Andrea Leininger - Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot

Copyright 2009 by Andrea Leininger and Bruce Leininger

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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First eBook Edition: June 2009

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ISBN: 978-0-446-55084-0

Contents

Dedicated to Natoma Bay CVE-62, ships company, squadrons VC-63, VC-81, VC-9, and the men who gave their lives for our freedom:

Ruben Iven Goranson, February 7, 1944, TBM Pilot, Ensign, VC-63

Eldon R. Bailey, February 7, 1944 TBM Aviation Ordnanceman, 3rd class, VC-63

Edward B. Barron, February 7, 1944, TBM Aviation Radioman, 2nd class, VC-63

Edmund Randolph Lange, April 14, 1944, FM-2 Pilot, Lt. (junior grade), VC-63

Adrian Chavannes Hunter, October 19, 1944, FM-2 Pilot, Lt., VC-81

Leon Stevens Conner, October 25, 1944, TBM Pilot, Lt. (junior grade), VC-81

Donald E Bullis, October 25, 1944, TBM Aviation Radioman, 3rd class,VC-81

Louis King Hill, October 25, 1944, TBM Aviation Machinist Mate, 2nd class, VC-81

Edward J. Schrambeck, October 26, 1944, TBM Aviation Radioman, 3rd class, VC-81

Walter John Devlin, October 26, 1944, FM-2 Pilot, Ensign, VC-81

Billie Rufus Peeler, November 17, 1944, FM-2 Pilot, Ensign, VC-81

Lloyd Sumner Holton, November 17, 1944, Engineering Officer, Ensign, VC-81

George Hunter Neese, January 6, 1945, TBM Aviation Machinist Mate, 3rd Class, VC-81

John Frances Sargent Jr., January 6, 1945, FM-2 Pilot, Lt. (junior grade), VC-81

James McCready Huston Jr., March 3, 1945, FM-2 Pilot, Lt. (junior grade), VC-81

Peter Hamilton Hazard, March 27, 1945, TBM Pilot, Lt. (junior grade), VC-9

William Patrick Bird, March 27, 1945, TBM Aviation Radioman, 1st class, VC-9

Clarence Edward Davis, March 27, 1945, TBM Aviation Ordnanceman, 1st class, VC-9

Richard Emery Quack, April 9, 1945, FM-2 Pilot, Ensign, VC-9

Robert William Washburg, April 9, 1945, FM-2 Pilot, Ensign VC-9

Loraine Alexander Sandberg, June 7, 1945, Ships company, Lt. (junior Grade)

Having never attempted to write a book before, nothing could have prepared us for the sheer volume of work that goes into such a venture. Soul Survivor is the culmination of four years of research, tens of thousands of miles of travel, and over a year of writing, and none of this could have been accomplished without the help of some very special people. We would like to acknowledge and extend our heartfelt gratitude to those who have made the completion of Soul Survivor possible.

Al Zuckerman and Writers House: Your expertise, guidance, and support throughout this process have been invaluable. Thank you for leading us through this complicated process and for protecting our best interests every step of the way.

Ken Gross: Your ability to combine our version of events and spin them into a captivating and compelling narrative is a true testament to your amazing gift and undeniable talent. This year was an amazing roller coaster of emotions, temperaments, and uncontrolled laughter. We will fondly remember this experience all the days of our lives.

Carol Bowman: Your amazing book Childrens Past Lives ignited our journey into unraveling Jamess nightmares, and it led to a long and wonderful friendship. Thank you for remaining available for support and advice, for your beautifully written foreword, and for putting us in the extremely capable hands of Al Zuckerman.

Natalie Kaire and Grand Central Publishing: for taking a chance on two unknown authors, and explaining everything we never knew about the publishing world.

Anne Huston Barron: for not hanging up on us the night we told you about Jamess memories, and for welcoming all of us into your life. We are so blessed to have been able to share this experience with you.

Bobbi Scoggin, Jennifer Cowin, and Becky KyleThe Panel: for the thousands of phone calls, endless investigating, researching, troubleshooting, evaluating, and fact-finding. This book would not have been possible without the Scoggin girls need to know everything approach to lifes mysteries.

John Dewitt: for providing us with all the videotapes, documents, photos, microfilm, logbooks, and countless other pieces of information about Natoma Bay, which established the foundation for the research that verified Jamess memories.

Al Alcorn, Leo Pyatt, and the members of the Natoma Bay Association: for your continuous support and tireless efforts in encouraging our research and embracing both our family and Jamess story. Natoma Bay and the men who served aboard her will not be forgotten. We cherish our memories of each of you and the special place that you occupy in our hearts.

We would like to extend a special thank-you to the families of the twenty-one men killed in service aboard Natoma Bay. By sharing your stories, photos, cherished personal documents, letters, and personal artifacts, these men came to life again for both us and the readers of Soul Survivor. Their sacrifice to preserve our freedom is one for which we are eternally thankful. Each of them were special men whom we have come to know and admire through your thoughtful efforts. We are not finished telling their stories.

Lastly, our son, James Leininger: Thank you for choosing us, and for leading us on such an amazing and unexpected journey. We hope you always have the courage of conviction to speak out about what you are experiencing, and to trust what you know is true in your hearteven when others around you may be in doubt. We love you and remain in awe of your amazing spirit and tender heart.

T he story of James Leininger is the best American case of a childs past life memory among the thousands Ive encountered. Its extraordinary because little James remembers names and places from his past life that can be traced to real people and actual eventsfacts that can easily be verified. He was even reunited with people who knew him in his former life as a World War II pilot.

I believe this is the story that finally will open the minds of skeptical Westerners to the reality of childrens past life memories. This book demonstrates how these memories can have profound emotional and spiritual benefits for both the child and family.

In some ways, Jamess story is not unusual. Many children all over the world have past life memories. Its a natural phenomenon. I know this because I began collecting and researching these cases more than twenty years ago after my own two children had their own vivid past life memories. My son remembered dying on a Civil War battlefield; my daughter remembered dying as a child in a house fire. I was astonished when I observed that just by talking about their memories they were both cured of phobias stemming from their past life deaths.

Surely, I concluded, this had happened to other families, too. But when I searched through books to understand what was going on with my children, I couldnt find any that addressed the healing effects of childrens past life memories, only books about adults being helped through past life regression therapy. I decided to fill in the gap and wrote Childrens Past Lives as a guidebook for parents who encounter such memories in their own children.

After its publication in 1997 and the launch of my Web site, www.ReincarnationForum.com, I received thousands of e-mails from parents whose young children had had or were having spontaneous past life memories. With so many cases, I began to see recurring patterns in the phenomenon. Some children begin to speak of these memories as soon as they can talksome still in diapers! They surprise their parents with comments such as When I was big before, or When I died before. Or they exhibit unusual behaviors: phobias, nightmares, unlearned talents and perplexing abilities, or uncanny insight into adult affairs they couldnt possibly know about in their only two or three years of life. Some memories manifest as strong emotions, such as profound sadness as they recount lonely deaths on battlefields, fond memories of a particular horse, or longing for their other families, their wives, husbands, their