A8
STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Remembering the Doolittle Raid
Key US action in WWII
had roots in Pendleton
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The Unites
States was less than fi ve months into
World War II and needed a serious
boost.
That came April 18, 1942, when
16 Army Air Force B-25 Mitchell
bombers took off from the aircraft
carrier Hornet in the North Pacifi c.
The 80 airmen raided Tokyo and
other parts of Honshu. This unprec-
edented joint service operation was
America’s fi rst off ensive action of
the war.
Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle — later a
four-star general — planned and led
the raid. Of the 16 planes and crews,
15 crashed, ditched or crash-landed.
One landed in the Soviet Union.
Still, the raid showed the U.S.
military could reach the far shores of
Japan. And the Pendleton Field mili-
tary base was central to the eff ort.
According to oregonencyclope-
dia.org, in November 1941, 14 North
American B-25 bombers arrived at
Pendleton Field on Pendleton’s Air-
port Hill, and in December, planes
from Pendleton Field fl ew antisub-
marine patrols along coastal areas as
part of the 2nd Air Force air defense
for the Northwest Pacifi c coastline.
That changes in January 1942, when
Pendleton Field was assigned the task
of providing heavy bombardment
unit training. The airfi eld was one of
four bases with runways long enough
to fulfi ll the training requirements.
The Army in February 1942 reas-
signed the B-25-equipped 17th Bom-
bardment Group at Pendleton Field
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Images of the airmen who trained in the early months of World War II at Pendleton
Field for the Doolittle Raid hang on a wall Monday, April 18, 2022, during the Pendle-
ton Air Museum’s dinner and fundraiser on the 80th anniversary of the raid.
to Columbia Army Air Base, South
Carolina, where Doolittle formed
volunteer crews to train for the raid.
To commemorate the 80th anni-
versary of the daring exploit, the
Oregon Army National Guard fl ight
facility on the west end of the East-
ern Oregon Regional Airport dedi-
cated new plaques for the Guard’s
B-25 exhibit. And the Pendleton Air
Museum that evening held a fundrais-
ing dinner with auctions at the Back-
Fire Station also in remembrance of
the raid, complete with senior mem-
bers of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post
922 presenting the colors.
Recalling the raid
PAM board member, retired Army
aviator Col. Tim Kelly, introduced
keynote speaker, retired Army Maj.
Gen. Fred Rees of Helix, to the sold-
out audience. Kelly pointed to pho-
tos of the brave bomber crew mem-
bers adorning the west wall. He noted
volunteers for the seemingly suicidal
mission served in the 17th Bombard-
ment Group, based at Pendleton Field
from June 1941 to February 1942.
Its four squadrons were the fi rst
to receive B-25s and most experi-
enced in operating them. Of the 80
airmen in the raid, 71 survived. Two
crew members drowned. The Japa-
nese captured eight, executing three
of them, and four died of starvation
and maltreatment.
Only Oregon native Staff Sgt.
Jake DeShazer lived to return to
Japan as a missionary. Other Raiders
died during the war.
Kelly’s fellow Vietnam War vet-
eran Rees graduated from Gris-
wold High School, the U.S. Mili-
tary Academy at West Point, New
York, and from the University of
Oregon Law School. Rees served
four times as adjutant general of
the Oregon National Guard. He was
chief of staff of U.S. Northern Com-
mand, director of the Army National
Guard and twice acting chief of the
National Guard Bureau. After retir-
ing, Rees returned to his family’s
ranch.
“From my earliest days, the sac-
rifi ces of veterans were impressed
upon my mind,” Rees said. “Five
uncles served in World War II, not
in B-25s, but in B-24 bombers in the
Southwest Pacifi c. All had stories to
share.”
He added, “There was a signifi -
cant amount of pride in Pendleton’s
association with the Doolittle Raid-
ers. As a youngster, the history of the
barracks, hangar and guard shacks
at the airport made an impression on
me.”
Rees recalled he was in second or
third grade in the early 1950s when
he saw the “Thirty Seconds Over
Tokyo” in a Pendleton movie house.
The 1944 fi lm starred Van Johnson
as pilot Ted Lawson and Spencer
Tracy as Doolittle. It was nominated
for technical Academy Awards and
won for best special eff ects.
Lawson wrote the book on which
the movie was based. He and three
other crew members were badly
injured while ditching on the China
coast. Only one member, engineer/
gunner, David Thatcher of Montana,
was in good enough condition to
help his comrades. He died in 2016,
aged 94, the second-to-last surviv-
ing Raider. Co-pilot Dick Cole died
in 2019 at the age of 103. The mis-
sion’s fl ight surgeon amputated Law-
son’s leg in China.
“The raid was important, so that
people knew we could strike back
after Pearl Harbor,” Rees said.
Just nine days before the raid,
Americans and Filipinos surren-
dered at Bataan.
“It was not a great time for the
people of the U.S.,” Rees continued.
“While the raid didn’t cause a lot of
damage, a morale boost swept the
country. People were thrilled. Each
aircraft had a story of derring-do,
skill, courage and patriotism, of 80
volunteers willing to take the fi ght
to the enemy.”
Memorials on display
Rees was instrumental in build-
ing a second Oregon Army National
Guard Aviation Support Facility at
Pendleton in 1996.
“It was in my mind to dedicate
the facility to the Doolittle Raiders
and Pendleton Field,” he said. “We
collected and displayed memorabilia
from the outset. At the dedication, we
were honored to host a few Raiders.”
And he wanted to have a display
of a B-25 Mitchell bomber, but that
didn’t pan out. The U.S. made thou-
sands of the planes, he said, but fi nd-
ing one proved a challenge,
“The surviving Doolittle Raid
plane was rumored still to exist in
Vladivostok, but that was too far,”
he said. “We found one in (Texas),
dismantled, transported and reas-
sembled it. With the help of the
air museum and community peo-
ple, we restored it in the Chinook
hangar. It’s now on display at the
facility.”
The Oregon Military Depart-
ment, Rees concluded, would like
to make a public plaza around the
bomber, and he thanked the crowd for
their “enthusiasm and support for this
event tonight to commemorate some
of America’s great heroes.”
Live auctioneer Ford Bonney of
Hermiston said, “Growing up here, I
didn’t know about this history. So it’s
great what you’re doing.”
East Oregonian news editor Phil
Wright contributed to this article.
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