I once met a P51 pilot who had flown in Europe. We had a lot of Bourbon, so I was drunk enough to ask him about the war and he was drunk enough to talk about it.
He said his favorite target were trains, because he would strafe his way up to the engine and then kaboom! a big steam explosion.
But then his face fell, and he said that on the long flight back to base you thought about the guys on the ground and you didn't feel so good anymore.
In contrast, I've read transcripts of German pilots who boasted about strafing civilians. That was the difference between us and them.
He flew some planes back to the US, but after leaving the service, like your father he never flew again.
The Japanese today do not teach their kids about what really happened in WW2. They depict themselves as the victims of evil oil embargos if they teach anything.