Fuchida
Early on December 7, 1941, Cdr. Mitsuo Fuchida looked down on the ships of the U.S. fleet peacefully moored at their Pearl Harbor berths. As air group commander and leader of the first attack wave he wanted to make sure that the battleships were there. They were neatly lined up alongside Ford Island as expected. Excitedly he shouted over his radio the codeword to attack, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and then led the Japanese aircraft to their target. He later described this moment as “the most thrilling exploit of my career.”
Fuchida was severely injured at the battle of Midway in 1942 and served for the remainder of the war as a high-level staff officer. As the end of the war neared he did not want to surrender, but favored fighting to the last man. He did as the emperor directed, however, and left the service a bitter and disillusioned man.
After the war Fuchida became a farmer so that he could feed his family. Living a life of isolation and poverty, he went through an intense period of introspection and questioning. Before, he had not been a religious man. Now he began to see God in his surroundings and in the working of the seasons. He said, “There on my farm, God began to come into my heart… I began to realize slowly that all things were dependent upon a divine Creator, and that I was living under the grace of God. I could sow the seeds; I could plant the saplings; I could draw water with my hands. But they all came from the benevolence of a kind and far-seeing Creator.”65 Mitsuo Fuchida’s long spiritual journey began with a sense of wonder about the natural beauty of the world around him.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
—Psalm 29:2