Amazing recently declassified gun camera footage from WWII Japan

its particularly interesting towards the last two minutes, it looks just like pearl harbor.

Gives me greater respect for the pilots that somehow survived the war 

It's a little astounding to consider the lengths to which we go to launch a mass of metal and man into the air, hurtling over hundreds of miles through the air, deliver a spray of bullets and bombs on small indistinct targets, then find our way back not knowing for sure what we've done. An incredible feat over huge distances. The world is a big place, it's hard to get a grasp of scale from the ground. 

" Gives me greater respect for the pilots that somehow survived the war  "

ooh sounds interesting. loading !

Damn who's piloting that plane, The Red Baron?

It's a kind of combat that could only really exist in that section of history.

Wow.  Truly amazing stuff.

Thanks for sharing, it's already in my favorites.

Amazing footage. It makes me feel sick though, all that death and destruction. Seeing footage like that makes you realize that WWII really wasn't all that long ago.

" Amazing footage. It makes me feel sick though, all that death and destruction. Seeing footage like that makes you realize that WWII really wasn't all that long ago. "

On the one hand I'm appalled at the violence and destruction of war, and this really makes me feel depressed. But on the other hand, I'm getting a hankerin' for playing a flight combat sim and doing the same myself. Here's hoping real violence keeps getting replaced by virtual.

wtf, do i have to be the one to say this?
 
War... War never changes...

Mesmerizing, but also very sad..

i think i wanna join the army or something now

That was pretty profound. 
 
@Gunner said:

" wtf, do i have to be the one to say this?  War... War never changes... "

" On the one hand I'm appalled at the violence and destruction of war, and this really makes me feel depressed. But on the other hand, I'm getting a hankerin' for playing a flight combat sim and doing the same myself. Here's hoping real violence keeps getting replaced by virtual. "

Whatever. Pilots didn't do a job anywhere near as good as their german counterparts and the whole misty-eyed nostalgia is dumb considering america has always been and will always be at war.

" @TwoOneFive said:

 i'm just like... wow. this happens... ya know? "

Yeah, man. Like... totally.  "

" @doublezeroduck said:

" @TwoOneFive said:

 i'm just like... wow. this happens... ya know? "

Yeah, man. Like... totally.  "

lmao  come on now, dont tell me that video didnt mellow you out and get all philosophical "

I'm waiting for one of the jackasses of the last couple of dumb posts to just go, JOINT OPS BRAH WOOOOW and then exit the thread. Ugh. 
 
But yeah, beautiful, but still sad.

Video gave me strange feelings concerning progress of human race and meaning of life.
 
giantbomb why you do this to me

That was a really good video. I'm pretty sure it was the music, it was clearly trying to draw specific emotions from you, and it worked pretty well.

Depressed :(

War. War never changes.  
 
Sorry, couldn't resist. It's kind of chilling, watching stuff like this. 

I was awed watching that, though certainly not in a good way. There's a layer of impersonality that permeates off textbooks and the black and white documentaries that air on History. I personally never grasped what the bombings truly meant, I understood the concepts, but I certainly didn't apply them in a personal context. But to be upon that ground, hearing the sounds of the gunfire, seeing the explosions.. it's not something I can accurately describe.