More About B-25
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
The front-page article in the Aug. 17 Times-Union on the air show was well-written by David Slone. However, the distinguished mission performed by the B-25 in World War II was missing. I was very disappointed Tri-State Warbird Museum President Paul Redlich did not reveal it to the Times-Union reporter.
The B-25, a medium bomber, was never designed to take off from an aircraft carrier. Lt. Col. Jimmie Doolittle was given the classified secret mission to obtain 80 volunteers and prepare to leave from an aircraft carrier and fly to Tokyo and bomb the capital of Japan. He had many more than 80 volunteers. They practiced shorter and shorter take-offs in Florida until they could take off in half the normal distance on land.
On April 18, 1942, four months after Pearl Harbor, they left the USS Hornet to accomplish what all 80 believed was a suicide mission. The fact that 75 survived was a miracle.
The Doolittle Raiders accomplished the nearly impossible. American morale received a tremendous boost, but for the Japanese it was just the opposite. Japan had never lost a war, battles yes, but not a war. Their country had never been invaded, and so had not experienced war in the homeland. The fact that Americans had pulled this off, so soon after Pearl Harbor, shattered their belief that their Shinto gods would continue to provide security and safety.
The Lord used these events to accomplish something eternal in Pearl Harbor and the Doolittle Raiders. Capt. Mifuso Fuchida led the attach on Pearl Harbor. Jacob DeShazer was the bombardier on the 16th B-25.
While DeShazer was a POW, he finally had his request for a Bible granted. He studied the Old Testament prophecies concerning the promised Redeemer. As he read the New Testament, he saw the obvious fulfillment of what he had learned from the Old Testament. On June 8, 1944, he asked Jesus to forgive his sins and come into his life.
Capt. Fuchida read the tract written by DeShazer titled “I was a prisoner of Japan,” which was distributed during his missionary work in Japan. Fuchida could not understand what happened to DeShazer, so he decided to purchase a Bible in spite of his Buddhist heritage. He discovered the same message as DeShazer had when he read about the crucification of Jesus when he prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know now what they do.” Fuchida said, “On that day I became a new person.” The Lord’s victories were not temporary military, they were eternal!
R. Wayne Snider
Winona Lake[[In-content Ad]]
The front-page article in the Aug. 17 Times-Union on the air show was well-written by David Slone. However, the distinguished mission performed by the B-25 in World War II was missing. I was very disappointed Tri-State Warbird Museum President Paul Redlich did not reveal it to the Times-Union reporter.
The B-25, a medium bomber, was never designed to take off from an aircraft carrier. Lt. Col. Jimmie Doolittle was given the classified secret mission to obtain 80 volunteers and prepare to leave from an aircraft carrier and fly to Tokyo and bomb the capital of Japan. He had many more than 80 volunteers. They practiced shorter and shorter take-offs in Florida until they could take off in half the normal distance on land.
On April 18, 1942, four months after Pearl Harbor, they left the USS Hornet to accomplish what all 80 believed was a suicide mission. The fact that 75 survived was a miracle.
The Doolittle Raiders accomplished the nearly impossible. American morale received a tremendous boost, but for the Japanese it was just the opposite. Japan had never lost a war, battles yes, but not a war. Their country had never been invaded, and so had not experienced war in the homeland. The fact that Americans had pulled this off, so soon after Pearl Harbor, shattered their belief that their Shinto gods would continue to provide security and safety.
The Lord used these events to accomplish something eternal in Pearl Harbor and the Doolittle Raiders. Capt. Mifuso Fuchida led the attach on Pearl Harbor. Jacob DeShazer was the bombardier on the 16th B-25.
While DeShazer was a POW, he finally had his request for a Bible granted. He studied the Old Testament prophecies concerning the promised Redeemer. As he read the New Testament, he saw the obvious fulfillment of what he had learned from the Old Testament. On June 8, 1944, he asked Jesus to forgive his sins and come into his life.
Capt. Fuchida read the tract written by DeShazer titled “I was a prisoner of Japan,” which was distributed during his missionary work in Japan. Fuchida could not understand what happened to DeShazer, so he decided to purchase a Bible in spite of his Buddhist heritage. He discovered the same message as DeShazer had when he read about the crucification of Jesus when he prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know now what they do.” Fuchida said, “On that day I became a new person.” The Lord’s victories were not temporary military, they were eternal!
R. Wayne Snider
Winona Lake[[In-content Ad]]
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