TOKYO RAID CREWS
The TOKYO RAID
18 APRIL 1942
CREW INFORMATION

Airplane No. 1 - #40-2344 (crew from 34th Squadron)
Take-off - 0820 (ship time); bailed out - China
Pilot - Lt. Col. James Harold Doolittle - b 14 Dec 1896, Alameda, CA - d 27 Sep 1993
Co-Pilot - Lt. Richard E. Cole - b 7 Sep 1915, Dayton, OH
Navigator - Lt. Henry A. Potter - b 22 Sep 1918, Pierre, SD
Bombadier - Sgt. Fred Anthony Braemer - b 31 Jan 1917, Seattle, WA - d 2 Feb 1989
Gunner - Sgt Paul John Leonard - b 19 Jun 1912, Roswell, NM - d 19 Jan 1943 (killed/action, Africa)

Airplane No. 2 - #40-2292 (crew from 37th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off - 0825 (ship time); wheels-up landing in rice paddy near Ningpo on coast of China.
Pilot - Lt Travis Hoover - b 21 Sep 1917, Melrose, NM
Co-Pilot Lt. William N. Fitzhugh - b 18 Feb 1915, Temple, TX - d 31Aug 1981
Navigator - Lt. Carl Richard Wildner - b 10 Jan 1917, Taylor, TX - d 7 Jun 1964 - d 7 Mar 1994
Bombadier - Lt. Richard Ewing Miller - b 2 Mar 1916, Fort Wayne, IN - d 22 Jan 1943 (killed/action, Africa)
Gunner - Sgt. Douglas V. Radney - b 17 Mar 1917, Mineola, TX - d 28 Jan 1994

Airplane No. 3 - #40-2270 (crew from 95th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off - 0830 (ship time); bailed out - China
Pilot - Lt Robert Manning Gray - b 24 May 1919 - d 18 Oct 1942 (killed/action China)
Co-Pilot - Lt. Jacob Earle Manch - b 26 Dec 1918, Staunton, VA - d 24 Mar 1958
Navigator - Lt. Charles John Ozuk - b 13 Jun 1916, Vesta Heights, PA
Bombadier - Sgt. Aden Earl Jones - b 7 Sep 1920, Flint, MI
Gunner - Cpl. Leland D. Faktor - b 17 May 1921, Plymouth, IA - d 18 Apr 1942, China (killed bailing out)

Airplane No. 4 - #40-2282 (crew from 95 Squadron, 17 Group)
Take-off 0833 (ship time); bailed out - China
Pilot - Lt. Everett W. Holstrom - b 4 May 1916, Cottage Grove, OR
Co-Pilot - Lt. Lucien Nevelson Youngblood - b 26 May 1918, Pampa, TX - d 28 Feb 1949
Navigator - Lt. Harry C. McCool - b 19 Apr 1918, La Junta, CO
Bombadier - Sgt. Robert J. Stephens - b 28 Feb 1915, Hobart, OK - d 13 Apr 1959
Gunner - Cpl. Bert M. Jordan - b 3 Sep 1919, Covington, OK

Airplane No. 5 - #40-2283 (crew from 95th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0837 (ship time); bailed out near Chuchow, China
Pilot - Capt. David M. Jones - b 18 Dec 1913, Marshfield, OR (P.O.W.- Germany for 2 1/2 years)
Co-Pilot - Lt. Ross R. Wilder - b 10 Jan 1917, Taylor, TX - d 7 Jun 1964
Navigator - Lt. Eugene Francis McGurl - b 8 Feb 1917 - d 3 Jun 1942, Burma
Bombadier - Lt. Denver Vernon Truelove - b 10 Nov 1919 - d 9 Jul 1943, Sicily (killed/action)
Gunner - Sgt. Joseph W. Manske - b 13 Apr 1921, Gowanda, NY

