How Doolittle Raider Lt. Bill Farrow's testimony lives on.

Dearest Mother,

Please carry on for me, and don't let this get you down. Here's wishing Marge, all the family, and Lib a most happy future. Please carry on for me, and don't let this get you down. Just remember that God will make everything right and that I will see you all again in the hereafter.

We've had some good times together, all of us. Life has treated us well as a whole and we have much to be thankful for. You are, all of you, splendid Christians and knowing you and loving you has meant much in my life. So for me, and for America, be brave and live a full rich life, pray to God, and do your best.

My faith in God is complete, so I am unafraid.

Your son, Bill[i]

Many years ago, I learned of this letter when I saw a documentary on the Doolittle Raiders. On it, they read Bill’s letter as they showed him and two other raiders being executed.[ii] I was stunned. I had no idea any of the raiders were Christians.

I love hearing about other people’s faith and. Their stories inspired me. Bill’s testimony moved me deeply because he wrote it after enduring six months of cruelty and torture as he waited to be executed. What’s more, he had no idea why he was being executed but he wasn’t bitter. He only knew that he would never see his family or fiancé again. Instead of complaining, he only sought to comfort and reassure them he was not afraid. He had put his faith in Jesus. He knew God would make all things right and they would meet again.

I was moved to tears the first time I heard it and I’m still moved to tears when I read it now. Because I love learning about Christians like Bill, I wanted to learn more about him but at time I couldn’t find anything more. This time around, however, I found a biography about him. In it, they had his mother’s letter along with the letters he wrote to his fiancé, Lib Sims, and his Aunt Margaret who inspired him to live for Jesus.

Aunt Margaret,

Well, here we've come to a parting of the ways for the present. But you have helped give me faith to go forward with a steadfast heart, and I've built my house upon a rock. That we will meet again, I am sure, that I have failed to carry forward your ideal for me I am sorry. You told me once you wanted me to complete the good life that you started, as a missionary, that you wanted me to do good through Christian ideals; well, unfortunately, I'm unable to do so. However, you have done and are doing so much good— keep up the good work, and all will be right in the end. You have always been an inspiration to me—you, Pee Wee, and Aunt Mary. I am thankful for having known and loved you all. Remember me to the folks in Darlington. There are so many fine ones. So goodbye to you all. I am sorry it had to happen this way. Chin up, and help Mom, will you?[iii]

The Japanese promised to give his letters to the Red Cross to mail but they never sent them. No one knew they existed until American troops “accidentally” discovered them in the Japanese War Ministry Building in September 1945. By then, Farrow, Hallmark, and Spatz had been dead for almost 3 years.

It was a miracle that the letters survived when you consider how much property along with records were destroyed at the end of the war either due to Allied bombing or intentionally by the Japanese trying to erase their war crimes. Yet somehow these letters remained untouched and somehow the troops found them. It was indeed a miracle. There’s no other way to explain it.

His letters went along way to comforting his family as they grieved over his death. However his letters weren’t the only witness God preserved of him. Bill Farrow’s family would learn more about his last days from another raider, Jacob DeShazer. His conversations with Farrow would help comfort Farrow’s family as well.

Bill Farrow and Jacob DeShazer

Farrow and DeShazer were on bomber #16 aka the “Bat out of Hell,” the last one to leave the USS Hornet. Farrow was the pilot and DeShazer was the bombardier. After they were forced to bail out of their plane, they found each other and ended up being captured at the same time.

DeShazer recalled how “their chance meeting struck Farrow as incredible”[iv]

He said that because the crew bailed out at different time intervals with almost hurricane force winds buffeting them about, making the odds of landing in the same vicinity well-nigh impossible. Yet Farrow and DeShazer “landed within a stone’s throw of one another in a muddy field.”[v] Yes, that was nothing short of a miracle.

Initially, I was just going to share Farrow’s letters to his family but in Farrow’s biography, I ran across one of their conversations that further reveals the depth of Farrow’s Christian faith.

Shortly after they were captured and being held in a jail, they heard gun fire and women screaming from somewhere outside their cell. Based on the cruelty they’d witnessed so far, Farrow told DeShazer to cover his ears. He figured they didn’t want to even hear what happened next. DeShazer responded by saying,

"May they roast in hell,"

Farrow agreed. "But you know, Jake, there is still an out for them. They can become Christian and ask God for forgiveness. But that will be their only salvation."

