How many Japanese pilots died at Midway?
How many Japanese pilots died at Midway? All 248 carrier aircraft were lost, most going down with their ships, along with several cruiser- and battleship-launched float planes. However, most Japanese pilots were rescued; only 36 were lost on the carriers and 74 in the air, mostly from Hiryu.
How many Midway survivors are still alive?
While no one knows for sure, it's believed there may less than 100 of the survivors of that fateful day still alive. For the first time, there were no Pearl Harbor survivors in attendance for the USS Midway Museum's ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the attack that thrust the United States into World War II.
Did Japan think they could beat the US?
For 2,000 years Japan had never been defeated. There was no word for surrender in the Japanese dictionary. And although the Japanese government never believed it could defeat the United States, it did intend to negotiate an end to the war on favorable terms.