Airplane No. 6 - #40-2298 (crew from 95th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0840 (ship time); landed in area of Nangchang, near Poyang Lake, China.
Pilot - Lt. Dean Edward Hallmark - b 20 Jan 1914, Robert Lee, TX - d 15 Oct 1942, China (captured and executed by Japanese)
Co-Pilot - Lt. Robert John Meder - b 23 Aug 1917, Cleveland, OH - d 1 Dec 1943, China (captured, died in P.O.W. camp
Navigator - Lt. Chase Jay Nielsen - b 14 Jan 1917, Hyrum, UT (captured; in P.O.W. camp 3 1/2 years)
Engineer - Gunner - Sgt. Donald E. Fitzmaurice - b 13 Mar 1919, Lincoln, NE - d 18 Apr 1942, China (killed/action)
Bombadier - Sgt. William J. Dieter - b 5 Oct 1912, Vail, IO - d 18 Apr 1942, China (killed/action)

Airplane No. 7 - #40-2261 (crew from 95th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0843 (ship time); crash landed, China coast
Pilot - Lt. Ted W. Lawson - b 7 Mar 1917, Fresno, CA - d 19 Jan 1992
Co-Pilot - Lt. Dean Davenport - b 29 Jun 1918, Spokane, WA
Navigator - Lt. Charles L. McClure - b 4 Oct 1916, St. Louis, MO
Bombadier - Lt. Robert Stevenson Clever - b 22 May 1914, Portland, OR - d 20 Nov 1942, U.S.
Gunner - Sgt. David J. Thatcher - b 31 Jul 1921, Bridger, MT

Airplane No. 8 - #40-2244 (crew from 95th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0846 (ship time); landed in Russia, crew interned
Pilot - Capt. Edward J. York - b 16 Aug 1912, Batavia, NY - d 31 Aug 1984
Co-Pilot - Lt. Robert G. Emmons - b 22 Jul 1914, Medford, OR - d 2 Apr 1992
Navigator-Bombrdier - Lt. Nolan Anderson Herndon - b 12 Dec 1918, Greenville, TX
Engineer - S/Sgt. Theodore H. Laban - b 13 Jul 1914, Kenosha, WI - d 16 Sep 1978
Gunner - Sgt. David William Pohl - b 31 Dec 1921, Boston, MA - d 18 Feb 1999

Airplane No. 9 - #40-2250 (crew from 89th Recon. Squadron)
Take-off 0850 (ship time); bailed out 100 miles south of Poyang Lake
Pilot - Lt. Richard Outcalt Joyce - b 29 Sep 1919, Lincoln, NE - d 13 Feb 1983
Co-Pilot - Lt J. Royden Stork - b 11 Dec 1916, Frost, MN
Navigator - Lt. Horace Ellis Crouch - b 29 Oct 1918, Columbia, SC
Bombadier - Sgt. George Elmer Larkin, Jr. b 26 Nov 1918, New Haven, KY - d 18 Oct 1942 (killed in crash of flight from China to India)
Gunner - S/Sgt. Edwin Weston Horton, Jr. - b 28 Mar 1916, No. Eastham, MA

Airplane No. 10 - #40-2303 (crew from 34th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0853 (ship time; bailed out
Pilot - Lt. Harold Francis Watson - b 3 Apr 1916, Buffalo, NY -
Co-Pilot - Lt. James N. Parker - b 4 Feb 1920, Houston, TX - d 19 Jun 1991
Navigator - Lt. Thomas Carson Griffin - b 10 Jul 1917, Green Bay, WI (P.O.W. of Germans, 2 years)
Bombadier - Sgt. Wayne Max Bissell - b 22 Oct 1921, Walker, MN - d 9 Jan 1997
Gunner - S/Sgt. Eldred V. Scott - b 29 Sep 1907, Atlanta, GA - d 31Jul 1978

Airplane No. 11 - #40-2249 (crew from 89th Recon Squadron)
Take-off 0856 (ship time); bailed out
Pilot - Capt. Charles Ross Greening - b 12 Nov 1914, Carroll, IA d 29 Mar 1957 (P.O.W. of Germans, 2 years)
Co-Pilot - Lt Kenneth E. Reddy - b 29 Jun 1920, Bowie, TX - d 3 Sep 1942 (killed in crash, U.S.)
Navigator - Lt. Frank Albert Kappeler - b 2 Jan 1914, San Francisco, CA
Bombadier - S/Sgt. William L. Birch - b 7 Sep 1917, Galexico, CA
Gunner - Sgt. Melvin J. Gardner - b 6 Apr 1920, Mesa, AZ - d 3 Jun 1942, Burma (killed in crash)

