Posted on Nov 23, 2020
The unlikely bond between an Oregon town and the man who bombed it
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Bill McChesney lightly picks through the contents of an elegant black box. Aged photos, press clippings and a few holiday cards catch the morning sun in his Eugene living room. The black container sitting on his orange sofa was a gift from Nobuo Fujita, the only foreign pilot to drop bombs on the continental United States.
In 1962, Bill McChesney was in the crosshairs of an argument ripping through Brookings, the small Oregon coastal community near the California border: Should the town host Fujita, the fighter pilot who tried to wipe it off the face of the earth only 20 years prior?
As president of the local junior chamber of commerce, McChesney — and the rest of the "Jaycees" — was responsible for inviting the pilot to be an honored guest in the town’s Azalea Festival. A few members came up with the idea over beers, and the Jaycees quickly rallied behind it as a wonderful goodwill gesture.
In 1962, Bill McChesney was in the crosshairs of an argument ripping through Brookings, the small Oregon coastal community near the California border: Should the town host Fujita, the fighter pilot who tried to wipe it off the face of the earth only 20 years prior?
As president of the local junior chamber of commerce, McChesney — and the rest of the "Jaycees" — was responsible for inviting the pilot to be an honored guest in the town’s Azalea Festival. A few members came up with the idea over beers, and the Jaycees quickly rallied behind it as a wonderful goodwill gesture.
The unlikely bond between an Oregon town and the man who bombed it
Posted from opb.org
Brookings
WWII World War Two
Japan
Posted 4 y ago
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The brave and hospitable Brookings Jaycees with a Japanese fighter pilot who dedicated his life to making peace with the city that he bombed.
“I got a death threat it in the middle of the night," McChesney remembers. "This guy said, 'If you walk with that Nip down the street we’re going to have rifles pointed at you, and your family.'
"The sword had been handed through the family for 400 years. Nobuo took it on every flight, including his bombing missions in Brookings. Instead of passing it on to his son, he presented his family's most prized possession to the city of Brookings."
“I got a death threat it in the middle of the night," McChesney remembers. "This guy said, 'If you walk with that Nip down the street we’re going to have rifles pointed at you, and your family.'
"The sword had been handed through the family for 400 years. Nobuo took it on every flight, including his bombing missions in Brookings. Instead of passing it on to his son, he presented his family's most prized possession to the city of Brookings."
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