Jacob DeShazer, WWII Doolittle Raider: His Amazing Story as a POW Survivor on a New Mission to Japan

 By Mary Dodge Allen

Corporal Jacob "Jake" DeShazer

During the four months since the unprovoked bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japan had won a series of battles: Wake Island, Guam, Manila, and Bataan. To strike back at Japan and boost the morale of the American people, military leaders of the U.S. Army Air Corps designed a top secret bombing mission.

Flight deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet

On April 1, 1942, April Fool’s Day, sixteen B-25 bombers were hoisted onto the flight deck of the U.S.S. Hornet. 

The mission: A daring low-level bombing raid on military targets around Tokyo
The commander: Lt. Col. James Doolittle
“Doolittle Raiders:” Sixteen 5-man bomber crews - 80 men, all volunteers

Jacob “Jake” DeShazer, on “Crew Sixteen,” was assigned to the bomber named Bat out of Hell. The Bat, as they called it, was the last bomber to be loaded on the crowded flight deck. Its tail actually hung over the Hornet’s stern during the rough voyage toward Japan.

"Crew Sixteen" of Bat out of Hell, L-R: Lt. George Barr, navigator; Lt. William Farrow, pilot; Sgt. Harold Spatz, gunner; Lt. Robert Hite, co-pilot; Cpl. Jacob DeShazer, bombardier.

The Hornet’s convoy had hoped to evade detection until they were within 400 miles of Japan. Unfortunately, at dawn on April 18, two Japanese destroyers were sighted. A battle ensued, and the destroyers were sunk. Since it was likely they had radioed the convoy’s position, the decision was made to prepare the bombers for takeoff as soon as possible. The extra distance from Japan made this mission even more dangerous. Would the bombers have enough fuel to fly to areas in Free China, beyond Japanese-held territory? 

B-25 bomber taking off from U.S.S. Hornet

Taking off from a rising and falling flight deck in the rough ocean proved to be a challenge. One by one, the B-25 bombers roared forward and soared into the sky. Before the Bat took off, powerful wind gusts bounced it around and threatened to blow it off the stern. Sailors used ropes to hold it in place. When the Bat took off at 9:20 a.m., the crew noticed a jagged hole a foot in diameter in the Bat’s plastic nose. They knew the drag from this hole would reduce airspeed and use up their precious fuel supply, but their efforts to plug it were futile. They bombed their target, an oil refinery 300 miles south of Tokyo, and then headed toward China. After fourteen hours in the air, their fuel was almost gone, and the night fog made it hard to determine where they were. At 11:40 p.m., Lt. Farrow ordered his crew to jump. Jake leaped out into the shrieking wind.

On that same night, miles away in Oregon, Jake’s mother awoke, feeling a strange sensation of falling down through the air. She felt the weight of a terrible burden and cried out to God in prayer. “Suddenly the burden was gone,” she said, “and I drifted into an untroubled sleep.”

Jake landed on a mound of dirt, and realized he was in a Chinese graveyard. As he cut up and hid his parachute, the pain in his chest told him he had broken some ribs. He was soon captured by Japanese soldiers and reunited with the other four “Crew Sixteen” members, along with three surviving members from “Crew Six,” who had crash landed in the ocean—Lt. Dean Hallmark, Lt. Robert Meder, and Lt. Chase Nielsen. 

Over the next six months, these eight “Doolittle Raiders” were imprisoned in a number of locations in China, including the infamous Japanese prison camp known as the “Bridge House.” They were kept in conditions of squalor and given barely enough food and water to survive, while enduring day after day of torture and interrogations.

Even though Jake felt fear, he made sure he didn’t show it. To every question, he stubbornly replied, “I won’t talk.” One Japanese interrogator told Jake, “I am the kindest judge in all China. I want to treat you real good.” But when Jake refused to answer his questions, the judge flew into a rage and said, “Tomorrow morning, I’m going to have the great honor of cutting your head off.” Jake looked him in the eye and said, “It would be a great honor to me, if the kindest judge in China cut my head off.”

In the summer of 1942, the eight “Raiders” endured a trial, of sorts, and were sentenced to death. Several stressful weeks passed, as they wondered when the sentence would be carried out. Finally, in mid-October, Jake DeShazer, Lt. Barr, Lt. Hite, Lt. Nielsen, and Lt. Meder were told that the emperor of Japan had commuted their sentence to life in prison. The other three were executed.

From then on, the five remaining “Raiders” were kept in solitary confinement. During the rare times they were allowed out of their filthy cells, Jake struck up conversations with Lt. Robert Meder, and he was impressed with Meder’s unshakeable Christian faith. Jake was saddened when Lt. Meder died in December 1943, after twenty months in captivity. His death prompted slightly better treatment. Food rations were increased from two meals to three meals a day. They were also given a few books in English, including a Bible. Hours passed slowly in their bare cells, so the books were eagerly read and shared.

