HONOLULU — A metal plate with the serial number of a Japanese Zero fighter that crashed during the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor has returned to Hawaii.
HONOLULU — A metal plate with the serial number of a Japanese Zero fighter that crashed during the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor has returned to Hawaii.
The plane careened into palm trees and a group of artillerymen at the entrance of an ordnance machine shop on Fort Kamehameha 73 years ago. The crash killed four men and the Japanese pilot.
The serial number “5289” was cut out of the plane’s aluminum fuselage. It was hidden in an envelope for decades until it was auctioned on eBay in March.
Honolulu attorney Damon Senaha bought the plate for $12,225.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Senaha on Monday donated the plate to the National Park Service and the museum at the USS Arizona Memorial.