I’ve been re reading a book called “The First Heros.” It’s about the Doolittle raiders, and several others. One of the men mentioned in it was Mitsuo Fuchido, the man who led the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After the was was over, Mitsuo was a very bitter man. he spent the last of the money he had to buy a farm, and didn’t make a lot of money at it. so, he’s broke, and bitter. One of the things that was making him bitter was the War Trials of men who had abused POWs. His thinking was aren’t all POWs abused. Then he ran into a man he’d served with who had been a POW of the Americans. The man told him they were well taken care of, and then told him about a remarkable young woman who had helped them while they were here in America. She made sure their needs were met, that they were treated well, and tried to help them with their concerns. When asked why she wanted to help, her explanation was, “Your people killed my parents.” He couldn’t understand it. According to his thinking, if someone had killed his parents it was the responsibility of the children, grand children, and so on to avenge that death. The fact she’d want to help them was driving him nuts. Then one day it occurred to him that the only way to conquer hate was with love. He started calling himself a Christian. He had no idea what the was, but he decided it was worth trying to become one. Then he meet a man named Jacob Deshazer. Jacob had been on the Doolittle raiders. He’d been a POW and suffered horribly at the hands of the Japanese. Now he came back to japan not for revenge, but to preach love and forgiveness. They ended up preaching the Gospel together and became fast friends.

Love conquered his hate and changed his life.

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