In May 1944 it was Jake’s turn for the Bible. He read through it several times, and the words seemed to come alive. As he memorized scripture passages, a powerful understanding gripped him. Even though he’d had a Christian upbringing, Jake realized he had lived a worldly life. When he prayed for forgiveness, his heart was instantly filled with joy. He said, “Hunger, starvation and a freezing cold prison cell no longer had horrors for me. Even death could hold no threat when I knew that God had saved me.”

Jake cleaned up his language, but he struggled with obedience to Matt. 5:44: “Love your enemies... pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.” He decided to live out his newfound faith by changing his attitude toward a brutal prison guard. Jake began greeting him with a smile and initiating friendly conversations. Gradually, the guard responded. He stopped mistreating Jake and even gave him extra treats, like a handful of figs. Jake was amazed at how easy it was to make a friend out of an enemy. He said, “Jesus was not an idealist. He told us the best way to act, and it will work.”

For the next several months, Jake’s faith would be tested by other cruel guards and a serious illness. But the scriptures he had memorized helped him to cope. Finally, on August 20, 1945, after forty months of imprisonment, the remaining four “Raiders” were released, looking pale, weak and thin... but overjoyed to be free!

Three of the four newly-released "Raiders," L-R: Jake DeShazer; Robert Hite; Chase Nielsen.

While traveling home, Jake recalled the strange experience he’d had one day, while praying in his dark prison cell. A brilliant light suddenly appeared, and Jake heard the Holy Spirit speak to him clearly, “You are called to go and teach the Japanese people, and to go wherever I send you.” Despite his cruel imprisonment, Jake felt compassion for the defeated Japanese people. He knew he’d been given a mission to teach them about the love of Jesus. 

Jake spent time with his family, but he was soon in demand for public speaking engagements about his experience as a “Doolittle Raider” and as a POW, as well as his Christian faith and his desire to minister to the Japanese people.

Jake and his wife Florence sailing to Japan, December 1948

Jake enrolled in Seattle Pacific College, where he met Florence Matheny. They were married on August 29, 1946. After graduation, Jake was ordained as a minister in the Free Methodist Church. And on December 14, 1948, he and Florence left San Francisco on the U.S.S. General Meigs, to serve as missionaries in Japan.

Jake greeting people after a sermon in Japan

In the beginning, many Japanese people came up to Jake after his sermons and admitted they had come with hatred in their hearts toward him, because of the war. But their attitude changed when they saw the sincerity of his faith and heard his message about the love of Jesus. Two of Jake’s former prison guards became Christians. And in 1950, Captain Mitsuo Fuchida, the commander of the Japanese air squadron that bombed Pearl Harbor, also became a Christian. He and Jake gave their testimony together at a large rally in Osaka, Japan.

L-R: Mitsuo Fuchida and Jacob DeShazer in WWII uniform; and pictured together in 1950

Jake, Florence and their five children, 1959

Together, Jake and Florence dedicated their long lives to spreading the gospel in Japan, while taking occasional furloughs back to the United States. In 1978, they retired from missionary service and moved to Oregon. Jake died in 2008, at the age of 95. Florence died in 2017, shortly before her 96th birthday.

Notes on the fate of the 80 “Doolittle Raiders:”

· 65 “Raiders” (13 of the 16 crews) made it safely back to areas of Free China
· “Crew Eight” landed in the Soviet Union; 5-man crew treated well, freed in 1943
· 2 of “Crew Six” died in plane crash: Sgt. William Dieter; Cpl. Donald Fitzmaurice
· 8 “Raiders” were captured by the Japanese and imprisoned
· 3 of them executed: Lt. Dean Hallmark; Lt. William Farrow; Sgt. Harold Spatz
· 1 of them died in captivity: Lt. Robert Meder

You can read the complete story of Jacob DeShazer in this excellent book:

Goldstein, Donald M. and Dixon, Carol Aiko DeShazer. Return of the Raider: a Doolittle Raider’s story of War and Forgiveness. Creation House, Lake Mary, FL, 2010.

_________

Mary Dodge Allen has won the 2022 Christian Indie Award from the Christian Indie Publisher's Association and two Royal Palm Literary Awards from the Florida Writer's Association. She and her husband live in Central Florida, where she has served as a volunteer with the local police department. Her childhood in Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes, sparked her lifelong love of the outdoors. She has worked as a Teacher, Counselor and Social Worker. Her quirky sense of humor is energized by a passion for coffee and chocolate. She is a member of the Florida Writer's Association, American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith Hope and Love Christian Writers. 

Website: www.marydodgeallen.com

Mary's recent novel: Hunt for a Hometown Killer won the 2022 Christian Indie Awards, First Place - Mystery/Suspense.

