Turn On the Lights
On June 19, 1944, Japan committed all its remaining carrier forces in an attack on the U.S. invasion fleet at Saipan. During an eight-hour air battle over the Philippine Sea the Japanese carriers were practically stripped of their aircraft as 375 were shot down by American flyers. The next day a U.S. carrier force under Adm. Marc Mitscher was released from its defensive role at the beachhead to seek out the enemy aircraft carriers.
After a long day of empty searching, a scout plane finally sighted the Japanese fleet late in the afternoon. Mitscher knew that a strike at that distance would mean a night recovery of his own aircraft, for which his pilots were not trained. He nevertheless felt the need to seize this fleeting opportunity to strike a decisive blow, and so launched his aircraft as darkness was approaching. At about sunset this strike found and successfully sank one Japanese aircraft carrier and damaged two others.
Now, in total darkness, more than two hundred American pilots found themselves low on fuel and looking for a place to land. The U.S. carriers were steaming toward them, but, as always, were under blackout conditions to protect against air and submarine attack. As some aircraft were starting to run out of fuel, Mitscher faced another crucial decision: to risk his ships or his aircrews. He finally turned to his chief of staff and said, “Turn on the lights.”403 Suddenly the fleet was illuminated with running lights, flight deck lights, and star shells exploding overhead. Landing signal officers with fluorescent batons waved in the aircraft. One naval officer on the scene called this, “One of the war’s supreme moments.”404
By dispelling the darkness, Mitscher recovered most of his pilots and won one of the greatest naval victories of the war. The darkness surrounding the U.S. fleet on that night is symbolic of the world that Christians find all around them. We have many opportunities to make decisions and to take risks of our own to shine the light of Jesus Christ into those dark places.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
—John 8:12