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Midtown - Downtown in Columbia in Richland County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
 

Doolittle Raiders

 
 
Doolittle Raiders Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 2008
1. Doolittle Raiders Marker
Inscription.
Symbolizing the strength and endurance of South Carolinians, these Palmetto trees commemorate the Columbia trained Doolittle Raiders whose courage and patriotism in the early hours of World War II rallied a beleagured nation to save Western civilization and all mankind from a descent into another Dark Age.
 
Erected 2002 by Presented to the City of Columbia by Columbia Green and John and Mary Rainey On The Occasions of the Raiders' 50th (1992) and 60th (2002) Reunions.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & SpaceWar, World II. A significant historical date for this entry is April 18, 1942.
 
Location. 33° 59.826′ N, 81° 2.831′ W. Marker is in Columbia, South Carolina, in Richland County. It is in Midtown - Downtown. Marker is at the intersection of Gervais Street (Highway 1/378) and Gist Street, on the right when traveling west on Gervais Street. At the Gervais St. entrance to S.C. State Museum complex. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Columbia SC 29201, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Williams Street / Gist Street (within shouting distance of this marker); Columbia Canal (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Harnessing Water Power (about 500 feet away); Gervais Street Bridge
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(about 500 feet away); 1896 Power Plant (about 500 feet away); Congaree River Bridges (about 600 feet away); Huger Street (about 600 feet away); Confederate Printing Plant (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Columbia.
 
Also see . . .
1. Doolittle Raiders. (Submitted on April 26, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.)
2. The Wikipeda entry for the Doolittle Raid relates... The 17th BG, then flying antisubmarine patrols from Pendleton, Oregon, was immediately moved cross-country to Lexington County Army Air Base, Columbia, South Carolina, ostensibly to fly similar patrols off the east coast of the United States, but in actuality to prepare for the mission against Japan. (Submitted on April 26, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.) 

3. The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General "Jimmy" Doolittle. Doolittle was one of the pioneers of instrument flying and of advanced technology, while also being an outstanding combat leader, commanding the Twelfth, Fifteenth, and Eighth Air Forces during World War II. (Submitted on August 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

4. The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Photos
Doolittle Raiders Marker with Palmetto trees, as Mentioned on Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Stroud, 2008
2. Doolittle Raiders Marker with Palmetto trees, as Mentioned on Marker
. Here are some photos from before, during and after the Doolittle Raid. (Submitted on August 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 

5. James Doolittle, 96, Pioneer Aviator Who Led First Raid on Japan, Dies. James H. Doolittle, an aviation pioneer and a retired lieutenant general in the Air Force who led the daylight air raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities four months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, died yesterday at the age of 96. (Submitted on August 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.) 
 
Additional commentary.
1. Doolittle Raiders Recall 30 Seconds in History
New York Times
April 16, 1992

Fifty years ago Jimmy Doolittle, then a lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Forces, flew to a small air base south of here seeking volunteers for a World War II mission that he described only as top secret and extremely hazardous.

Nearly 140 men base volunteered, and 80 of those were selected. Their mission: bomb Tokyo.

It was daring and seemingly suicidal. The five-man crews, aboard 16 heavily loaded B-25 bombers, were to take off from an aircraft carrier 450 miles from their target, knowing there was no turning back. The bombers could not land on the carrier; instead, after dropping their bombs they were to continue on, hoping to land at
Doolittle Raiders Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Mike Stroud, 2008
3. Doolittle Raiders Marker
At the Gervais Street Entrance to S.C. State Museum Complex.
two primitive landing strips in Chinese territory that was not controlled by the Japanese.

On April 18, 1942 -- four months and 11 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor -- Colonel Doolittle's Raiders accomplished their mission.

Flying low, they approached Japan undetected and dropped 16 tons of bombs on factories and military installations in Tokyo and four other cities. The bombs caused little material damage, but they sent shock waves through Japan and lifted the morale of a dispirited America.

Somehow, 73 of the 80 crew members survived that historic mission. And on Thursday, 36 of the 40 who are still living will, for the first time, return to Columbia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the raid. Their leader, who was promoted to general and awarded the Medal of Honor for the raid on Japan, is now 95 years old and living in Monterey, Calif. But he is unable to attend the three-day celebration.

Since World War II ended, the Raiders have met every year except one, said Brig. Gen. Richard Knobloch of San Antonio, the chairman of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association.

As with all extraordinary events, the raid serves as the defining moment of their lives. They were young and, as one of the navigator-bombardiers, James Macia of San Antonio, said, "full of spit and vinegar."

They had been at the Columbia Army Air
Doolittle Raiders Marker -<br>Looking East Along Gervais Street image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brian Scott, August 9, 2009
4. Doolittle Raiders Marker -
Looking East Along Gervais Street
Base only two weeks when Colonel Doolittle sought their help. Few remember much about this city, but they did know the colonel, who had been a World War I flier and had a reputation as a daredevil.

Colonel Doolittle was counting on surprise. He knew the Japanese felt secure from an air attack because Japan was beyond the range of Army bombers.

"The old man," as his raiders call him, also knew that a B-25 could do the job from a Navy carrier. But his plans went askew on the rainy morning of April 18 when, some 800 miles at sea, a Japanese boat was spotted. The Americans sank the boat, but they did not know whether their whereabouts had been reported. The mission was quickly launched, but the Raiders knew they lacked the fuel to get to the landing strips in China.

They took off from the carrier Hornet at 8 A.M., hit their targets about noon and soared away to the west. They flew for nine hours more, but as the fuel tanks emptied, the crews of 11 of the planes parachuted out. Four other planes crash-landed near the Chinese coast, killing four crewmen, and the remaining plane landed in Vladivostok, Siberia.

Seven crewmen who parachuted out over Japanese-occupied China were captured, and three of them were executed. They were William G. Farrow, of Darlington, S.C.; Dean E. Hallmark, of Robert Lee, Tex., and Harold Spatz, of Lebo, Kan.

Columbia
Plane 1 Crew: Henry Potter, James Doolittle, Fred Braemer, Richard Cole, Paul Leonard image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Unknown Source
5. Plane 1 Crew: Henry Potter, James Doolittle, Fred Braemer, Richard Cole, Paul Leonard
and local businesses have planned and paid for the $115,000 Raiders celebration, which includes a state dinner, a ball, an exhibit at the South Carolina State Museum and the premiere of a play about the raid.

But the raid has already been documented in the 1943 movie "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," which was based on the book by Ted Lawson, a pilot who died earlier this year.

"I would do anything for these guys," said Marvin Chernoff, whose Columbia-based advertising and public relations firm coordinated the reunion. "I got very emotional the first time I met them. I'm told in '42 they were crazy, and they're crazy now. They are a great bunch of guys."
    — Submitted August 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 26, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 2,053 times since then and 25 times this year. Last updated on January 31, 2018, by Olivia Miller of Columbia, South Carolina. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on April 26, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.   4, 5. submitted on August 15, 2009, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024