Jacob DeShazer watched as his fellow WWII soldiers were executed and starved in a Japanese prison, and developed a deep hated for the Japanese. Remembering his childhood teaching about Jesus urging forgiveness, he returned to Japan after the war to preach the love of Jesus, and converted the Japanese pilot who led the raid on Pearl Harbor.
“Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
This verse from the Bible was taken at face value by the DeShazer household in a small Oregon town in the 1930’s where the children, including young Jacob DeShazer were exposed to the Bible, family prayers and regular church going. However, after leaving home young Jacob began to go his own way, largely forgetting the teachings of his youth. Several years after leaving high school he joined the Army Air Corps, eventually rising to the rank of sergeant. In his autobiography, he recalls being incensed at the news that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor without warning.
Following Pearl Harbor he volunteered with 23 others, led by General Jimmy Dolittle for a special mission. The mission was unprecedented. Sixteen B-25 bombers were to take off from the deck of the carrier USS Hornet, (something never done before) which would take them within striking distance of Tokyo for a bombing run. The raid would result in relatively little damage. But so soon after Pearl Harbor, the fall of the Philippines, and with the seemly unstoppable Japanese advance around the Asian rim, it was thought that this might provide some degree of moral boost at home and send a message to the enemy that the U.S was ready to strike back.
“For the love of Christ controls us…” 2 Corinthians 5:14
John T Spencer
