God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor

McLean Virginia: Brassey's (US), Inc. - Maxwell Macmillan Pergamon Publishing Corp., 1992. First Printing . Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 6" x 9. 349 Pages Indexed. Tight, bright book with some minor front cover edge and corner wear. No marks or stamps. In the late 1940s, when the author was an official of the historical section of MacArthur's Far East Command, he became acquainted with Fuchida. At that time he was beginning his research into the Pearl Harbor operation, and Fuchida's firsthand knowledge was invaluable. They kept in touch over the years, and whenever Fuchida was in the Washington D.C. area he visited Prange or stayed with him. Prange admired Fuchida's wartime courage, dedication, and leadership, and appreciated his patriotism, friendliness, and sense of humor. The Prange files show nonetheless that friction sometimes arose between the two. Both were strong personalities and did not always understand one another. Prange's discovery of Fuchida's long-standing affair with the woman given the pseudonym Kimi Matsumoto disturbed him, and their friendship was never quite the same after Prange realized that Fuchida had not been candid with Prange about such an important aspect of his life. Contacts between the two men were sporadic after 1967, though they did correspond until Fuchida's death in 1976. Despite their differences, Prange fundamentally liked Fuchida, respected the ideals he espoused, and believed that his story should be told some day. In no sense is this book intended to be a history of the Pacific war. It is the biography of a man, and part of his life was played out in the Pacific war, most notably at Pearl Harbor. In some ways the second part of his life was more difficult to present than his wartime career. To understand and evaluate Fuchida's spiritual activities, it is important to keep in mind the role and function of an evangelist. The evangelist is not primarily a theologian, a priest, a pastor, a teacher, or an orator, although he or she may be any of those things in addition. The word evangelist has its roots in the Roman custom in Asia Minor of sending out heralds to proclaim an evangel, or good news. The evangelist has no function but to bring good tidings. In the words of Billy Graham, the most famous evangelist of our day, The work of an evangelist is very specialized: He is a specialist in winning other people to a commitment to Jesus Christ. And he has one message: That Christ died for our sins; that Christ loves you; that He has a plan for your life and that if you will respond to that message in the affirmative, He can bring you peace and joy and happiness and save your soul for eternity. That is what Fuchida preached many times a week for almost thirty years. -- From the Foreword. Illustrated with a center section of black and white photographs.