Mike Murphy

American news networks almost never mention it, but ask any U.S. soldier or Marine who flew into Baghdad between 2004 and 2008 about the sky-blue Japanese C-130s. During the height of the Iraq War, roads around Baghdad were packed with roadside bombs. Every time U.S. troops moved by truck convoy, young Americans died. They desperately needed air transport. Japan's constitution forbade its military from firing a single bullet in offensive combat. Critics said Japan would stay home. Instead, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force sent its C-130H Hercules transport crews straight into the fire. Why did the Japanese paint their cargo planes pale sky-blue? Because insurgent snipers and shoulder-fired missile teams were waiting around Baghdad International Airport. Since the Japanese crews carried no offensive weapons, they painted their planes the exact color of the desert sky so gunners on the ground could not lock onto them with the naked eye. To dodge surface-to-air missiles, those Japanese pilots flew directly over the airfield at high altitude, chopped the throttle, and dove straight down in a violent corkscrew spiral onto the tarmac. For four years and nine months, Japan's blue C-130s flew 821 mission days. They carried 673 tons of supplies and transported 46,500 U.S. and coalition troops safely out of harm's way without losing a single life. American GIs called them the Baghdad Express. A warrior does not need to fire a rifle to save his friend. Sometimes he just needs to paint his wings the color of the sky and dive into the storm.