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A look at Japanese aviator Mitsuo Fuchida, the leader of the first wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
Dec 7, 2013 · This is a 1945 photo of Japanese Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida who was the flight commander during the surprise attack. This Feb. 23, 1945 file photo shows U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raising the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima, Japan.
Captain Mitsuo Fuchida, the officer who led the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, came to Christ in 1950 after contacting The Pocket Testament League. He went on to work for the League to share how God can change lives. This tract was used by the League in the 50’s and 60’s.
- Early Life and Education
- World War II
- Postwar Activities
- Published Works
- Historical Controversy
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Mitsuo Fuchida was born in what is now part of Katsuragi, Nara Prefecture, Japan to Yazo and Shika Fuchida on 3 December 1902. He entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima, Hiroshima, in 1921, where he befriended classmate Minoru Genda and discovered an interest in flying. Specializing in horizontal bombing, Fuchida was made an instruc...
Pearl Harbor
On Sunday, 7 December 1941, a Japanese force under the command of Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo—consisting of six carriers with 423 aircraft—was ready to attack the United States base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At 06:00, the first wave of 183 dive bombers, torpedo bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters took off from carriers 250 mi (400 km) north of Oahu and headed for the U.S. Pacific Fleetat Pearl Harbor. At 07:40 Hawaiian Standard Time, Mitsuo Fuchida, who by this time had achieved the rank...
Other actions
On 19 February 1942, Fuchida led the first of two waves of 188 aircraft in a devastating air raid on Darwin, Australia. On 5 April, he led another series of air attacks by carrier-based Japanese aircraft against Royal Navy bases in Ceylon, which was the headquarters of the British Eastern Fleet, in what Winston Churchilldescribed as "the most dangerous moment" of World War II. On 4 June 1942, while on board Akagi, Fuchida was wounded at the Battle of Midway. Unable to fly while recovering fro...
Staff officer
After spending several months recuperating, Fuchida spent the rest of the war in Japan as a staff officer. In October 1944, he was promoted to captain. The day before the first nuclear weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, he was in that city to attend a week-long military conference with Japanese army officers. Fuchida received a long-distance phone call from Navy Headquarters asking him to return to Tokyo. The day after the bombing, he returned to Hiroshima with a party sent to assess the damage...
After the war, Fuchida was called on to testify at the trials of some of the Japanese military for Japanese war crimes. This infuriated him, as he believed this was little more than "victors' justice". In the spring of 1947, convinced that the U.S. had treated the Japanese the same way and determined to bring that evidence to the next trial, Fuchid...
Fuchida was the author of three books: one on the Battle of Midway, one a memoir, and one on his conversion to Christianity. 1. Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story (Naval Institute Press, 2000) was coauthored with Masatake Okumiya. In a section entitled "Five Fateful Minutes", Fuchida (as translated) writes "Five minutes...
Fuchida was an important figure in the early portion of the Pacific War, and his written accounts, translated into English and published in the U.S., were highly influential. However, the veracity of Fuchida's statements on several topics has been subsequently called into question. This process began in Japan in 1971, with the publication of the Ja...
Fuchida's hand-drawn map showing the post-Pearl Harbor attack destruction sold at auction for $425,000 in New York City on 6 December 2013. The map had previously been owned by Malcolm Forbes. The map was purchased by the Jay I. Kislak foundation, who then donated it to Miami-Dade Library. The library then sold it to the Library of Congressin 2018.
Fuchida, Mitsuo; et al. (directed by Carson Dick, production by Bob Murphy and Merv Griffin, narration by Arthur Treacher, script by Jerry Bresler) (26 August 1965). "Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida – Archite...Dec 7, 2017 · A few months later, the two were preaching to crowds together—Mitsuo Fuchida, the lead pilot at Pearl Harbor and Jacob DeShazer, the Doolittle Raid bombardier. They brought to thousands the message of God’s sacrificial love for all people and the power of Jesus Christ to bring forgiveness from sin.
The Mystery of the Flares. The Japanese had two plans ready for the attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor: one if they achieved “surprise,” and another for “no surprise.”. The officer responsible for ordering the correct plan was Commander Fuchida, the first-wave strike’s tactical commander.
Dec 3, 2020 · Mitsuo Fuchida's Fascinating Life Story Winds From Pearl Harbor to the Pulpit. Once one of America's most noted enemies, Fuchida converted to Christianity in later years and spent decades preaching across the United States. By Robert Walsh | Published Dec 3, 2020. Photo Credit: Alchetron.
