Wartime attack led to lasting friendship

On September 9, 1942, the first and only attack on the continental United States in World War II took place in Oregon.

Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita commanded a float plane that was launched from a submarine, making him the only Axis pilot during World War II to bomb the United States from the air.

He dropped a 170-pound incendiary bomb near the city of Brookings, Oregon. The target area was over Mount Emily in the Klamath Mountains. The mission was to start a forest fire with the objective of drawing U.S. forces away from the Pacific Theater. However, it had been raining and conditions were wet, so the bombing only caused a small fire that was quickly put out by the U.S. Forest Service. President Roosevelt called for a news blackout so as not to undermine the confidence of the American people.

After the mission, Fujita spent the rest of the war training Japanese pilots in Japan.

In 1962, 20 years after the bombing, Fujita was invited to Brookings, where he presented his family's 400-year-old sword to the city as a gesture of friendship. He later sponsored a trip for Brookings High School students to visit Japan in 1985.

Fujita returned to Brookings several times. His last visit was in 1990, shortly before his death. He was made an honorary citizen of Brookings, and some of his ashes were later spread over the forest where the bombing had occurred.

Roger Gregory served as a captain in the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. He is a Priest River businessman.