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WWII Japanese Kamikaze pilots. Japanese Kamikaze pilot tightening a hachimaki (head cloth) around a comrades head before a mission during World War II. Kamikaze attacks were suicide attacks carried out by Japanese pilots flying specially adapted aircraft carrying a combination of explosives, bombs, torpedoes and full fuel tanks. They were designed to destroy warships more effectively than was possible with conventional attacks. The hachimaki was traditionally worn by samurai and came to symbolize manly composure. Thus, all Kamikaze pilots wore them. Photographed circa 1944-45.(KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY SPL/US NAVY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)