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Former Doolittle Raider dies at 95

A member of the Doolittle Raiders has died, leaving 11 of the famed aviators left alive.

Former Staff Sgt. Jacob DeShazer, 95, died Saturday in an assisted living facility in Salem, Ore., according to a report in the Salem Statesman Journal.

According to an Air Force press release, DeShazer was the bombardier on the last of 16 bombers that took part in the Doolittle Raid, a daring airstrike against Japan during World War II. The attack involved 16 B-25 bombers of the Army Air Forces launching from the aircraft carrier Hornet on April 18, 1942, led by aviation pioneer Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle to bomb Tokyo. The success of the mission served as a morale boost for America and its troops following the shock of Pearl Harbor.

Doolittle changed the mission plan at the last minute, ordering the bombers to launch 200 miles further out from Japan than originally intended. As a result, all 16 crews went into the mission knowing they would have to crash ditch over China. Three men died trying to crash or bail out and eight were taken prisoner by the Japanese after the raid. Four of them died in captivity.

DeShazer was one of the prisoners of war, held for 40 months — 34 of those in solitary confinement, the Air Force press release said.

He studied the Bible during his confinement and later returned to Japan as a missionary, where he worked for 30 years.

DeShazer is survived by his wife and five children, according to the press release.

When only two Doolittle Raiders remain, they will open a bottle of brandy from the year of Doolittle’s birth, 1896, and toast their comrades.

According to DoolittleRaider.com, the surviving Raiders are: William M. Bower; Richard E. Cole; Thomas C. Griffin; Robert L. Hite; Edwin W. Horton, Jr.; David M. Jones; Frank A. Kappeler; James H. Macia; Charles J. Ozuk; Edward J. Saylor; and David J. Thatcher.