DeShazer was in the last B-25 to depart from the carrier Hornet for a daylight bombing run that marked the first U.S. attack on the Japanese homeland since the attack on Pearl Harbor, The New York Times reported Monday.

His plane ran out of fuel after dropping its bombs and all five crewmen were forced to bail out over Japanese-occupied territory. DeShazer was as a prisoner of war for 40 months until being freed a few days after Japan surrendered in August 1945.

The son of a Church of God minister, DeShazer said the only source of solace he had during his captivity was a Bible given to him by his captors, the Times said

After returning home to the United States, DeShazer earned a bachelor's degree in biblical literature and then spent 30 years as a Christian missionary in Japan.