Jacob DeShazer

Jacob Daniel DeShazer (15 November 1912 – 15 March 2008) was a Christian missionary in Japan and pilot who participated in the Doolittle Raid as a staff sergeant.

Early years DeShazer was born on 15 November 1912 in West Stayton, Oregon. He was raised in Central Oregon, and graduated from Madras Middle School in Madras, Oregon in 1931. On 7 December 1941, while peeling potatoes, DeShazer heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio. He became enraged, shouting: "Japan is going to pay for this!" He was raised Christian, but was an atheist at the time.

Doolittle Raid Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, DeShazer enlisted, becoming a Corporal stationed at Pendleton Field in Eastern Oregon. He was severely beaten and malnourished while three of the crew were executed by a firing squad, and another died of slow starvation. DeShazer's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Emperor Hirohito. As the war came to an end, on 20 August 1945, DeShazer and the others in the camp at Beijing (Peiping), China were finally released when American soldiers parachuted into the camp.

On his return to the United States, Staff Sgt. DeShazer was awarded both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart for his part in the Doolittle Raid.

Missionary in Japan During his captivity, DeShazer persuaded one of his guards to loan him a copy of the Bible. Although he only had possession of the Bible for three weeks, he saw its messages as the reason for his survival and resolved to become a devout Christian. They later moved back to the U.S. so that DeShazer could earn his Masters of Divinity degree at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, then returned to Japan to continue missionary work. Fuchida, who became a Christian in 1949 due to shared testimony of a Christian woman, read a tract written about DeShazer, titled I Was a Prisoner of Japan, and spent the rest of his life as a missionary in Asia and the United States. On occasion, DeShazer and Fuchida preached together as Christian missionaries in Japan. In 1959, DeShazer moved to Nagoya to establish a Christian church in the city he had bombed. Florence moved to Shoreline, Washington in 2012 and died in 2017.

Awards and honors His decorations include:

USAAF Bombardier BadgeDistinguished Flying CrossPurple HeartPrisoner of War MedalArmy Good Conduct MedalAmerican Defense Service MedalAmerican Campaign MedalAsiatic-Pacific Campaign Medalwith bronze campaign starWorld War II Victory MedalOrder of Yung Hui5th class(Republic of China)War Memorial Medal(Republic of China)

Other honors On 15 April 2008, the Oregon War Veterans Association (OWVA) nominated DeShazer for the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, noting his extraordinary impact on America as a war hero and for his heroic service to the people of Japan. On 21 April 2008, the White House confirmed the nomination in a letter to OWVA's executive director, Greg Warnock.