On Dec 7th, a Pearl Harbor story you might not have heard

[TigerHorn 1,353]

I'd never heard the story below before, very moving. God had a plan for Fuchida-san. The sketch below was presented by Pearl Harbor air attack leader Mitsuo Fuchida personally to the Emperor. @MustardSeed I'd think this would be a story you will like. 

A bombing instructor, then carrier combat veteran against the Chinese, made CAG of Akagi in 1939, Fuchida led Japanese torpedo bombers on the first wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor and personally issued the "Tora! Tora! Tora!" radio message, indicating complete surprise achieved. He remained aloft to observe the second wave and begin his BDA and returned his aircraft to the carrier with 21 flak damage holes and a vital control cable parted by all but one strand, making him a national hero. He was granted an incredibly rare audience with the emperor where he presented the sketch above.

Temporarily grounded by illness, Fuchida was wounded at Midway on Akagi's bridge, permanently medically grounded as a result of his wounds he spent the rest of the war doing staff work. He was ordered out of Tinian two weeks before it fell and all his co-workers there committed ritual suicide. He was called away from a conference in Hiroshima the day before it was destroyed by the first atom bomb, vaporizing all of his coworkers. He returned the day after as part of a damage assessment team, a somber mirror image of his prideful strike assessment of 1941. All of the Hiroshima damage assessment team except Fuchida shortly died of radiation exposure and he was hospitalized. He got out just in time to attend the surrender ceremony aboard the Missouri.

While scratching a living as a chicken farmer he was called to testify at a war crimes trial which infuriated him with evidence of widespread Japanese torture and murder of POW's. Determined to present evidence at the next trial that the US was no better he went to meet a friend returning from a POW camp in Colorado, but his friend described good treatment and told him how he had been befriended by a nurse whose missionary parents were beheaded by Japanese troops occupying the Philippines.

All his preconceptions shattered, Fuchida was passing through a train station when he was handed the pamphlet "I Was a Prisoner of Japan" by Doolittle Raid bombardier Jacob DeShazer, who was captured during the 1943 raid and subjected to 34 months of torture and solitary confinement by the Japanese while three of his crew were executed and one died of starvation. DeShazer became a devout Christian late in his captivity and resolved to do missionary work in Japan after the war. DeShazer felt guilt for the 50 Japanese killed and 400 wounded by the Doolittle Raid, some of whom were civilians, and in 1948 he had returned to Japan to preach mercy and forgiveness, starting with the pamphlet in Fuchida's hand and later building a church in the city he bombed, Nagoya. Fuchida was moved to read the bible, converted to Christianity and befriended DeShazer, and spent the rest of his life as a missionary.

Edited December 7, 2021 by TigerHorn

[I_M4_AU 7,907]

Interesting story.  God is good.

[augolf1716 21,250]

Great story thanks for sharing my Dad served in the Philippines came back 100% disabled from the war. The only story he shared about serving was the day the A bomb was dropped he cried with happiness knowing the war would soon be over. He never forgave the Japanese just the way it was back then.

[Guest MustardSeed]

@TigerHornthanks for sharing!  It always amazes me how God takes even the hardest of hearts and turns them on a dime. Sometimes it seems the more lost a person is the greater witness they become for the Lord!  I know of many stories of people who were very violent criminals/gang leaders etc who had encounter with the Lord and would begin ministering to their own gang members and their gangs enemies. 
Take Robby Dawkins for example. I He lived in Aurora Illinois that had a similar crime rate to Chicago.  He made it a point to bring in the local gang leaders to his church and began ministering to them. Through doing that I believe they went from a Chicago type crime rate to not having a single murder in an entire year (2012). He now ministers in Afghanistan starting house churches in basically war zones. Crazy stuff!

[Guest MustardSeed]

Here’s the Robby Dawkins story. It’s pretty awesome too. I love Jesus testimonies!

https://renewaljournal.com/2015/01/18/gangsters-in-the-dorway-byrobby-dawkins/