On December 7, 1941 Admiral Chester Nimitz was enjoying an afternoon concert in Washington DC. He left his seat to receive a phone call from President Roosevelt who advised him of “the day that will live in infamy”, and of his new assignment as Commander-In-Chief of the Pacific Fleet. Admiral Nimitz arrived in Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve and began an assessment amid a spirit of much despair and attitude that ‘all was lost’! The Admiral was given a boat tour which revealed sunken battleships and numerous other sunken and heavily damaged warships cluttering the entire harbor.
As the solemn tour returned to the dock the young helmsman asked, “Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?” Admiral Nimitz’s response shocked everyone in the party, “The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America. Which do you think it was?” Nimitz went on to elaborate:
“Mistake number one: The Japanese got carried away sinking battleships lined up in neat rows but did not touch the adjacent dry docks. Instead of having to slowly tow damaged vessels to our West Coast for repair they could be quickly raised and moved to undamaged dry docks for repair.”
“Mistake number two: Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater was located in above ground tanks just 5 miles away. One good strafing run by a few enemy aircraft could have destroyed our entire fuel supply.:
“Mistake number three: The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of ten of the over 38,000 sailors were ashore on leave/liberty. Although 2,008 navy, 218 army, 109 marines and 68 civilian personnel were killed, over 36,000 young men, who survived, were trained and ready for battle. Had the attack been during the week 25,000 or more personnel could easily have been killed.” **
*Mistake number four: Though not mentioned by Admiral Nimitz, all of our aircraft carriers were at sea and therefore ready for immediate action against the embolden enemy.
I past years, I have noted much of the same spirit of despair in the discourse of a growing number of American Christians with regard to the Church and American culture. Granted, some of this may be due to media coverage, but there is a seeming lack of patriotic spirit and willingness to engage the culture that we, as Christians, are called to influence and change. I do however sense, that this despair, may be changing to fresh hope! The culture, “a target rich environment” is however, located outside our church buildings and still is the harvest fields which Jesus looked out on in Mathew 9:35-38. (Please pause and read the text)
The Pearl Harbor attack was a major wake-up call. Granted, it was like being awakened by a bad dream. In the process of responding to the new reality, some 16 million men were mobilized for war out of a total population of 150 million. In proportion to today’s population that would be over 35 million men!
Christian leaders today must discern the fact of undamaged dry docks close at hand to repair our damaged fleet, identify the fuel storage tanks that ‘our Commander’ has secured to fuel this 3rd awakening, identify the survivors, the remnant, and account for the training of newly mobilized warriors to mount this great offensive. Undamaged assets, spiritual aircraft carriers, must be brought into unified, active service.
Like Admiral Nimitz, I believe that God was taking care of America all along. Now let us ‘fondly hope and fervently pray’ that a divinely delivered awakening will not be squandered as we set sail for 2025 and beyond! Isaiah 43:19; Philippians 3:12-16.
** Reflections on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Chester Nimitz
Barney Barnes, 12-07-2024, Former Promise Keepers National Ambassador for the Military and Prisons