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WHEN WAR CAME TO BROOKINGS
Oregon Bombed by Japanese Aircraft
The year was 1942. The pilot was Chief Warrant Officer Nubuo Fujita of
the Imperial Japanese Navy. As he did on every mission, Fujita carried his
family's 400-year-old Samurai sword into the cockpit with him. Then,
launching his small plane from the submarine stationed just off the Oregon
coast, he made the first of two incendiary bombing runs, intending to create
both a fire storm in the Oregon forests and panic in the American people. This
was the first and only enemy airplane raid over the continental United States.
From the Japanese viewpoint, it was also pretty much of a failure. Only
one bomb exploded and the small fire it caused was quickly extinguished by an
observer manning a fire lookout tower. Fortunately, a very minor incident
in a very terrible war. WHEN
PEACE RETURNED
A
Former Enemy Turns Peacemaker It was now 1962, some twenty years after the
air-raid. The Brookings Jaycees were discussing ways to attract more
visitors to the town's annual Azalea Festival when someone came up with the idea
of trying to locate the former Japanese pilot and inviting him to attend the
festival as a "forgive and forget" gesture from his former enemies. Of
course, many Brookings citizens were not ready to forgive or to forget and many
ugly incidents took place before it was finally decided to go ahead with the
idea. That hurtle was finally overcome but others remained. The
Jaycees knew they would have to raise the money to fund the trip. They did
not know, however, that before the Japanese government would reveal Fujita's
address, the Jaycees would have to assure them that the former pilot was not
being south for trial as a warm criminal! As a bilateral gesture of peace, the
visit of the Fujita family was a success. Expressing his deepest
apologies, the former pilot presented his centuries-old Samurai sword to the
City of Brookings. (It can still be seen today in our public
library.) He also vowed that when he returned to Japan, he would work hard
and save enough money to sponsor a visit to Japan by some American students. Twenty-three
years passed before he was able to keep that promise. During that time,
his  construction business failed, he fell into bankruptcy and climbed out
again. Finally, in 1985, three honor students from Brookings-Harbor High
School were on their way to an all-expense paid tour of Japan. Their host
was the former bomber pilot who, with the passing of time, had turned from
warrior to peacemaker. Finally, old age took its inevitable toll. On
September 29, 1997, as the 86-year old former enemy pilot lay dying, he was
visited by an American friend who had flown to Japan with an official document
from the Brookings City Council. The very next day, Flying Officer Nobuo
Fujita passed away, but not until the former airman had learned that he had been
proclaimed an "Honorary Citizen" of Brookings, Oregon, U.S.A. The
Fujita Samurai sword is on display at the Brookings Public Library on Railroad
Street. BACK TO PAGE 7
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