Return of the Raider: A Doolittle Raider's Story of War & Forgiveness

by Donald M. Goldstein, Carol Aiko DeShazer Dixon

Jacob DeShazer, a farm boy from Oregon, joined the army Air Corps at age 27. He had always wanted to be a pilot, but when he did not qualify, an opportunity opened to become a bombardier. By luck of the draw, Jacob found himself as one of the 80 men participating in the famous Doolittle Raid over Japan shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. During the raid, Jacob and his fellow crewmen bailed out over China and were taken captive by the Japanese as prisoners of war for more than three years. In that Japanese POW camp, every day facing torture and death, Jacob’s path changed when his request for a Bible was fulfilled. Jacob came back to the Christian faith in which he was raised, and made a vow to God in his prison cell that if he survived he would return to Japan, not as a warrior but as a missionary. The Jacob DeShazer story is not only about the bravery of a soldier during war, but also about how powerful love and forgiveness can be when given to the enemy.

 

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

192 pages, Hardcover

First published July 6, 2010

About the author

A former officer in the United States Air Force, Donald M. Goldstein was Professor of Public and International Affairs at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book, the Daughter of a WWII Aircrewman who flew with the Dolittle Raiders, recounts his story of Heroism, Capture, POW experiences and Career as a Missionary in postwar Japan. It's interesting as a story, but the authors stolid style and the constant barrage of Christian Propaganda sort of detract from the narrative. There are some elements of Christian Ethnocentrism and disdain for Japanese Culture that taint the later parts of the book and the general smugness to the Christianity expressed make it quite unattractive to this reader. Frankly, anytime the Historical Narrative start to get interesting, there's some religious passages that just made my eyes glaze right over. It's basically in interesting book ruined by the attempt to use it for religious ends. For an Atheist reader, who's never been part of a Christian Church its annoying and insulting to all non-believers in a distracting and needless way.

Jacob Deshazer, the subject, grew up an all-american boy in Oregon between the wars. He was attracted to the stability of the Army in the Depression. The story of his selection for the Dolittle team, and the training for the Raid is good stuff. His tale of Japanese POW camp is brutal- and that was where he found "salvation", using his religious feelings to decrease his anger and get along with his captors. But from then on any pages of plot developments tend to get swathed in extra pages of Jesus-centered mumbo jumbo that just asked to be skipped over. The stories of the Same post-war Japan that my father lived in, are marred by the Deshazers' (he married when back in the states) Excessive Christian Chauvinism and Anti Communism. DeShazer never acknowledges the Fascism of PreWar Japan that the Communists were reacting to. The sheer effrontery of Assuming a Western Religion is somehow superior to the existing faith of the locals is NEVER EVEN considered. Typical Christian Chutzpah.

This book is written at a pretty basic level and seems scrubbed of adult themes and graphic wound descriptions so this book is readable for any junior reader over about 10, but parents uncomfortable with Christian Propaganda may want to give context. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast, a mixed bag. The early Military and POW story may help to give background to the WWII story, but the last few chapters will just bore. This is one that's a fun little read- but eminently missable from the Library.

[Dylan And · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Story of Redemption and Forgiveness

I loved learning the history of Jacob DeShazer but also how God used him to offer forgiveness to the Japanese people. Also, it was wonderful to hear God intersected lives and how his story influenced that man who lead the bombing at Pearl Harbor and his salvation.

[Killer Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.61 overall rating

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

petty good