Click to buy Hunt for a Hometown Killer at Amazon.com:

Hunt For A Hometown Killer: A Novel: Allen, Mary Dodge: 9781952369704: Amazon.com: Books

 

Link to Mary's Podcast on Sarah Hamaker's show: "The Romantic Side of Suspense"

https://sarahhamakerfiction.com/2022/04/05/why-mary-dodge-allen-sets-her-books-in-florida-episode-61/

Just Discovered, 76 Years Later: The Carrier That Launched the Doolittle Raid

Earlier this month, CBS News announced a riveting discovery. After 76 years on the floor of the South Pacific, The U.S.S. Hornet—the WWII carrier that launched the Doolittle Raid—has been found.

Distinguished Service of the U.S.S. Hornet

There have been several U.S. Navy vessels with the name Hornet. This one, CV-8, served just over a year. Commissioned in October, 1941, just weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, she steamed her way into history with her first combat mission, the audacious Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942. I know that story well, as it’s depicted in my new novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter. And HHH readers know it well by now too, as Cindy Stewart and I partnered last year on a series of posts (examples here and here) that explored the adventures of the Doolittle Raiders stranded in enemy territory after the mission.

Jimmy Doolittle pilots his B-25 off the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet, launching the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo. (April18, 1942)

While the physical damage wrought by the Doolittle Raid’s sixteen B-25 bombers was minimal compared to later raids, historians credit the Raid with having a major impact on the course of the war. Prior to the Doolittle Raid, the Japanese harbored a mystical belief that their home islands—and their emperor—were invulnerable to attack. Learning otherwise was one of the factors that led them to commit their forces to what they hoped would be the destruction of the U.S. fleet at the Battle of Midway a few weeks later. The U.S. staged an ambush there which proved to be the turning point in the Pacific War. The Imperial Japanese Navy never recovered from the destruction wrought on its carrier fleet at Midway.

The U.S.S. Hornet saw action at Midway, where her attack on the Japanese heavy cruiser Mogami effectively ended the historic battle. She received four service stars and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary valor in that battle.

In late October 1942, the Hornet sailed with the U.S.S. Enterprise to meet a Japanese attack force threatening Guadalcanal. During this operation, the intrepid Hornet was targeted by torpedo planes and dive bombers. She sank, bearing 140 of her complement of 2200 sailors with her.

Extravagant Pursuits of the Super Wealthy

The mission that discovered Hornet was the brain child of the late Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft. Allen was a man of wide-ranging—and extravagant—interests. He retired from Microsoft’s board in 2000, but his other investments and interests no doubt kept him busy. Allen invested in technology companies and real estate ventures and gave more than $2 billion to philanthropy. He was included on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World two years running (2007 and 2008). He funded efforts in brain science, cell science, space exploration, wildlife and conservation, documentary filmmaking, the arts and community services.

Paul Allen poses at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, WA

When Allen passed away late last year as a result of his third bout with cancer, he was estimated to be one of the fifty wealthiest people in the world. And one more bit of trivia: as a young man, Allen reportedly achieved a perfect SAT score of 1600. 

Allen also owned two professional sports teams (the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trailblazers) and—what else—two of the world’s one hundred longest yachts, the Octopus and the Tatoosh. Octopus has been involved in a number of research and rescue operations.

Paul Allen's Octopus. His interest in deep-sea research and exploration began with hosting expeditions from this vessel, one of the world's largest private yachts.

Perhaps those operations helped trigger Allen’s interest in a new venture. In 2015, he purchased a 250’ offshore services vessel and had it extensively retrofitted to serve as a deep-submergence research vessel. The RV Petrel is the world’s only privately-owned vessel equipped to explore up to 6000 meters below surface. Still funded by Allen’s estate, the ship’s mission is to explore historically significant wrecks at challenging depths and conditions.

We've done a number of these explorations to try to find sunken warships. We try to do these both as really exciting examples of underwater archaeology and as tributes to the brave men that went down on these ships.

          – Paul Allen, USS Indianapolis Live from the Deep

The Petrel’s resume to date includes the discoveries of one Italian destroyer, one Australian submarine, four Japanese battleships and nine destroyers, two U.S. destroyers and two light cruisers, the carrier U.S.S. Lexington, and the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis. The Indianapolis’ 1945 demise en route from Guam to the Philippines marked a terrible tragedy, stranding 890 crewmen in shark-infested waters with insufficient life rafts and supplies for a horrifying four days. Only 316 of the men survived this ordeal. It was the most deadly disaster the U.S. Navy has incurred from the loss of a single ship.

“This Is It. This Is Hornet.”

This winter, Petrel set her sights on the WWII carrier U.S.S. Hornet. I haven’t seen an explanation as to why Hornet was chosen, but perhaps the carrier’s distinguished service record accounts for it. Or perhaps it was her status as the last American fleet carrier to sink under enemy fire.

