Local Man a Bombardier with “Doolittle’s Raiders”

Jacob DeShazer, a native of Madras, Oregon, became one of the United States first war heroes in World War II when he participated in the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan. Jake DeShazer was born on November 15, 1912 in Stayton, Oregon. His family moved to the Madras area and he graduated from Madras high school in 1931. In 1941 he enlisted in the United States Army and rose to the rank of Sargent.

He was on duty at an Army base in Oregon when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Following the attack Staff Sargent DeShazer volunteered to join a special unit that was formed to attack Japan. The 24 crews selected from the 17th Bombing Group received intensive training at Eglin Field, Florida for three weeks beginning on March 1, 1942. The crews undertook practice carrier deck takeoffs along with extensive flying exercises involving low-level and night flying, low bombing and over water navigation. Their mission would be to fly modified B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from an aircraft carrier to attack Japan.

The unit formed to carry out the raid on Japan acquired the name “Doolittle Raiders”, after their famous commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. The secret mission was a desperate attempt to increase military morale and provide a first attack retaliation for the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. Jake was the bombardier on the bomber “Bat Out of Hell”, commanded by Lt. William Farrow. His bomber was the last of the 16 B-25’s to launch from the USS Hornet on the bombing run over Tokyo. The mission was a one way attack as there was not enough fuel to return to the aircraft carrier. The plan was to fly over Japan and drop their bombs then ditch their airplanes in China.

After bombing Nagoya in Japan the “Bat” attempted to reach safe haven in China but the crew was forced to parachute into enemy territory over Ningpo, China when their aircraft ran out of fuel. Jake was injured in his landing and he and the rest of his crew were captured by the Japanese. Jake as well as the other captured crews were held in Prisoner of War camps in Japan and China for over 40 months, 34 of them in solitary confinement. He was severely beaten and malnourished while three of the crew were executed by a firing squad and another died of slow starvation. DeShazer and the others in a camp at Beijing, China were finally released at the end of the war on August 20, 1945.

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. After the war he became a missionary in Japan. He died in Salem, Oregon on March 15, 2008. The Oregon War Veterans Association nominated him for the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal for his service as a war hero and for his missionary work. Neither was awarded.

Contributed by Steve Lent, Historian