Review: Soul Survivor

When Bruce and Andrea Leininger’s young son, James, showed an interest in airplanes, they didn’t think too much about it.  Then, when James turned two years old, he began having vivid nightmares about being in a plane crash and being trapped in the cockpit.  His verbal skills weren’t great yet, but he’d say that the “airplane crash on fire little man can’t get out”  and when they asked who the little man was, James would reply that it was him.    The Leiningers were concerned about the nightmares, but initially attributed them to a move they had recently made or his age or even television.

As James got older and his language skills improved, he began telling his parents things that didn’t make sense to them.  He said he flew a Corsair off of the Natoma and the Japanese shot him down.  He also mentioned some other people who were on the ship.  Andrea had read a book about reincarnation in children and began to suspect that James’ soul had been on the Earth previously.  She got in contact with Carol Bowman, the author of Children’s Past Lives and got some tips from her on how to cope with the situation.

Since Bruce is a deeply religious man, he couldn’t accept Andrea’s theory and began some intensive research trying to disprove it.  Instead of disproving Andrea’s theory, it seems like all the evidence he uncovered only further proved it.  Bruce also became very involved with and attached to the brave men who served on the USS Natoma Bay.

The Leiningers were leery when they were approached by TV producers because they didn’t want to be labeled crackpots and they were worried about the affect it would have on James, but they finally relented to some interviews.  Here’s one of several clips that have appeared on TV:

I read Soul Survivor by Bruce and Andrea Leininger with Ken Gross in anticipation of their interview on Blog Talk Radio.  The book is written in a conversational tone, so it’s an easy read – you feel like you’re listening to an old friend.  There were some details included that I felt weren’t necessary for the story, but they didn’t detract too much.  Besides the story of James, there are some interesting stories about the brave men who served on the USS Natoma Bay during World War II.  No matter how you feel about reincarnation, this book will make you think.  I think the Leiningers were meticulous in their research and they’re sincere in their beliefs, but  after reading Soul Survivor and mulling over the facts for a few days, I still don’t know what to think.   This is a great book for anyone interested in reincarnation.

This is my fifth book for the WWII Challenge.