U.S. Pilot’s Wife Gets Japanese Apology
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TOKYO — A senior officer of the Japanese navy apologized in person Thursday to the wife of an American pilot whose warplane was accidentally shot down by a Japanese destroyer.
Vice Adm. Yasuki Sugiyama, commander of air forces for Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Forces, expressed his regrets to Carol Royster at the U.S. military base in Atsugi, where her husband is stationed.
The Japanese vessel Yugiri rescued Lt. Cmdr. William Royster and his bombardier-navigator, Lt. Keith Douglas, after it mistakenly blasted their A-6E Intruder out of the air during multinational military maneuvers in the Pacific late Monday.
Royster and his wife are from Kansas City, Mo.; Douglas, who is single, is from Birmingham, Ala. Neither of the aviators was seriously hurt.
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