Posted on 03/17/2008 6:05:21 PM PDT by SandRat
3/17/2008 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Retired Staff Sgt. Jacob DeShazer, 95, one of the famed "Doolittle Raiders," who helped boost American morale in the early days of World War II with a surprise air attack on Japan, died March 15.
Born Nov. 15, 1912, in Salem, Ore., Sergeant DeShazer graduated from Madras High School in 1931. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940.
Sergeant DeShazer, then a corporal, was the bombardier of Crew No.16 flying the "Bat Out of Hell," the last of the 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers to launch from the USS Hornet April 18, 1942, on the famous bombing run over Tokyo. Led by legendary aviation pioneer Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle, the raid is one of the most studied and talked about missions in the history of aerial warfare.
All 16 bombers made it to their targets. However, they were forced to ditch or bail out over or along the Chinese coast because the task force had been spotted by Japanese picket boats, and Colonel Doolittle had decided to launch early -- more than 600 miles from the Japanese mainland and 200 miles farther out than planned.
Sergeant DeShazer and the rest of his B-25 crew were forced to parachute into enemy territory over Ningpo, China, when their B-25 ran out of fuel. The entire crew was captured by the Japanese the next day.
During his captivity, Sergeant DeShazer was sent to Tokyo with the survivors of another Doolittle crew, and was held in a series of prison camps in Japan and China for 40 months, 34 of which were in solitary confinement. During this time he was subjected to unbelievable cruelty, including being forced to watch helplessly while one of his friends died of slow starvation.
"My hatred for the enemy nearly drove me crazy," he said. "My thoughts turned toward what I had heard about Christianity changing hatred between human beings into real brotherly love. I begged my captors to get me a Bible, and when the emperor of Japan told them to treat us better, I got one."
Sergeant DeShazer was able to read the Bible for only three weeks. Still, its message had a lifelong impact on him. After his release, he attended college and then seminary in preparation to become a missionary.
Sergeant DeShazer returned to Japan in 1948, where he spent 30 years preaching and teaching Christianity.
He leaves behind his wife, Florence, and five children.
Not entirely accurate. Physical damage was minor. Psychological damage was immense. The military had claimed for decades that the enemy would never be able to attack Japan. Demonstrating that this was false had huge political repercussions.
Several things to note here that are admirably displayed on this cool graphic...I don't know who the author was.
1.) Look at the concentric circles around Tokyo. 250 miles out is probably the closest they could think of going...they planned to launch at 475 miles, but ended up launching at 650 instead, which as the graphic shows is outside the range of the mission as intended. But then they did it.
2.) Look at the second legs of the journey to Chuchow and Vladistovok...that is some extreme flying there for planes like that in those conditions.
Simply ballsy, audacious and just plain AGGRESSIVE. What someone like Halsey was best known for...fitting that he would lead the Naval effort.
Thank you, Sergeant DeShazer, for letting the Empire know that they did, indeed, wake the Sleeping Giant.
{Not entirely accurate. Physical damage was minor. Psychological damage was immense. The military had claimed for decades that the enemy would never be able to attack Japan. Demonstrating that this was false had huge political repercussions}
Yes, you are correct. I was typing to fast and should have said physical damage was minor. The pyscological damage was huge!
Amen. A good man with cajones de brasso.
Lt. Col. James Doolittle leads B-25s off the USS Hornet's deck on a 1942 mission to bomb Japan. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy.
Also notice in that graphic how much of the Japanese islands they had to fly over after the raid. I admit to never having paid much attention to the actual routes themselves, and somewhere in my mind, I pictured them bombing their targets and exiting to the opposite side of the main island then flying over all that water the rest of the way.
In reality, it looks like the flew over the entire southwestern axis of the country. Lots of places there must have been airfields with interceptors.
In a related story, when the Soviet scientists were building their A bombs from plans and pictures stolen from us they were well aware of the fate of those scientists who built the plane. So when building their exact A bomb copy, they even reproduced every minute detail including “Made in the USA” wherever it appeared in and on our bombs. They knew it was useless to the working of the bomb but they didn’t want Stalin to show his “gratitude” the same as he did for the earlier group.
Great movie.
I am an aviation buff and this film has some of the best B-25 footage.
The most memorable part for me is when they are having their going away party with their wives and girlfriends.
They all sang and stomped their feet to the song “Deep in the Heart of Texas”, and if I recall correctly, people had tears streaming down their cheeks in the movie.
I know I did as I watched it.
Not to take from this man' bravery, but it is my understanding all the Pilots, Navigators and Bombardiers in the Army Air Forces at that time, 1942, were officers.
Hand Salute............................two
Was mine too,.. oh well, copied the story as written at the Air Force site.
Wow. I was so caught up in the concept of paying tribute to this man and his mates, finding the pictures and posting them, that I didn’t notice I was listening to Glen Miller music.
I have been since I logged on for several hours before I saw this thread. My iTunes was just going through all of my Glen Miller tunes and had crossed into them shortly after I started listening tonight. Long before I saw this.
Eerie. Very eerie.
He hated and despised the "Nippers" openly and to their faces (lots of Japanese seafood-types were in and out of that cold storage daily).
It was really kind of shocking, yet funny at the same time, how he'd blow off every time he'd see anyone that could even remotely be Japanese.
That picture is my wallpaper at work. It defines courage. There’s no need to embellish what they did with Hollywood extravaganzas like the hideous “Pearl Harbor”. Just the sight of those planes flying off to Japan one at a time.... against an undefeated enemy.... knowing they didn’t have enough fuel to reach their destinations in China... words fail.
Check out the portrait at post 27...he is referred to as a Cpl...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.