Lt. Col. Horace "Sally" Crouch, a member of the Doolittle Raiders' daring bombing run over Japan during World War II, died Wednesday, in Columbia, S.C. of complications from pneumonia.
Crouch was one of 80 airmen aboard 16 B-25 bombers that made the daylight raid over Japan on April 18, 1942. His death leaves just 16 surviving Raiders.
For his valor, Crouch was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with an oak leaf cluster.
The Raiders, who took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet even though they were designed to take off from land, were led by famed aviator Jimmy Doolittle. They bombed Japanese military targets before crashing or bailing out over China.
The raid was designed as payback for Pearl Harbor four months earlier. Many considered it a suicide mission. Three airmen died in the raid and eight were captured. Three of the captives were executed.
Crouch and the other Raiders volunteered for secret dangerous duty while stationed at the Columbia Air Base, now the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. They did not know their target until they boarded the Navy aircraft carrier.
* * * A QMS Deezyne * * *