A flyover of a B1-B bomber honors the late World War II veteran Jacob DeShazer at his graveside service in the Restlawn Memory Gardens in Salem, on Saturday.-AP Photo

SALEM (AP) — Jacob DeShazer won fame as one of nearly 80 flyers on Lt. Col. “Jimmy” Doolittle’s air raid on Japan in 1942, America’s first strike against that country after Pearl Harbor.

But at his memorial and graveside service in the Restlawn Memory Gardens in Salem on Saturday, he was recalled as a man of deep faith, one who returned to Japan after three years as a prisoner of war as a Methodist missionary to help start 23 churches over nearly 30 years.

He died March 15 at an assisted-living center at age 95.

Doolittle’s raiders bombed Tokyo and Nagoya. Ed Horton, one of 11 Doolittle Raiders still alive, said DeShazer was a cut above. “I had an awful lot of respect for him,” said the 92-year-old, who flew in from Florida.

“We just want to be used by God, and that was his heart’s cry,” said Doug Bailey, Salem First Free Methodist Church pastor.

“He’d want Jesus to get all the credit,” said Ruth Kutrakun, the youngest of his five children.

The crowd cheered as a B1-B bomber from the 34th Bomb Squadron flew overhead and then disappeared into the clouds. The Doolittle Raiders were part of the 34th, now based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.

Sgt. Douglas Pecor presented the folded flag to Deshazer’s wife, Florence.

“Jake’s a hero,” Pecor said after the service. “This is why we do military honors, to honor people like Jake. He’s history.”