naval air power over surface vessels, was a native of Hiroshima. A 1924 graduate of the Japanese Naval Academy, where he introduced aerobatics teams that were popularly known as ''Genda's circuses.''
He became a fighter pilot while bombing and strafing cities in China and was increasingly regarded by Japanese leaders as one of the nation's brightest young officers. As a commander in the navy, he was assigned to the general staff and was directed to draft the air tactics for the Pearl Harbor assault. Which crippled the American Pacific fleet and plunged the United States into World War II. He was aboard one of the carriers that staged the strike on Dec. 7, 1941, but illness kept him from piloting a bomber. Low-Flying Torpedo Bombers