The WWII Japanese Pilot Who Attacked Oregon

by Max Moreno, age 12

Nobuo Fujita was a Japanese naval aviator who bombed forests in Oregon with the goal of setting back the U.S. by burning valuable timber and forcing the country to divert military resources to fight fires. He was also the first Axis pilot to bomb the contiguous U.S.

It all started on April 18, 1942, when the U.S. launched the Doolittle Raid. The attack targeted several cities in Japan in retaliation for Pearl Harbor. The raid was named after the lead pilot, Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle. The mission involved 16 B-25 Mitchell bomber planes that took off from the USS Hornet, located about 650 miles off the coast of Japan. The bombers attacked Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya, and Yokohama, but because of the long distances involved, most of them ran out of fuel and had to either crash-land in China or ditch in the sea. Although the raid caused little physical damage, it significantly boosted U.S. morale.

In response to the attack, Japan asked Fujita to drop incendiary bombs on a forest near Brookings, Oregon. On September 9, 1942, Nobuo Fujita flew over the Oregon forests twice in his submarine-launched floatplane. Most of the bombs he dropped fizzled out, and the wet ground from recent rains prevented any major fires. Japan launched this attack primarily to create a distraction for the U.S. in the Pacific and to burn valuable timber, but it ultimately failed.

After the war, Nobuo Fujita was invited to Brookings in 1962, where he apologized for his actions. He expressed deep remorse, despite the attack's failure. As a gesture of goodwill, he donated a samurai sword to the Brookings Library and later contributed $1,000 to the library as well.

Fujita passed away from cancer in 1997 at the age of 85. His ashes were scattered over the bomb site, fulfilling his wish to forever remain connected to the forests of Oregon.

[Sources: Stars and Stripes, Air Force Historical Support Division]