Bats Out of Hell
Story★★★★Mitsuo Fuchida, commander of the Japanese Air Force, led the squadron of 860 planes that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
American bomber Jacob DeShazer was eager to strike back, and the following
April 18th, he flew his B-25 Bomber, the Bat Out of Hell, on a dangerous raid over
Japan. After dropping his bombs on Nagoya, DeShazer lost his way in heavy fog
and ejected as his plane ran out of fuel. He was taken prisoner, tortured by the
Japanese, and threatened with imminent death. For almost two years, DeShazer
suffered hunger, cold, and dysentery.
In May of 1944, he was given a Bible. ‘You can keep it for three weeks,” said
the guard. DeShazer grabbed it, clutched it to his chest, and started reading in
Genesis. Scarcely sleeping, he read the Bible through several tmes, memorizing key
passages. On June 8, after reading to Romans 10:9, Jacob prayed to receive Jesus
Christ as his Savior.
Immediately Matthew 5:44 became a critical text for DeShazer as he determined
to treat his Japanese guards differently. His hostility toward them evaporated, and
every morning he greeted them warmly. He prayed for them and sought to witness
to them. He noticed their attitude toward him also changed, and they would often
ship him food or supplies.
After the war, DeShazer returned to Japan as a missionary. Copies of his testmony, ‘I Was a Prisoner of the Japanese,” flooded the country, and thousands wanted to see the man who could love and forgive his enemies. DeShazer settled down to establish a church in Nagoya, the city he had bombed.
One man in particular, deeply affected by DeShazer’s testimony, was led to Christ by Glenn Wagner of the Pocket Testament League. Shortly afterward, the
‘Example in Ecuador: Forgiveness Unclogs a Pipeline,” Werld Viston, February-March i986, i.
man paid a visit to Jacob DeShazer at his home, and the two became dear friends
and brothers. It was Mitsuo Fuchida, who had led the Pearl Harbor attack. As
DeShazer served as missionary in Japan, Fuchida became a powerful evangelist,
preaching throughout Japan and around the world.’
The point
American bomber pilot Jacob DeShazer, tortured as a Japanese POW after the Doolittle Raid, converts to Christianity through a borrowed Bible, later returns to Japan as a missionary, and leads to Christ the very pilot who commanded the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mitsuo Fuchida.