Loss Leaves 11 Survivors Of Legendary Mission

Another member of the famed Doolittle Raiders has passed. Former Staff Sgt. Jacob "Jake" DeShazer, 95, died Saturday in an assisted living facility in Salem, OR.

According to a USAF release, cited by The Air Force Times, DeShazer was bombardier on the last of 16 bombers that took part in the Doolittle Raid, a daring airstrike against Japan in April 1942.

Led by the legendary Lt. Col. James Doolittle, 16 B-25 bombers launched from the USS Hornet, and set off to bomb Tokyo in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor four months before. The mission was an overall success... and gave a shaken American public a morale boost.

It was an inherently risky mission, though... and DeShazer experienced those dangers firsthand. Due to a last-minute change in plans, Doolittle ordered the bombers to launch 200 miles farther out than originally planned. That added distance meant the crews launched knowing they would have to ditch their aircraft over China, out of fuel.

Three men died trying to bail out of their planes. Eight were taken prisoner by the Japanese, including DeShazer; four died in captivity. DeShazer was held for 40 months, 34 in solitary confinement, according to the US Air Force.

The time molded DeShazer's later life. He studied the bible while incarcerated... and later returned to Japan, working for 30 years as a missionary.

A native Oregonian, in 2005 DeShazer was inducted into the Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor, as ANN reported.

DeShazer's death leaves 11 Doolittle Raiders remaining. When only two are left, those men will open a bottle of 'Hennessy Very Special' cognac, vintage 1896... the year of Doolittle's birth.

FMI: www.doolittleraiders.com