Mitsuo Fuchida was the leader of the Japaense bomber unit that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He is famous for giving the directive “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (short for the Japanese word for “lightning attack”). One day after the war, he read a pamphlet by American Jake DeShazer who had been interred in a Japanese POW camp and returned to Japan to spread the Gospel. DeShazer’s pamphlet highlighted Jesus’ words on the cross, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.” This struck Fuchida, giving him a new understanding of grace and forgiveness. Fuchida gave his life to Christ on April 14, 1950, and he became a witness as a former Buddhist.
