January 7, 2002
Texas native inspires
Pearl Harbor visitors toward forgiveness
___HONOLULU, Hawaii (BP)--Growing up in Little River, Texas, in the 1920s and '30s, Joe Morgan felt certain God was calling him to preach.
___He intended to go to college and then seminary, but when he flunked a history class, he dropped out of high school and joined the Navy. There, he began to drift from God, living the stereotypical life of the young sailor.
___Then came Dec. 7, 1941.
___Morgan was on duty at Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor that morning, when he heard planes approaching. At first he and the other sailors thought the planes were from U.S. aircraft carriers staging a mock attack. Then the sailors heard an explosion.
JOE MORGAN with his son, Robert, at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. (Betty Morgan/BP)
___Soon they saw two bombs dropped on a nearby runway. As the plane that delivered those bombs pulled out of its dive, the sailors saw the symbol of the Rising Sun and knew Japan was attacking.
___After initially being paralyzed by fear and seeking refuge in his hangar, Morgan later helped mount guns on planes near the hangar and shot down a Japanese airplane.
___Although he didn't suffer any physical wounds, he left the battle scarred by a deep hatred for the Japanese people.
___And that night, while manning the gun against any further attack, he made a pledge to God. "I promised the Lord that if I lived through the war, I'd get out of the Navy and get my training to be a preacher."
___Soon after, he was transferred to another unit on Maui, while his previous unit was sent to the South Pacific where it suffered heavy casualties. Morgan believed God had a reason for protecting him, and the only wound he carried from the war was his hatred-turned-animosity for the Japanese.
___After the war, Morgan kept his promise and left the Navy. He attended Oklahoma Baptist University, where after being inspired by a history professor, he made the subject he flunked in high school his major. He later earned a divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
___He married Blanche Fernandes, a native Hawaiian, and accepted the pastorate of Wailuku Baptist Church on Maui in 1954.
___But as he faithfully followed God's call, he also carried his hatred for the Japanese.
___Then in 1956, Morgan heard that Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese naval commander who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, was speaking on Maui. Fuchida had become a Christian after meeting a former prisoner of war who returned to post-war Japan as a missionary.
___Still, Morgan felt strong animosity toward Fuchida and didn't know "whether to shake Fuchida's hand or shoot him" if they ever met.
___After praying, the Baptist pastor decided to attend Fuchida's talk.
___"God gave me the grace to listen," he recalled.
___After the talk, Morgan introduced himself to Fuchida as a Pearl Harbor survivor. Fuchida bowed slightly, said, "Gomenasai" (I'm sorry), and reached out to shake Morgan's hand.
___At that moment, Morgan realized God had changed his heart. "The anger, hatred and animosity toward this man and his country were gone," he said. "It was not how great of a Christian I was, but how great of a God I had."
___"We shook hands not as former enemies but as brothers in Christ. We both had received God's mercy and forgiveness."
___Today, Morgan tells this story to visitors to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Despite failing health, he makes presentations every Thursday at the memorial, which is visited by millions of tourists annually.
___"He's like the Arizona Memorial's Billy Graham," said Robert Morgan, one of his sons. "Grown men and women dealing with anger and hatred, this story brings them to a catharsis. Some can't say anything. They can only hug him."
___"One of my goals is to help people get over their anger at the Japanese and other people and learn how to forgive as God forgives us," his father explained.
___Recently, a young man visited the Arizona Memorial shortly after losing his fiancé in the World Trade Center attack Sept. 11. "You're helping me heal," the man told Morgan.
___Morgan serves as chaplain of Pearl Harbor Survivors and honorary chaplain of the Arizona Memorial. In addition to sharing about God's work in his life with thousands of visitors, he also performs weddings and funerals for survivors and park rangers on the memorial. He shares his testimony through a brochure that he prints at his expense and distributes to anyone who wants one.
___Robert Morgan often reminds his father of the important "church" he serves now at the Arizona Memorial.
___"The park rangers adore him," said Robert Morgan, an ordained minister, "and to the congregation of tourists he can say whatever he wants to say about how Pearl Harbor changed his life."
___Because of a loss of short-term memory, Morgan no longer can tell his story himself. His son interviews him and helps him through rough spots.
___Visitors, already moved by Morgan's story, are touched even further as they see a son help his father.
___In a life that has included the attack on Pearl Harbor, World War II, Vietnam, three heart bypass surgeries and a heart attack, Morgan agrees with his son that telling his story of what God has done in his life is the only reason he is still alive.
___"He's still here," Robert Morgan said, "because I believe he has a story to tell that you need to hear."
___
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