Item Description
Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous piece of Pearl Harbor history, a piece of parachute silk purportedly taken from the parachute of Japanese Lieutenant Fusada Iida, Commander, 3rd Air Control Group, Japanese Navy and the fighter plane flight leader on Soryu.
The back of the frame has a note providing the provenance for the piece. Iida was shot down on December 7th, 1941 at Kaneohe Naval Air Station in the Hawaiian Islands. The piece of parachute silk was given to George W. Fishel by Mrs. Ralph Humes, their neighbor. Mrs. Humes’ husband, Ralph, was a US Naval Officer stationed at Kaneohe N.A.S.. Fishel had the piece framed and gave it to his son, George Jr., in 1996. Information about Lt. Iida is found in Gordon W. Prangers book “Dec. 7 1941 - The Day the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor”.
The frame measures 13½ x 13½” and is in great condition. The piece of parachute silk measures roughly 7 x 8”.
This is a tremendous memento from one of the most prolific days in American history. Comes ready for further research and display.
On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, "A Date That Will Live In Infamy". In early December 1941, Utah was moored off Ford Island in berth F-11, after having completed another round of anti-aircraft gunnery training. Shortly before 08:00 on the morning of 7 December, some crewmen aboard Utah observed the first Japanese planes approaching to attack Pearl Harbor, but they assumed they were American aircraft. The Japanese began their attack shortly thereafter, the first bombs falling near a seaplane ramp on the southern tip of Ford Island. At the same time sixteen Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers from the Japanese aircraft carriers Sōryū and Hiryū flew over Pearl City approaching the west side of Ford Island. The torpedo bombers were looking for American aircraft carriers, which usually anchored where Utah was moored that morning. The flight leaders identified Utah and rejected her as a target, deciding instead to attack 1010 Dock. However six of the B5Ns from Soryu led by Lieutenant Nakajima Tatsumi broke off to attack Utah, not recognizing that the shapes over the barbettes were not turrets, but boxes covering empty holes. Six torpedoes were launched against Utah, two of them struck the battleship while another missed and hit the cruiser Raleigh.
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