Your Debt is Paid

On December 7th, 1941, Mitsuo Fuchida led the Japanese attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Militarily, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a complete success for the Japanese. The American Navy was crippled, many lives were lost, mighty ships sunk, and in response, America declared war on the Empire of Japan the very next day.Both Mitsuo Fuchida and Jacob DeShazer fought in World War II. Fushida served the Empire of Japan and DeShazer served his country, the United States of America. Both men were excellent pilots. Both men exhibited courage and faithfulness in their respective duties. Most importantly, both men later discovered, in a most unusual way, that their sin debt was paid. Both men finished their lives fighting for the same kingdom, serving the same King. They discovered, believed, and received the incredible gift of the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.

After leading the naval pilots of the Japanese Empire to incredible victory at Pearl Harbor, Fuchida kept serving his country. To his great disappointment, injuries kept him from flying during the critical naval Battle of Midway. Instead, he was on the Akagi, a Japanese aircraft carrier, and witnessed the defeat of the Japanese navy during the battle. Three years later, as his country was being relentlessly bombed and was on the verge of surrender, he was asked to inspect the damage caused by the atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima.

Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Jacob DeShazer was selected to pilot a B25 bomber, incredibly flown off the deck of  a U.S. aircraft carrier as part of the daring and famous attack on Japan called the Doolittle Raid. With insufficient fuel to fly to safety, DeShazer’s plane crashed in Japanese-controlled China. He and his crew were taken prisoner by the Japanese. They were treated very cruelly. DeShazer was the only member of his crew to survive the imprisonment. Observing the cruelty of his captors, DeShazer developed a hatred for his enemies. While imprisoned, in his deepest despair and need, he asked for and received a Bible.  He was only allowed to read that Bible for three weeks. Yet in that time, DeShazer was converted to Christianity.

After Japan surrendered, Fuchida was summoned by the Allies to testify in multiple war trials. During that time, Fuchida was reunited with his former flight engineer who told Fuchida about a certain missionary named Peggy Covell who had treated Japanese prisoners with compassion. Peggy Covell was the daughter of parents who, in the face of their execution, asked to pray for their captors before they were executed. Fuchida could not understand this type of loyalty or this manner of sacrificial love.

DeShazer was released from the prison camp where he was being held through a parachute raid by American soldiers. Upon his release, he returned to the U.S. to attend college, then, surprisingly chose to return to Japan as a missionary to share the gospel of his King. DeShazer was able to establish a church in the very town he had bombed during the Doolittle Raid. In 1948, DeShazer was handing out gospel tracts that told of his imprisonment and his conversion. One of the recipients of a DeShazer tract was Mitsuo Fuchida.

Mitsuo Fuchida was confused by the ethics of Peggy Covell and the testimony of Jacob DeShazer. As Fuchida began to read the Bible, he was drawn to the Gospel of Luke, and particularly, the first cry from the cross that is recorded in Luke; “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” On April 14, 1950, Mitsuo Fuchida accepted Christ as his Savior. His debt was paid. Later that year, Fuchida went to call on DeShazer to share his testimony. DeShazer recognised Fuchida as the famous Japanese war hero. The former enemies embraced as brothers in Christ. Fuchida spent the rest of his life as an evangelist. He wrote a booklet titled, From Pearl Harbor to Calvary. Both men knew their debts were paid in full by the love, faithfulness, and power of the King of kings who came to pay the debt they could not pay.