An unbelievably true story of an American Fighter Pilot James Huston Jr, who died in World War II and was reborn as James Leininger.

James Madison Leininger was born on April 10, 1998, in the San Francisco Bay area. His parents Bruce and Andrea Leininger were a highly educated and modern couple. 

Soon after his birth, the family moved to Dallas, Texas, and then to Lafayette, Louisiana, where James grew up.

James Leininger remembers his past life as a fighter pilot

When James was about 22 months old, his father took him to the James Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Dallas. There he was mesmerized by the sight of the WWII planes, and at the end of the visit had to be forced to leave. 

Once his mother showed him a toy plane and told him that the plane has a bomb on its underside. James corrected her and said it is a “drop tank” and not a bomb. Andrea was flabbergasted as she had never heard of a drop tank before. Later, while sharing the incident with her husband, she learned that a drop tank is an extra fuel tank attached to an aircraft to extend its range.

James often slammed his toy planes into the furniture, breaking off the propellers. He also started drawing battle scenes in which planes were burning and crashing, bomb exploding all around. His drawings always depicted the battle scenes with propellor aircraft.  

He signed off the drawings ‘James 3’, claiming he was the ‘the third James’ after Huston Jr, who was the second.

When James was about two years old, he started having nightmares about planes and he would wake up screaming and crying. During such episodes, according to his parents, James would lie on his back and kick his legs in the air as if he was trapped somewhere and trying to escape. He would scream, “Airplane crash, Plane on fire, little man can’t get out”.

At the age of 28 months, James told his parents that the “little man” was himself and that his plane had been shot by Japanese soldiers. Over the course of the next few months, he provided further details which were related to World War II.

The parents write a book on James Leininger’s reincarnation

After four years of research, Bruce and Andrea Leininger documented the reincarnation case in the book titled, Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation Of A World War II Fighter Pilot.

Carol Bowman arrives on the scene 

Bruce and Andrea Leininger were getting concerned about their son as the nightmares became more terrifying and as frequent as five times a week. 

Andrea was convinced that James is remembering his past life and connected with Carol Bowman, a renowned counselor and the author of a book on reincarnation called ‘Children’s Past Lives’.

Bowman confirmed Andrea’s thoughts and suggested some techniques to help James from recurring nightmares. The technique basically was a kind of reassurance that his past life tragedy is over and now he is absolutely safe in his present life. The technique proved effective and there was a sharp drop in the frequency of the nightmares.     

Father embarks on an investigative mission 

Bruce being a realist did not believe in the concept of reincarnation. He thought to find the truth by investigating the case himself. Bruce started his own investigation based on the claims made by his son, James Leininger – 

His name had been James

He had flown a Corsair

He had flown the Corsair from a boat named ‘Natoma’,    

He had a friend and fellow Navy Pilot named Jack Larsen

His aircraft had been shot down at Iwo Jima by Japanese soldiers 

Bruce already knew that the Corsair was an American plane that was in action during World War II. Further research revealed that the USS Natoma Bay was an aircraft carrier that was part of an Iwo Jima operation during WWII. He was astonished to find that a pilot named Jack Larsen had been based on USS Natoma Bay

He was able to track down James McReady Huston Jr of Pennsylvania, who had been killed during WW II by Japanese forces on March 3, 1945, near Iwo Jima, aged 21, and whose life seems to match with James’s statements. 

Confirming James’s claim, eyewitnesses revealed that Huston Jr’s plane was shot in the engine by Japanese forces, after which it exploded in a ball of fire and crashed into the sea.  

James also made two startling claims with regards to his memory of the periods between incarnations –  

He chose Bruce and Andrea Leininger as his parents. He gave correct details of the hotel in Hawaii where they have been vacationing prior to his conception.

He had named his three GI Joe dolls – Billy, Walter, and Leon. When Bruce asked about it, he answered, ‘Because that’s who met me when I got to heaven.’  Bruce later learned that three squadron-mates of Huston who had been killed prior to his own death had been named Billie Peeler, Walter Devlin, and Leon Conner. 

Astonishingly, the list of the Natoma dead included names of all three men and their photos showed similar hair color as James’s GI Joe dolls!

Finally, Bruce and Andrea were able to track down James Huston’s 84-year-old living sister – Anne Barron.

Anne verified the claims that James had made about his previous family, which were only known to Huston. Anne became fully convinced that he was, indeed, her brother Huston, reborn!

Some critics have debunked the theory of Fighter Pilot James Huston Jr’s reincarnation as James Leininger, nevertheless, the case continues to amaze everyone around the world. 

After four years of research, Bruce and Andrea Leininger documented the reincarnation case in the book titled, “Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation Of A World War II Fighter Pilot.”

James Huston Jr’s reincarnation as James Leininger has been one of the most talked-about cases of reincarnation, particularly in the western world. 

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Reference –

James Leininger (reincarnation case)

Reincarnated! Our son is a World War II pilot come back to life