Rev. Jacob Daniel DeShazer Dies
Posted by Slobokan @ 01:22 · 213 words · print
The Rev. Jacob Daniel DeShazer, one of the participants in the historic Doolittle Raid on Japan during World War II, died in his sleep March 15 at his home in Salem, Ore. He was 95.
After spending 40 months as a prisoner of war after the raid, DeShazer returned to Japan intent on forgiving his former captors and converting them to Christianity. During 30 years as a missionary, he helped start 23 churches in Japan.
DeShazer was born Nov. 15, 1912, to an Oregon wheat-farming family. He joined the Army Air Corps at 27, two years before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. A month after the attack, he volunteered for a secret mission. Then a corporal, he was the bombardier aboard the "Bat out of Hell," one of 16 bombers under the command of Lt. Col. James Doolittle that launched a surprise attack on Tokyo and other Japanese targets on April 18, 1942.
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In addition to his wife of 61 years, DeShazer is survived by five children; 10 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a sister.
Many of his experiences were recounted in a 1950 biography, "The Amazing Story of Sgt. Jacob DeShazer" by C. Hoyt Watson, first published by Light and Life Press.
Eleven of the Doolittle Raiders are still alive.
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