To locate Hornet, the Petrel's project crew combed the ship’s logs of nine other U.S. vessels, and triangulated with ship's logs from Japanese vessels as well. This gave them an approximate location east of the Solomon Islands. But that still left 140 square miles of seabed to explore.

The Petrel sent down a sonar drone for an initial scan. Data retrieved once the drone returned to the surface appeared to show a large, carrier-shaped piece of debris more than 3.5 miles down. It looked promising enough that the project crew deployed the ship’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), capable of live-streaming images back up an armored cable from as far down as 6000 meters.

The result is a haunting sequence of footage which identifies the carrier unmistakably as CV-8, the U.S.S. Hornet. The ROV gives us a clear, locked-in-time view of the ship’s rear guns. Richard Nowatzki, a 95-year-old veteran who served at 18 as a gunner on the Hornet, was astonished at the footage.

I used to stand on the right side of that gun. That's where my equipment was.... If you go down to my locker, there's forty bucks in it. You can have it.

Also clearly visible: anti-aircraft guns pointed into the sky. A chunk of airplane fuselage. An intact aircraft tug. A signal horn. Even personal items such as a jacket and a mess kit evoke the tragedy of so many lost lives, so many years ago.

Screen capture from CBS video. Richard Nowatski and the U.S.S. Hornet bearing B-25s to the Doolittle Raid

Click the image above to check out the haunting video. There's also an article with great still images: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-hornet-wreckage-world-war-two-warship-discovered/

The Plum Blooms in Winter

My Doolittle Raid novel is finally here! And I'm thrilled (and humbled) by the reviews it's receiving.

“A taut, crisp debut achievement that colorfully evokes the Pacific theater of WWII. Start this one forewarned: it's a stay-up-all-night read."

-Jerry B. Jenkins--21-time NYT bestselling author (Left Behind, et al)

A Prostitute Seeks Her Revenge--In 1942, Miyako Matsuura cradled her little brother as he died on the sidewalk, a victim of the first U.S. bombing raid on Japan. By 1948, the war has reduced her to a street-hardened prostitute consumed by her shame.


A Doolittle Raid Hero Finds His True Mission--Dave Delham makes aviation history piloting a B-25 in the audacious Doolittle Raid. Forced to bail out over occupied China, he and his crew are captured by the Japanese and survive a harrowing P.O.W. ordeal. In 1948, he returns to Japan as a Christian missionary, determined to showcase Christ's forgiveness.

Convinced that Delham was responsible for the bomb that snuffed out her brother's life, Miyako resolves to restore her honor by avenging him--even if it costs her own life. But the huntress soon becomes hunted in Osaka's treacherous underworld. Miyako must outmaneuver a ruthless brothel owner, outwit gangs with competing plans to profit by her, and overcome betrayal by family and friends--only to confront a decision that will change everything.

I stepped away from a marketing career that spanned continents to write what I love: stories of reckless faith that showcase God's hand in history. I'm so excited to work with the all-star team at Mountain Brook Ink to launch my debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter, on December 1! Inspired by a remarkable true story from World War II's pivotal Doolittle Raid, The Plum Blooms in Winter is an American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis Contest winner. The novel follows a captured American pilot and a bereaved Japanese prostitute who targets him for ritual revenge. Please also feel free to check out my blog, Five Stones and a Sling, which hovers in the region where history meets Bible prophecy meets current events. It's rich ground--we live in a day when prophecies are leaping from the Bible's pages into the headlines!

I live outside Phoenix with my husband, a third-generation airline pilot who doubles as my Chief Military Research Officer. We share our home with our daughter, our son and daughter-in-law, a brand new grandson, and a small platoon of housecats. When I'm not writing, you'll find me rollerblading--yes, I know that makes me a throwback 😊--or catching a moonrise, or dreaming of my next trip. Next up: Wales, then Israel.

What Happened to the Doolittle Raiders? One Last Plane! (Plus a GIVEAWAY!)

Cindy K. Stewart and I have been tag-teaming our posts on the exciting adventures of the Doolittle Raiders. And it’s been my favorite kind of tag team—the kind where she does the bulk of the work! 😊 As Cindy wraps up her series, she’s letting me cover the final plane: Plane #6, the Green Hornet. It’s one I have a special claim on, since three of its crew members appear in my upcoming debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter.

The crew of Doolittle Raid Plane #6, the Green Hornet.
L to R: Chase Nielsen, Dean Hallmark, Donald Fitzmaurice, Robert Meder, William Dieter
By US Air Force [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By now you probably have the background. Just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, sixteen of the Army's medium-weight B-25 bombers left the deck of the carrier U.S.S. Hornet—a feat never attempted before or since. They deployed their payloads on Tokyo and other key targets on the Japanese main island. While the mission achieved its military objective, due to a communication breakdown the sortie left seventy-two of the eighty airmen stranded in enemy-occupied China.

