Here's another case I posted before:
About past lives ... Uniontown WW II flyer's memories in
Louisiana boy
By Judy Kroeger
DAILY COURIER
Thursday, April 15, 2004
James Leininger, 6, of Lafayette, La., loves airplanes.
"He has always been extraordinarily interested in airplanes," said
James' mother, Andrea Leininger, by telephone from their Louisiana
home.
Lots of kids love airplanes, but James' story is unique. He has
memories of being a World War II fighter pilot from Uniontown --
Lt. James McCready Huston, shot down near Iwo Jima in 1945.
At 18 months old, his father, Bruce Leininger, took James to the
Kavanaugh Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas, where the toddler
remained transfixed by World War II aircraft.
A few months later, the nightmares began.
"They were terrible, terrible," Andrea said. "He would scream,
'airplane crash, on fire, little man can't get out!' He'd be
kicking, with his hands pointing up at the ceiling."
When James was 2 1/2 years old, he and Andrea were shopping and he
wanted a toy airplane. "I said to him, 'Look, it has a bomb on the
bottom' and he told me, 'That's not a bomb, it's a drop tank.' I
had no idea what a drop tank was."
Neither of the Leiningers have ever served in the military, nor are
they involved with aviation. Until James began showing an interest
in planes, they had nothing aviation-related in their home.
Andrea's mother sent her a book by Pennsylvania author Carol
Bowman, called "Children's Past Lives." The Leiningers started
using Bowman's techniques of affirming James' nightmares and
assuring him that the experiences happened to a different person,
not the person he was now. "It helped. The nightmares stopped
almost immediately,"; Andrea said.
However, the memories did not stop, but they do not come up all the
time.
"I was reading him a story and he got a faraway look," she
recalled. "I asked what happened to your plane? 'Got shot,' he
said. Where? 'Engine.' Where did it crash? 'Water.' When I asked
him who shot the plane, he gave me a look like a teenager, rolling
his eyes, 'the Japanese,' like who else could it have been?
"What little kid knows about the Japanese," she asked. "He said he
knew it was a Japanese plane because of the red sun. My husband and
I were shell-shocked."
James provided other information. He said his earlier name was
James, he flew a Corsair and took off on a boat called the Natoma,
and he remembered a fellow flyer named Jack Larson.
Foods can set James' memories off, too.
"I hadn't made meatloaf in 10 years, so James had never had it,"
Andrea said. "When he sat down, he said, 'Meatloaf! I haven't had
that since I was on the Natoma.' When we were getting ice cream one
day, he told me that they could have ice cream every day on the
Natoma."
Bruce began researching his son's memories and discovered a small
escort carrier called the Natoma Bay, which was present at the
Battle of Iwo Jima. Twenty-one of its crew perished. Bruce also
discovered that only one of the Natoma's crew was named James,
James Huston.
James Huston's plane was hit in the engine by Japanese fire on
March 3, 1945, went down in flames and sank immediately. Flyer Jack
Larson witnessed the crash.
James Huston was born Oct. 22, 1923, in South Bend, Ind., and lived
in Uniontown during the 1930s. His father was James McCready Huston
Sr., of Brownsville, and Daryl Green Huston, who was born in New
Geneva and grew up in Uniontown. James was the only son.
According to Lt. Huston's cousin, Bob Huston of Flatwoods, the
elder Huston started several newspapers and published 13 books. He
was living in Brownsville when two Navy officers informed Huston of
his son's death.
"I didn't know James," Bob Huston said. His parents were divorced,
"but I knew his father. He stayed with us in Brownsville. James was
on his 50th mission and would have come home if he'd lived another
five minutes."
The Leiningers have been in touch with Bob Huston.
"I knew what happened to James (Huston)," he said. "I was excited
to hear from them (the Leiningers). The boy's mother was
flabbergasted when all this happened."
Andrea believes that her son is the reincarnation of Lt. James
Huston. "There are so many little things. I believe in
reincarnation now."
Her husband, Bruce, remains skeptical. "He started researching to
disprove what James was telling us, and ended up proving it all,"
he said. "I think he believes that James Huston's spirit has
manifested itself in our son somehow."
The Leiningers have been in touch with Natoma Bay veterans,
too.
"We didn't tell the veterans for a long time," Andrea said, "but
everyone has a story about having had a spirit visit them. James'
sister, Anne Barron, was in California talking to him the day he
was killed. Anne believes James' story, because he has provided so
much information that only her brother could have known.
"Families of the 21 men who were killed are talking to each other,"
continued Andrea. "It's brought them together."
The Leiningers plan to attend this year's Natoma Bay reunion and
bring their son, James.
Andrea doesn't know why this has happened.
"If he did come back, why? Maybe it was so my husband could write
the book about the Natoma Bay," she said. "It helped turn the tide
of the war in the Pacific and was one of the most highly decorated
carriers, but it hasn't received much recognition.";
She said her husband has been working on a chronology of what's
happened to James and is researching the book. "He has flight plans
from the missions and has spent a year and a half on research. In
the introduction, he's writing about how he found out about the
ship."
That discovery, through a toddler's fascination with airplanes and
nightmares, has led to a segment on national television.
ABC contacted Carol Bowman about her work on children's past lives
and James Leininger's experience was the most verifiable, Andrea
said. "And we agreed to share his story."
Chris Cuomo will host the segment, which airs tonight at 10.
Judy Kroeger can be reached at [email protected] or (724)
626-3538.
------------------------
From : [email protected]
Sent : Friday, July 01, 2005 1:12:03 AM
Subject : ABC Primetime Special
Check your local listings for ABC --- Primetime - Thursday, June 30
at 10 p.m.
ET:
"Primetime Live" takes a look at "The Unexplainable":
ABC Primetime television will be rebroadcasting the story of James
Leininger,
age 6, of Lafayette, La. James remembers a life as a?World War II
fighter pilot
from Uniontown -- Lt. James McCready Huston, shot down near Iwo
Jima in 1945.
For more information about this fascinating case, click on the
following link
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_189477.html
Have a WONDERFUL DAY
Children's Past Lives
Forum Staff
----------------------------