Airplane No. 12 - #40-2278 (crew from 37th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0859 (ship time); bailed out
Pilot - Lt. William H. Bower - b 13 Feb 1917, Ravenna, OH
Co-Pilot - Lt. Thadd Harrison Blanton - b 25 Feb 1919, Archer City, TX - d 27 Sep 1961
Navigator - Lt. William R. Pound, Jr. - b 18 May 1918, Milford, UT - d 13 Jul 1967
Bombadier - Sgt. Waldo J. Bither - b 31 Oct 1906, Houlton, ME - d 25 Feb 1961
Gunner - Sgt. Omer Adelard Duquette - b 25 Jan 1916, W. Warwick, RI - d 3 Jun 1942, Burma (killed/action)

Airplane No. 13 - #40-2247 (crew from 37th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0901 (ship time); bailed out
Pilot - Lt. Edgar E. McElroy - b 24 Mar 1912, Ennis, TX
Co-Pilot - Lt. Richard A. Knobloch - b 27 May 1918, Milwaukee, WI
Navigator - Lt. Clayton J. Campbell - b 14 Mar 1917, St. Maries, ID
Bombadier - Sgt. Robert C. Bourgeois - b 28 Sep 1917, Lecompte, LA
Gunner - Sgt. Adam Ray Williams - b 27 Sep 1919, Gastonia, NC - 30 Nov 1993

Airplane No 14 - #40-2297 (crew from 89 Recon. Squadron)
Take-off 0907 (ship time); bailed out
Pilot - Maj. John A. Hilger - b 11 Jan 1909, Sherman, TX - d 3 Feb 1982
Co-Pilot - Lt. Jack A. Sims - b 23 Feb 1919, Kalamazoo, MI
Navigator-Bombadier - Lt. James Herbert Macia, Jr. - b 10 Apr 1916, Tombstone, AZ
Engineer - S/Sgt. Jacob Eierman - b 2 Feb 1913, Baltimore, MD - 16 Jan 1994
Gunner - Sgt. Edwin V. Bain - b 23 Sep 1917, Greensboro, NC - d 19 Jul 1943, Italy (killed/action near Rome)

Airplane No. 15 - #40-2267 (crew from 89th Recon. Squadron)
Take-off 0915 (ship time); bailed out
Pilot - Lt. Donald G. Smith - b 15 Jan 1918, Oldham, SD - d 12 Nov 1942 (killed/action, British Isles)
Co-Pilot - Lt. Griffith Paul Williams - b 10 Jul 1920, Chicago, IL (P.O.W., Germany, 2 years)
Navigator-Bombadier - Lt. Howard Albert Sessler - b 11 Aug 1917, Boston, MA
Engineer - Sgt. Edward Joseph Saylor - b 15 Mar 1920, Brusett, MT
Gunner - Lt. Thomas Robert White - b 29 Mar 1909, Haiku, HI (Medical Corps) - d 29 Nov 1992

Airplane No. 16 - #40-2268 (crew from 34th Squadron, 17th Group)
Take-off 0919 (ship time); crashed on China coast sout of Hanchung
Pilot - Lt. William G. Farrow - b 24 Sep 1918, Darlington, SC - d 15 Oct 1942, China (executed by Japanese)
Co-Pilot - Lt. Robert L. Hite b 11 Jan 1909, Sherman, TX (P.O.W. - 3 1/2 years)
Navigator - Lt. George Barr - b 6 Apr 1917, Brooklyn, NY - d 12 Jul 1967 (P.O.W. - 3 1/2 years)
Bombadier - Cpl. Jacob Daniel DeShazer - b 2 Feb 1913, Baltimore, MD (P.O.W. - 3 1/2 years)
Gunner - Sgt. Harold A. Spatz - b 14 Jul 1921, Lebo, KS - d 15 Oct 1942, China (executed by firing squad)


SOURCES: The Doolittle Raid: America's Daring First Strike Against Japan by Carroll V. Glines; Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military/Avation History; 1991.

The First Joint Action by Colonel Charles R. Greening; monograph submitted to the Faculty of the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, VA; 21 Dec 1948.

Social Security Death Benefits Index


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