It was 3:00 a.m. Hawaii Time when Mitsuo Fuchida boarded his aircraft 230 miles off the coast of Oahu and led 360 planes on the attack of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. It was a devastating blow to the U.S. Naval forces in he Pacific. In Fuchida's own words "it was the most thrilling exploit of my career." Fuchida went on to be a highly decorated Japanese Naval officer.
When the war came to a close, Japan having lost, Fuchida went back into obscurity as a small farmer. His dislike for the Americans only grew as each day passed. Fuchida did not have to face war trials himself, but was called to testify against others in the Japanese forces, a task he did with great hesitation.
On one trip to Tokyo for the trials he stepped off the train and someone handed him a pamphlet entitled "I was a Prisoner of Japan". It was the story of a missionary, Jake DeShazer, who had spent 40 months in a prisoner of war camp and who after facing this terrible ordeal had come back to Japan to share the love of Christ with the people.
Fuchida read the pamphlet and was intrigued with the lessons it presented. He had never read the Bible, but decided to check it out. As he read it the Story touched his heart. April 14, 1950, he said was the second "day to remember". It was on that day that he decided to dedicate his life to Christ. The headlines proclaimed "Pearl Harbor Hero Converts to Christianity". His war buddies, family and friends could not understand , but he had made up his mind, his heart had been changed. He would spend the rest of his life sharing Jesus with the Japanese people.
Fuchida wrote: "Though my country has the highest literacy rate in the world, education has not brought salvation. Peace and freedom - both national and personal - come only through an encounter with Jesus Christ. I would give anything to retract my actions of twenty-nine years ago at Pearl Harbor, but it is impossible. Instead, I now work at striking the death blow to the basic hatred that infests the human heart and causes such tragedies. And that hatred cannot be uprooted without assistance of Jesus Christ."
Jake DeShazzer a man with hatred for a people he did not know found forgiveness in a dark cell surrounded by his enemies. Mitsuo Fuchida a lost hero found forgiveness in the words of a man who once hated him. Both men found forgiveness because of allowing Jesus to be a part of their lives. When we allow Jesus to make His home in our hearts we find that there is no room for hatred of our fellow man. To learn to forgive means we are allowing Jesus to take us over instead of our own personal pride.
Isn't it ironic that one of the first men to attack the U.S. and one of the first men to attack Japan would one day work together to heal two nations through forgiveness.
Mitsuo Fuchida's story is found in his pamphlet "From Pearl Harbor to Calvary".
Jake DeShazer's story is found in his pamphlet "I was a Prisoner of Japan".
Both can be read at the following site:
http://www.faithofourfathers.org/heritage/pearl.html
When the war came to a close, Japan having lost, Fuchida went back into obscurity as a small farmer. His dislike for the Americans only grew as each day passed. Fuchida did not have to face war trials himself, but was called to testify against others in the Japanese forces, a task he did with great hesitation.
On one trip to Tokyo for the trials he stepped off the train and someone handed him a pamphlet entitled "I was a Prisoner of Japan". It was the story of a missionary, Jake DeShazer, who had spent 40 months in a prisoner of war camp and who after facing this terrible ordeal had come back to Japan to share the love of Christ with the people.
Fuchida read the pamphlet and was intrigued with the lessons it presented. He had never read the Bible, but decided to check it out. As he read it the Story touched his heart. April 14, 1950, he said was the second "day to remember". It was on that day that he decided to dedicate his life to Christ. The headlines proclaimed "Pearl Harbor Hero Converts to Christianity". His war buddies, family and friends could not understand , but he had made up his mind, his heart had been changed. He would spend the rest of his life sharing Jesus with the Japanese people.
Fuchida wrote: "Though my country has the highest literacy rate in the world, education has not brought salvation. Peace and freedom - both national and personal - come only through an encounter with Jesus Christ. I would give anything to retract my actions of twenty-nine years ago at Pearl Harbor, but it is impossible. Instead, I now work at striking the death blow to the basic hatred that infests the human heart and causes such tragedies. And that hatred cannot be uprooted without assistance of Jesus Christ."
Jake DeShazzer a man with hatred for a people he did not know found forgiveness in a dark cell surrounded by his enemies. Mitsuo Fuchida a lost hero found forgiveness in the words of a man who once hated him. Both men found forgiveness because of allowing Jesus to be a part of their lives. When we allow Jesus to make His home in our hearts we find that there is no room for hatred of our fellow man. To learn to forgive means we are allowing Jesus to take us over instead of our own personal pride.
Isn't it ironic that one of the first men to attack the U.S. and one of the first men to attack Japan would one day work together to heal two nations through forgiveness.
Mitsuo Fuchida's story is found in his pamphlet "From Pearl Harbor to Calvary".
Jake DeShazer's story is found in his pamphlet "I was a Prisoner of Japan".
Both can be read at the following site:
http://www.faithofourfathers.org/heritage/pearl.html
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