as Lt . Col . Jimmy Doolittle ’ s co-pilot in a slightly larger flyer : the B-25 Mitchell bomber .
Given how I spent my Saturdays , it wouldn ’ t surprise many that I had made up my mind early to be either an Army Air Corps pilot or if that didn ’ t pan out , a forest ranger . I applied for the Army Air Corps , but at that time they had very little funding , which made recruitment difficult . I also had problems with my tonsils and broke several teeth playing street hockey , so I figured becoming a forest ranger was my most likely destiny . Then , between my sophomore and junior year of high school , I heard about a civilian pilot training program . From there , things moved rather quickly . I applied and was accepted into the primary aviation program in St . Louis and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in November , 1940 . Eventually , I joined up with the 17th Bombardment Group at Pendleton , Oregon .
When Pearl Harbor was hit on December 7 , 1941 , we were on temporary duty in Augusta , Georgia , conducting mock war exercises with the Army . News of the strike came through on the radio and after that , we headed back to Pendleton to run sub patrol for several months . We ’ d fly loops off the coast of Portland , Seattle , and Everett , Washington , extending only so far out to sea before coming back in . After one of our pilots sank a Japanese sub off the Strait of Juan de Fuca , the situation intensified and we were transferred to Columbia , South Carolina .
I ’ m often asked how I ended up joining the Doolittle mission and to be honest , it was strictly by luck . When I arrived with the 17th Bomber Group in Columbia , the conditions were difficult . The airfield was under construction , which meant we could only use sections of the runways . We lived in tents . It wasn ’ t glamorous , but we survived . There was a bulletin board set up in front of the squadron leader ’ s tent with a note seeking volunteers for a dangerous
CREW NO . 1 - TARGET : TOKYO . PICTURED FRONT : LT . COL . JAMES H . DOOLITTLE ( PILOT ), LT . RICHARD E . COLE ( CO-PI- LOT ). BACK : LT . HENRY A . POTTER ( NAVIGATOR ), SSGT . FRED A . BRAEMER ( BOMBARDIER ), SSGT . PAUL J . LEONARD ( FLIGHT ENGINEER / GUNNER ).
mission . Ultimately , the whole group and our commander volunteered , but during training , my pilot became ill and was disqualified from participating . We didn ’ t know any specifics , but were told to stay on base at Eglin Field in Florida and not to talk about our training . After some time , I went to see the operations officer , Captain Edward “ Ski ” York , and he told me “ the old man ” was coming in that afternoon . Of course from my early days flying model airplanes in Dayton , I knew who Doolittle was but I had never heard him called by that name . Sure enough , Doolittle arrived within the hour and Capt . York told me , “ If you do okay with him , you ’ ve got yourself a pilot .” He never turned me away , so I guess I did alright .
Although we wouldn ’ t know the full details of our mission — most of us thought we ’ d be landing somewhere in the South Pacific — we knew we were in for a challenge . We later find out , the “ Doolittle Raid ,” as it came to be known , called for an airstrike on Japanese targets by 16 of our B-25 Bombers . After hitting those military targets in Japan , the crews were to land in China . The mission was a response to Pearl Harbor and it was intended to alert the Japanese forces that they weren ’ t untouchable . It prompted Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto ’ s attack on Midway , which proved a decisive victory for the U . S . in the Pacific Theater .
To prepare for the Raid , we had to get the B-25s equipped to perform a takeoff from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier with four 500-lb payload bombs . Other modifications included removing the lower gun turret , installing a bladder tank in the bomb bay , and replacing the Norden bombsight with a makeshift aiming sight . To fool any enemy planes approaching from the rear , we also installed two mock gun barrels to the tail cone . Our great deception was actually just two broomsticks painted black .
Although only sixteen aircraft would eventually launch , 24 crews were originally assembled and we began our training at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida . The challenge undertaken there
8 WORLD WAR II CHRONICLES