"I hope they do. In fact, I might come back here some day and help 'em do it."[vi]

Farrow understood that their problem was not a cultural one; it was a spiritual one. They needed Jesus. I also found DeShazer’s response interesting. He was talking about coming back to Japan even though he wasn’t saved yet. Perhaps God was already working in his heart using Farrow’s word to open his eyes.

I wonder too whether Farrow played a role in DeShazer accepting Jesus later on. He was known to be a prayer warrior so it’s quite possible he prayed for DeShazer during his six month solitary confinement. It seems very possible.

About ten minutes after the above conversation, “the loud screams subsided to low murmuring moans. Apparently the soldiers had satisfied their lust. Then came another harsh command from the Japanese officer, and more gunfire erupted. Now the females were being slaughtered.”[vii]

"What a heck of a way to start the day," DeShazer said. "The folks back home would never believe this." Farrow responded by saying:

"We've got to hang in there, Jake. We'll just take it a day at a time, a minute at a time. But in the end, we will survive. Keep telling yourself that. And trust in God."[viii]

Despite the horrific things they had seen and endured, Bill Farrow reminded DeShazer to trust God.

“But for the grace of God go I.”

Farrow never forgot that truth. While enduring cruel and brutal torture at the hand of the Japanese, he chose not to hate the Japanese. Instead, he reminded DeShazer that they needed Jesus to change and that they needed to trust God. How fortuitous that they ended up together. But was it really just fortuitous? Think about it.

Of all the crew who bailed out, Farrow somehow ended up spending time with DeShazer, the raider that would one day become a missionary to Japan.

What are the odds they would end up together? Probably very slim given the circumstances. Regardless, it was neither a coincidence nor an accident. God planned it.

God also made it possible for them to talk to one another. You see, their Japanese captors kept the raiders separated, forbidding them to talk among themselves. Yet, somehow Farrow and DeShazer were left alone, allowing them to talk to each other. What did they talk about in that God-ordained moment? The Japanese people’s spiritual plight. Think about it. Of all the conversations DeShazer remembered, it was the one about the Japanese needing Jesus. That is telling.

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

As I was finishing this up, I wondered if I was making more out of Bill’s testimony based on the little that’s written about him. Then I remembered Abel. His life was short and yet God tells us he still speaks to us of from the grave. His testimony lives on through God’s word. Bill’s life is not recorded in the Scriptures. Then again, that’s true of many in the great cloud of witnesses. However, we can still hear his voice.

His witness speaks to us through the History Channel documentary about the Doolittle Raiders in which they read his letter to his mother. Think how many people have watched it and heard his testimony?

His witness speaks to us through his biography. In it, the author John Griffin focused on how his faith led him to become a raider and sustained him during his captivity and execution. Farrow’s faith inspired Charlie Duke the Apollo 76 Astronaut who wrote the forward to his biography.

How does one find the strength and courage to carry on in the face of such seemingly

How does one find the strength and courage to carry on in the face of such seemingly insurmountable odds? In Bill Farrow's case, it was his faith in God and a sure knowledge that he was doing the right thing. The Scriptures state that God is with us and that He is an ever-present help in times of trouble. Bill Farrow knew this and trusted in his Creator. Even in the face of all his cruel and terrible ordeals, and finally a Japanese firing squad, his faith never wavered. He held fast in the face of humiliation, deprivation, and death.

Yes, his witness lives on through his biography, speaking to all who read it. Who knows how many have already read it and how many more will read it?

His witness speaks to us through today’s missionary efforts to Japan. God used him to speak to DeShazer about the Japanese’s need of salvation. DeShazer would go back to Japan and thousands would be saved through his ministry. In all likelihood, many are still being saved.

Moreover, who knows how many Japanese he reached while he was in prison and how many of those reached others for Jesus? We don’t know. We just know that like Abel, Bill Farrow’s witness extends beyond the grave, moving God’s story of redemption forward. By the way, that is true for our witness as well.

---

[i] Griffin, John Chandler. Lt. Bill Farrow. Pelican Publishing, 2006.

[ii] I believe it was actual footage. Yes, Imperial Japan like other totalitarian regimes recorded their atrocities.

[iii] Griffin, John Chandler. Lt. Bill Farrow. Pelican Publishing, 2006.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Griffin, John Chandler. Lt. Bill Farrow. Pelican Publishing, 2006.

[vii] Ibid.

[viii] Griffin, John Chandler. Lt. Bill Farrow. Pelican Publishing, 2006.