Lack of dedication

Admiral Onishi, the creator and perpetrator of kamikaze operations, in the Pacific theatre towards the end of World War II, committed ritual suicide, hara-kiri, when his ‘operations’ failed to win victory for his fatherland. Bleeding to death he ‘confessed’ his failure to his fellow countrymen and his Emperor and created a Haiku: \
Refreshed
I feel like a clear moon
After a storm

What a pure, sacrificial sentiment. In contrast, one of the sailors who survived a kamikaze attack on the aircraft carrier U.S.S.Bunker Hill somewhere off the island of Okinawa, May 11, 1945, and who witnessed horrendous tragedy and loss of life on the ship, returned to his homeland to go on with the business of living. He believed that you "just cannot let it rule your life." What a truly, courageous statement.

We need not imitate the code of honor of bushido prevalent before and during World War II in Japan, but perhaps we could take a valuable lesson from that sailor who won the Navy Cross. Given a choice between the two ‘ways of the warrior,’ shouldn’t life triumph over death? Given the choice between a code of morality instilled in youth which governs their conduct and a philosophy of moral equivalency and relevancy in America today, shouldn’t our nation reconsider the course it pursues? Our educational moral standards for its youth and its citizens are sorely compromised. Furthermore, who can be refreshed like a clear moon after a storm lacking dedication to a good cause?