Cindy has been filling you in on how the Chinese resistance smuggled most of the downed airmen out—at great risk and, ultimately, tremendous cost. One of the most dramatic stories belongs to the crew of the Green Hornet.

Crash Landing

I have a vintage copy of the book Four Came Home by Carroll V. Glines, in which Chase Nielsen, the Green Hornet’s navigator, tells their story in detail. With their fuel exhausted, the Green Hornet attempted a crash landing into the sea off China’s coast. They came down fast and hit the water hard. The enlisted men—Donald Fitzmaurice (gunner) and William Dieter (bombardier)—were both severely injured.

All five of the airmen managed to get free of the bomber and climb on top of the wreckage, but what was left of the B-25 was sinking rapidly. Tragically, the life raft proved inoperable. While the three least injured men tried to get it inflated, poor Dieter slipped into the waves. Co-pilot Robert Meder managed to grab Fitzmaurice just as a huge wave smashed the rest of them into the water.

The waves soon separated the men. They braved more than three hours in the water before reaching shore. Sadly, when Lieutenant Meder finally managed to drag himself and Fitzmaurice onto the beach, he discovered that Donald Fitzmaurice had succumbed to his wounds.

Nielsen stumbled into a trench in the dark and lost consciousness. He came to the next morning and crawled to a vantage point. He found himself overlooking a cove and a Chinese fishing village. He soon also found himself at the business end of what he described as “a real antiquated buffalo gun.” The young Chinese soldier aiming it at him ordered him to “Stand up or me shoot.”

The soldier directed Nielsen at gunpoint to walk up a path away from the beach. But he seemed wary, often glancing over his shoulder. After a few minutes, Nielsen heard a boat motor in the distance. “Run fast!” his captor commanded. “Japs come. Kill me, you!”

Once they reached thick cover, the soldier stopped and slung his rifle over his shoulder. “We fight Japanese. You no worry now. Go fast. follow me.” He brought Lieutenant Nielsen to a Chinese Nationalist army garrison. The Green Hornet’s other two survivors, Lieutenant Meder and the plane’s pilot Dean Hallmark, soon turned up there too.

The garrison commander, Captain Ling, promised to do his best to get them to Free China. But he emphasized the risks. If the Japanese caught them at it, Americans and Chinese would all be summarily shot.

Several Near Misses

When dawn broke, the Chinese smuggled the three airmen back to the cove and put them aboard "a sampan." They experienced their first near miss when the vessel was searched by a Japanese patrol. They sailed for two days upriver until they reached the sizable walled city of Wenzhou. Captain Ling announced he could take them no further, but would set them up with others they could trust.

At dark, they passed through a gate in the city’s ancient wall and were handed off to an older gentleman named Mr. Wong. They enjoyed a pleasant dinner with Sage Wong, an articulate former Buddhist monk who had studied in England. 

A boy rushed in to alert Mr. Wong that Japanese soldiers were searching the city. Mr. Wong hurried the three airmen down an alley in an effort to escape through the city gate, but Japanese were setting up a machine-gun station there. He tried leading them toward another gate, but peering around a corner they saw machine guns there too. 

Ancient gate of Linhai, a city in China's Zhejiang Province near Wenzhou.
By Marcus Hsu  talk [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

What happened next was like a scene from a movie. Mr. Wong called a group of Chinese in flowing robes over and they surrounded the three big Americans. The airmen crouched and hid in the middle of the group and they all shuffled along together across the twelve-foot main road and into another building, right in front of a Japanese detachment.

Mr. Wong determined the Japanese were conducting a methodical search and the Americans had no choice but to hide where they were. There was very little to work with. Hallmark dove into a corner and Nielsen and Meder covered him with everything they could grab—grass mats, sacks, old blankets. They shoved a rickety bench in front of the pile, then climbed up into the open rafters and pushed into the darkest spots in the corners.

After some time, a Japanese soldier entered. His eyes rested for a moment on the pile where Dean was hiding, but he turned and left.

Betrayed

The men breathed a deep sigh of relief but remained hidden. A few more minutes passed. Another group of soldiers entered. The airmen were astonished to see the Chinese National garrison commander, Captain Ling, followed by a Japanese officer with a couple of his men. One of the soldiers lowered his rifle. The other strode up to the corner where Dean was hiding. He kicked the bench out of the way. 

The officer addressed Dean in clear English. “Where are the other two Americans?” When Dean wouldn’t answer, he pistol-whipped Mr. Wong until he fell to the floor moaning--directly beneath Nielsen’s hiding place in the rafters. As the officer stepped back, he lifted his head. He looked straight into Nielsen’s eyes.

The three survivors from the Green Hornet joined the five men who bailed from Plane #16, the Bat Out of Hell, ultimately enduring forty long months of Japanese prison "hospitality." Sadly, of those eight men, only four came home. I’ve summarized the rest of their story, and how God used that tragedy for His glory, here and here. And I hope you’ll consider reading my novel when it launches in December!

