Former U.S. airman Jack DeTour, 92, and Japanese fighter pilot Shiro Wakita, 88, sworn enemies during World War II, together poured whiskey from a battered canteen into Pearl Harbor on Sunday to commemorate the 1941 attack on the U.S. naval base.
As the sun rose over the USS Arizona Memorial, the two former enemy pilots joined the "Blackened Canteen" service on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the Dec. 7 attack, which took 2,403 lives and drew the United States into World War II.
Standing side by side after meeting for the first time ever, retired U.S. Air Force Col. DeTour and former Imperial Japanese Navy Zero Pilot Wakita together gripped the war-torn U.S. military-issue metal canteen and poured whiskey into the watery grave of the U.S. Navy ship sunk by Japanese bombers.