An autographed Dec. 7, 1941, cover with an unexpected twist

U.S. Stamp Notes by John M. Hotchner

One of the attractions of our hobby is the many connections to history, not only in stamp design but in the realm of cover collecting. For example, a cover may have been canceled on a consequential date. It may have a cachet relating to an important event. Or it might bear the address or autograph of someone involved in something that made the history books.

The cover shown nearby is one that has all three of those features relating to one of the most surprising days in 20th century American history — the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

The cancellation date matches that of the historic event even though the cover was canceled aboard the battleship USS Washington (BB-56), which had been in commission only since May 1941, and was in training status along the East Coast of the United States in December of that year. Given the “AM” in the circular datestamp, it was likely canceled before the Japanese attack because Hawaii is six time zones behind East Coast time.

The cover has been signed by Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida (1902-76) of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Having gained considerable aerial combat experience in Japan’s war with China, then commander Fuchida was selected to lead the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and later led the Japanese attack on Darwin, Australia, and raids on Royal Navy bases in Ceylon. He was badly wounded during the Battle of Midway Island and saw no action for the remainder of the war.

Fully indoctrinated in the warrior code of Bushido (Japanese for “warrior way”), Fuchida had great difficulty adjusting to postwar peace until he read an essay by the American pilot Jacob DeShazer, who had been held prisoner by the Japanese for more than three years following his participation in the April 1942 Doolittle raid. DeShazer attributed his survival as a prisoner of war to a religious spiritual awakening.

The essay inspired Fuchida to convert to Christianity, and he moved from Japan to Seattle, Wash., where he established his own Christian evangelical association.

For the next several years, before he eventually returned to Japan, Fuchida regularly gave sermons at churches throughout the United States and Europe.

The cover nearby is a souvenir of one such appearance, described in an auction featuring this cover, as being in Longview, Wash. Note that Fuchida added “Luke 23:34” a Bible passage that reads, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” a somewhat chilling gesture of remorse for his actions during the World War II.

The USS Washington was assigned to the South Pacific in 1942 and participated in the Guadalcanal campaign and several other island-hopping invasions including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In the course of her service, she inflicted fatal damage on the Japanese battleship Kirishima and a Japanese destroyer.

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