I'm hosting a drawing for a copy of Kristy Cambron's split-time historical novel, The Lost Castle, for new subscribers to my newsletter. You'll also receive updates on my novel, including an opportunity to gain complementary pre-launch access. To enter, please REGISTER HERE by Saturday, June 30. (I'm also giving away a second copy to a current subscriber, so those of you who registered in previous months will have another chance to win. :) )

I stepped away from a marketing career that spanned continents to write what I love: stories of reckless faith that showcase God's hand in history. I'm so excited to work with the all-star team at Mountain Brook Ink to launch my debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter, this December! Inspired by a remarkable true story from World War II's pivotal Doolittle Raid, The Plum Blooms in Winter is an American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis Contest winner. The novel follows a captured American pilot and a bereaved Japanese prostitute who targets him for ritual revenge. Please also feel free to check out my blog, Five Stones and a Sling, which hovers in the region where history meets Bible prophecy meets current events. It's rich ground--we live in a day when prophecies are leaping from the Bible's pages into the headlines!

I live outside Phoenix with my husband, a third-generation airline pilot who doubles as my Chief Military Research Officer. We share our home with two mostly-grown-up kids and a small platoon of housecats.

The "Lost Crews" of the Doolittle Raid: After Infamy, Forgiveness Wins (With GIVEAWAY!)

Tomorrow marks the Doolittle Raid's seventy-sixth anniversary. Cindy K. Stewart is doing a marvelous job of filling you in on the exciting adventures of the Doolittle Raiders. But I have a special claim on Plane Sixteen, since it inspired my upcoming debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter. In honor of the occasion, Cara Grandle was kind enough to swap slots with me so I could tell you its story. (Thank you, Cara!)

Here's the background in a nutshell. Just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, eighty volunteers took flight on a bold and unprecedented mission. Sixteen medium-weight B-25 bombers left the deck of the carrier U.S.S. Hornet—a feat never attempted before or since. They deployed their payloads on Tokyo and other key targets on the Japanese main island. 

The bombers were too big to land on the carrier, so the plan called for them to fly on to China. But while the mission achieved its military objective, due to unforeseen circumstances the sortie left most of the airmen stranded in enemy-occupied China. 

Captured

Detail from a wartime poster featuring a photo of
Lieutenant Robert Hite, copilot of the Bat Out of Hell. Tokyo, April 1942.

Eight men—the crew of Plane #16, the Bat Out of Hell, and the three survivors of the crash of Plane #6, the Green Hornet—were captured by the Japanese. Anyone who saw the movie or read the book Unbroken will have a general picture of what these men endured. But where Louis Zamperini was a prisoner for a little more than two years, Doolittle’s “lost crews” remained in Japanese prison camps

… for forty long months, 34 of them in solitary confinement. We were imprisoned and beaten, half-starved, terribly tortured, and denied by solitary confinement even the comfort of association with one another. Three of my buddies were executed by a firing squad about six months after our capture and fourteen months later, another one of them died of slow starvation.… The bitterness of my heart against my captors seemed more than I could bear. 

- Corporal Jacob DeShazer in his tract I Was a Prisoner of Japan 

Of the eight Raiders captured, only four survived that ordeal. George Barr, Jacob DeShazer, Robert Hite and Chase Nielson returned to the U.S. different men. Here’s how they expressed it in a joint statement:

We were not what you would call religious men before we were captured. We went to Sunday school and church when we were kids… We memorized Bible verses and listened to sermons and said grace at meals…. But we never really understood the meaning behind those words and the source of strength they represented in our lives.…

We were given the Bible to read. We found in its ripped and faded pages a source of courage and faith we never realized existed. The verses we memorized as children suddenly came alive and became as vital to us as food.

We put our trust in the God we had not really accepted before and discovered that faith in His Word could carry us through the greatest peril of our lives. 

—Four Came Home (Carroll V. Glines, 1995) 

The crew of the Bat Out of Hell, captive.
Back row, l-r: William Farrow, George Barr, Robert Hite.
Front row, l-r: Jacob DeShazer, Harold Spatz.
Lieutenant Farrow and Sergeant Spatz were executed.

Forgiveness Wins: The Raider Returns

Corporal DeShazer, the former bombardier of the Bat Out of Hell, was transformed by what he read in the Bible. The Lord revealed to him during those miserable hours alone in his cell that He wanted to give the Japanese people an illustration of the meaning of forgiveness. Jake was to become that walking object lesson.

Upon his release, Jake rushed home to earn a Bible degree from Seattle Pacific College. In 1948, he returned to Japan with his new bride, Florence, as a Free Methodist missionary.

This time I was not going as a bombardier, but I was going as a missionary. How much better it is to go out to conquer evil with the gospel of peace! 

