A Complicated Reincarnation Story Of A War Veteran: The Past Life Story of James Leininger
Various cases of children who report memories of previous lives have been studied over the last 50 years. Though such cases are more easily found in cultures that have a general belief in reincarnation, they occur in the West as well.
And that’s the case of James Leininger, an American child who at age two began having intense nightmares of a plane crash. describing being an American pilot who was killed when his plane was shot down by the Japanese.
Let’s dive into the details concerning the Past Life Story of James Leininger , the boy who gave specific details about his past life .
James Leininger was born on April 10, 1998 to Bruce and Andrea Leininger in the San Francisco Bay area. When his father Bruce was offered a job as a human resource director for an oil industry company, the family soon moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, where James grew up.
Soon after turning two years of age, James started to experience strong nightmares that would make him scream out while in his sleep. On May 1st, 2000, Andrea heard her son’s voice breaking the night’s calm: “Airplane crash! Plane on fire! Little man can’t get out!” . Andrea ran to the bedroom and saw James struggling. She described him being on his back, kicking and clawing on the covers, like he was trying to kick his way out of a coffin.
The same nightmare kept recurring four to five times a week for a long period and James would repeat the same words over and over again . He was also asked about how he knew that it was the Japanese who shot down his plane, James replied: “The big red sun.” James’ parents were impressed and puzzled with James’s knowledge regarding the Japanese World War II aircraft, as they knew he did not learn this information through normal means.
As a result, when the nightmares occurred more , they would ask James more detailed questions about his dreams like the names of other people in his nightmares, James told them that he had a friend who was also a pilot, whose name was “Jack Larsen.” Whom with time , Bruce and Andrea would learn that James’s past life persona, did really know Jack Larsen who was his co-pilot and friend.
In addition to having nightmares about an airplane crash, his parents noted that James had an obsession with airplanes, particularly the world war 2 aircrafts with propellers which His parents also noticed that he would crash his toy planes into the coffee table, knocking them off. His obsession continued In his car seat, as James would put on imaginary headphones and facemask, like if he was preparing to fly a plane, furthermore James even created a simulated cockpit in one of the family’s closets.
James’ unusual knowledge about airplanes continued to be demonstrated when Andrea gave James a toy plane with what looked like a bomb under it, James looked at it and told her: “That’s not a bomb, Mommy, that’s a drop tank.” as he was referring to a fuel tank that is attached to the underside of a plane, which is ejected and dropped off when the fuel is spent.
His parents were shocked how their two year old knew what a drop tank was and the japanese emblem of the rising sun while he never learned this from the television programs the family watched or books that they read. Over time, little James revealed that the man in his nightmares was also named James, and that he flew a plane called Corsair, and that the plane he flew took off from a boat named the “Natoma.” He knew that the Corsair would veer to the left on takeoff and that it had a tendency to blow tires out upon landing.
When his parents took him to the Lone Star Flight Museum, they were surprised to see how little James was acting around a Corsair, conducting a flight check, like a pilot normally does before boarding his aircraft with a military protocol. Andrea was shocked that her son was not even potty trained, yet he knew details of World War II and aircrafts of that era; it was then when She was convinced of the possibility that James was experiencing memories of a past lifetime. While Andrea was getting used to the idea of reincarnation, james’ father Bruce was extremely resisting to consider that James’s memories could derive from a past life , as it opposed his deep Christian beliefs.
Still, he started to research statements made by little James. Eventually found that there was indeed a World War II aircraft carrier named the Natoma Bay. He also obtained a book on aircraft carriers that were associated in the Pacific he came across a section on the Battle of Iwo Jima. James told his father that it was there, at the Battle of Iwo Jima, where he died as his plane was shot down and crashed. Moreover Bruce learned that the Natoma Bay had indeed supported the Marine’s invasion of Iwo Jima. and started to question himself How could James know this.
Little James had a habit of drawing pictures of battle scenes, which featured propeller planes and bombs exploding. He would sign his pictures, “James 3.” These pictures are reproduced in Soul Survivor. As he depicts in them the way he died in his previous life when he was stuck in his burning plane that was shot down. Though Bruce was not convinced of his son’s memories derived from a past lifetime, James’s specific fund of knowledge pushed him to dig deep in the subject . He searched through military records and archives to find that the Natoma Bay crew held reunions. then decided to attend one of these gatherings and Bruce traveled to his first Natoma Bay reunion, held in San Diego on September 11, 2002 .
At the reunion, Bruce learned that 18 aircraft carrier pilots from the Natoma Bay had died during service in the Pacific. One of them was named James Huston Jr. which little James previously said was his past life name in his nightmares. Bruce also learned that James Huston was the only pilot to die in the invasion of battle of Iwo Jima on March 3, 1945.
Bruce also learned that Jack Larsen was indeed another pilot on The Natoma Bay. even more , Larsen was still alive and living in Arkansas and Bruce decided to visit him there, Thus James’s memory of having a friend named Jack Larsen was also verified. Bruce eventually found pilots who witnessed James Huston’s plane on fire and went down which three of them confirmed that an anti aircraft shell knocked the propeller off of Huston’s plane, which explained why little James would knock propellers off his toy planes.
In his process to understand his son’s nightmares more clearly Bruce came to personally know surviving veterans who had served on the Natoma Bay
And wanted to put his feelings into action by creating a memorial to celebrate them. Many Natoma Bay veterans attended this inauguration, at the memorial ceremony, little James wore a miniature pilot’s flight suit. One of the people who James saw there was called Bob Greenwald, who he recognized on sight and who he named correctly. When Bruce asked James how he knew that this man was Bob Greenwald, James said he had recognized his voice , furthermore at the ceremony, little James was also reunited with his old friend, Jack Larson.
Significantly, the veterans at the Natoma Bay memorial inauguration, who knew James Huston, Jr., were surprised on how little James Leininger looked just like the deceased James Huston, Jr. on the other hand James seemed dismayed at the memorial, When his parents asked him why, he replied because everyone looked so old as Little James remembers his shipmates as young men, and not senior citizens. Andrea Leininger was able to use census data and other records to track the family of James Huston, Jr , which led her to his living sister, Anne Huston Barron who was living in Los Gatos, California. Anne was 84 years old when Andrea contacted her.
Andrea set up a phone call between little James and Anne , and while the conversation James was able to reminisce about many things which included personal and family details which Anne confirmed as accurate. Some of the things that James recalled are that he called her Annie. She confirmed that only James Huston called her Annie , moreover he told her that they had a sister called Ruth who was four years older than Anne and that Anne was four years older than James, and that their father was alcoholic and smashed things when drunk, and that he had to go into rehab for alcoholism.
James said that he and Anne, as children, had matching portraits done by the same artist, which were gifts from their mother, whose name was Darly. Anne confirmed all these statements. With all these previous specific details , resolute skeptics would have to admit that such specific memories cannot be coincidental. Given the facts of the case, Anne has accepted James Leininger as the reincarnation of her brother, James Huston, Jr. and she sent him her brother’s remaining artifacts.
Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot, that’s how James’s parents titled the book in which they tell the family’s journey to uncover the mystery behind the case . it has gained a big popularity since the book was translated into 10 different languages.
in later interviews the now fully grown up James said that his nightmares had stopped after they were able to shed light on the mysteries surrounding his visions of his past life , his parents meanwhile seemed to have reconciled with the fact that perhaps their son could have been the reincarnation of the fallen world war ii pilot James Huston .
So do you guys believe that James was reincarnated ? especially with all those specific evidence and without finding any gaps in his story that may create other speculations of his case.
