TJ3 History. The Two P-40 Pilots that Defended Pearl Harbor. Posted: November 27, 2024 | Last updated: March 6, 2025. More for You ...

Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, was inspired to renounce his warrior code and become a Christian evangelist after the war.

But at 7:20 a.m., fate intervened to ensure the young pilot an unwelcome and enduring place in history, branded as the man who had a chance to thwart the Pearl Harbor attack — but didn’t.

“The sky is full of planes, diving and zooming over the hangar line,” wrote Army pilot Lawrence M. Kirsch, describing his view of the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

One pilot, who had driven up from his home on Pearl Harbor, has seen at least two big ships sunk by torpedo and bombs. One guard at Hickam Field, they say, stood immovable at port-arms for a half ...

“The sky is full of planes, diving and zooming over the hangar line,” wrote Army pilot Lawrence M. Kirsch, describing his view of the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.