—Jacob DeShazer on his return to Japan 

Japanese people flocked to hear him and peppered him with questions. The idea that one could hold anything other than implacable hatred for one’s enemies was foreign to the Confucianist ideas that drove their culture at that time. 

Sergeant Jacob DeShazer after the war.

From Hatred to Love

There are a number of remarkable stories from Jake and Florence’s sojourn in Japan. My favorite is the one that inspired my novel. At an evangelistic meeting, Jake noticed an attractive young woman who “watched me so constantly that she began to make me self-conscious.” He asked if he could help her. She didn't reply, but the open hostility in her eyes was unmistakable.

She returned for the next meeting, and the next. Eventually, she made her confession. A bomb DeShazer deployed during the raid had snuffed out the life of a young man she loved. She attended the first meetings with a knife in her purse, determined to exact her revenge--even if it cost her everything. 

But she was so moved by Jake's example of forgiveness that she decided to follow Jesus instead. As one of Jake’s fellow missionaries wrote, “She confessed that she had first come to the meetings with the avowed purpose of killing DeShazer... But that night DeShazer had spoken of his own hatred having been changed to love. That message of God’s love worked the same change inside her...”

When I read that account, it haunted me. The young woman's name and the rest of her story are lost to history. Which was a gift, in a way. I was left to research the time period—fascinating and harrowing—and create the fictional tale of a heroine I see as deeply wounded, but committed and courageous. 

From Enemies to Fellow Evangelists

The most famous episode from DeShazer's ministry is that of Mitsuo Fuchida, who commanded the air attack on Pearl Harbor. After the war, a tract DeShazer authored was instrumental in bringing Fuchida to Christ. A few months later, the two were preaching to crowds together—the Doolittle Raider and the Japanese captain who gave the infamous “Tora-tora-tora” signal that launched the Pearl Harbor attack. They brought to thousands the message of God’s sacrificial love for all people and the power of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (I covered Fuchida's story in more detail in my December post.)

Jake and Flo ultimately settled in Nagoya, the very city Jake had bombed. Their thirty-year ministry in Japan bore fruit in twenty-three church plants and in many changed hearts.

I'm hosting a drawing for a copy of Sarah Sundin's latest WWII novel, The Sea Before Us, for new subscribers to my newsletter. You'll also receive updates on my novel, including an opportunity to gain pre-launch access. To enter, please REGISTER HERE by Thursday, April 19. 

I stepped away from a marketing career that spanned continents to write what I love: stories of reckless faith that showcase God's hand in history. I'm so excited to work with the all-star team at Mountain Brook Ink to launch my debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter, this December! Inspired by a remarkable true story from World War II's pivotal Doolittle Raid, The Plum Blooms in Winter is an American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis Contest winner. The novel follows a captured American pilot and a bereaved Japanese prostitute who targets him for ritual revenge. Please also feel free to check out my blog, Five Stones and a Sling, which hovers in the region where history meets Bible prophecy meets current events. It's rich ground--we live in a day when prophecies are leaping from the Bible's pages into the headlines!

I live outside Phoenix with my husband, a third-generation airline pilot who doubles as my Chief Military Research Officer. We share our home with two mostly-grown-up kids and a small platoon of housecats.

From Enemy to Evangelist: Mitsuo Fuchida, Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor (PLUS a Giveaway!)

I’m sure anyone with an interest in twentieth-century history is aware that today marks the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor—arguably the most pivotal event of the past century here.

But you might not know that the captain who directed the entire 350-plane aerial attack, who issued the famously triumphant “Tora-tora-tora” (“Tiger, tiger, tiger”) radio signal that announced that the Japanese had achieved complete surprise, would go on to provide a riveting testimony for Christ. 

Mitsuo Fuchida

Born in 1902 in a village in Nara Prefecture, Japan, Mitsuo Fuchida decided on a naval career early. In 1923, his second year at the naval academy, he took his first airplane flight and knew he’d found his calling. By 1939, Fuchida had risen to command the air group on the carrier Akagi. 

Leading the Pearl Harbor attack was “the culmination of my every waking thought,” Fuchida said, from the day in September 1941 when he was tapped for the honor. He personally masterminded methods that enabled the Japanese to use torpedoes despite the shallow waters. 

The “success” of that “day of infamy” made Fuchida a national hero, even garnering him a personal audience with Hirohito. But his nation’s resounding defeat left the proud navy captain to eke out a living as a subsistence-level farmer. 

“It was indeed a path of thorns to me.… It was a far cry from the regimentation and glamour of my military life. I was like a star that had fallen. At one moment I was Captain Mitsuo Fuchida, and the next, I was nobody!... I must admit that I was bitter and disillusioned.” 

Farming gave Fuchida time to dwell on the existential questions. He became what we would call “a seeker.” 

“Why was I still alive, when men all around me had died like flies in the four years of conflict? Gradually, I came to believe that I had been supported by some great, unseen power. 

 

"As I labored… I thought of God, creation, the miracles of the seasons, the growing plants.... I was gradually led to think in terms of a Creator of all these things. With the increasing sense of the fact of a Creator-God, I came to feel ashamed of my former godless idea that man's own power and ability were his only trustworthy guides....

 

“The problem finally resolved around a person. Who, I asked myself, could accomplish the task of banishing suspicion and war? My mind turned toward God, the creator of all things.”

Fuchida met with a friend, a former navy lieutenant who’d just repatriated from a P.O.W. camp in the U.S. The man told Fuchida about Peggy Covell, a young woman fluent in Japanese who volunteered at one of the camps where he’d been confined. 

When asked why she was so kind to the prisoners, Peggy stunned the men. “Because my parents were killed by the Japanese Army.” 

Peggy's parents, Prof. James and Charma Covell, served for twenty years as Baptist missionaries in Japan. They were among the "Hopevale Martyrs" the Japanese Army executed in December 1943 in the Philippines as spies. (Look for that story in my next post.)

"Missionary Kid" Peggy Covell had a profound impact
on P.O.W.s she served--and ultimately, on
thousands more back in Japan. Look for my post on the
"Hopevale Martyrs" next month (1/28).

Her stance mystified Fuchida, who “could not understand such enemy-forgiving love. I had never heard of people returning good for evil. I desired all the more to discover the source of this power that could remove hatred from the hearts of people…” 

A few months later, Fuchida was called to Tokyo on an errand, where a missionary “happened” to hand him a tract authored by Doolittle Raider Jacob DeShazer. The tract recounted how, motivated by “bitter hatred” for the Japanese after Pearl Harbor, Jacob volunteered to serve as a bombardier on the daring vengeance raid--which Cindy K. Stewart has been highlighting in her posts. DeShazer was captured in China along with seven other Raiders. 

If you saw the movie or read the book Unbroken you'll have a picture of what these men endured. But where Louis Zamperini was a prisoner for a little more than two years, Doolittle’s “lost crews” remained in Japanese prison camps 

...for forty long months, 34 of them in solitary confinement. We were imprisoned and beaten, half-starved, terribly tortured, and denied by solitary confinement even the comfort of association with one another. Three of my buddies were executed by a firing squad about six months after our capture and 14 months later, another one of them died of slow starvation.... The bitterness of my heart against my captors seemed more than I could bear.

- Corporal Jacob DeShazer in his tract I Was a Prisoner of Japan

Tokyo, April 1942. Jacob DeShazer's crewmate and fellow
prisoner Lieutenant Robert Hite.

The four surviving prisoners eventually received the gift of a Bible. What DeShazer read during those miserable hours transformed him. Alone in his cell, he recognized his need for a Savior and accepted Jesus. 

The Lord revealed to Jake that He wanted to give the Japanese people an illustration of the meaning of forgiveness. Jake was to be that walking object lesson. In 1948, he returned to Japan as a Free Methodist missionary. 

This time I was not going as a bombardier, but I was going as a missionary. How much better it is to go out to conquer evil with the gospel of peace!

- Jacob DeShazer on his return to Japan

Reading DeShazer’s tract, Fuchida was confronted again with the transforming power of Jesus Christ. “I became more ashamed than ever of my own revengeful spirit.” 

He bought a Bible and read it. The final chapters of Luke’s gospel furnished the answers he’d been seeking. 

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:24)

Fuchida knew he’d reached the end of a “long, long wandering…”

“Jesus prayed for the very soldiers who were about to thrust his side with the spear. I am not ashamed to say that my eyes filled with tears. I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.”

A few months later, the two were preaching to crowds together—Mitsuo Fuchida, the lead pilot at Pearl Harbor and Jacob DeShazer, the Doolittle Raid bombardier. They brought to thousands the message of God’s sacrificial love for all people and the power of Jesus Christ to bring forgiveness from sin. 

Giveaway:

Would you like to read more of Mitsuo Fuchida's story in his own words? I'm giving away three copies of his book-length personal testimony, From Pearl Harbor to Calvary! (Kindle edition.) Register for the drawing here by Sunday December 10. You'll also receive updates on The Plum Blooms in Winter, my debut novel inspired by the story of Jake DeShazer and Doolittle's "lost crews." 

The Plum Blooms in Winter is an American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis winner. Inspired by a remarkable true story from World War II's pivotal Doolittle Raid, the novel follows a captured American pilot and a bereaved Japanese woman who targets him for ritual revenge. It launches next October from Mountain Brook Ink.

I live just outside Phoenix with my husband, a third-generation airline pilot who doubles as my Chief Military Research Officer. We share our home with two all-grown-up kids and a small platoon of housecats.