Another Bit of US History Passes
Lt. Col. Robert Hite passed away on Sunday, 29 March 2015, in Nashville, TN. He was 95.
Hite was one of the 80 men who participated in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on 18 April 1942. That raid was launched from the USS Hornet using specially-trained Army Air Corps crews flying B-25 medium bombers.
It was also a true “one-way” mission. While the B-25 could take off from a carrier under favorable conditions, it could not land on one. The mission plan was to fly on to China after bombing Tokyo, and land there afterwards in airfields controlled by friendly Chinese forces.
However, the task force was spotted by a Japanese patrol boat approximately 200 miles farther east than the planned launch point; the raid was executed immediately afterwards. This meant the originally planned landing fields in China would almost certainly be unreachable before the aircraft ran out of fuel.
They went anyway.
Three US personnel were KIA during the raid; eight US personnel were captured and became a POWs afterwards. Hite was one of these unfortunate eight. He was held in captivity by the Japanese for 40 months.
Of those eight individuals captured by the Japanese, 4 died while POWs – three were executed, and one died of other causes. Hite was the last remaining living POW from the Doolittle Raid.
Hite left the service after World War II. However, during the Korean War Hite returned to duty from 1951 to 1955.
Hite was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in the Doolittle Raid. He also earned the Purple Heart during his captivity. Last year, Congress authorized a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the Doolittle Raiders. Unfortunately, it is not scheduled to be formally presented until the raid’s 73rd anniversary – less than 3 weeks from now.
Hite’s death leaves alive only two of the Doolittle Raiders – Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole and SSgt. David Thatcher.
Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms. You’ve certainly earned that.
Category: Air Force, Army News, Blue Skies, Navy
Rest In Peace Lt. Col. Robert Hite. I read of his and the other “Raiders” exploits when I was in high school. “30 Seconds Over Tokyo”.
GROUP!!
ATTEN-SHUN!!
PRE-SENT ARMS!!
(pause)
OR-DER ARMS!
REST!
(damn! it’s dusty in here)
RIP, hero, RIP.
“I have served in the company of heroes…”
RIP Sir.
Unlike so many others, you have earned it.
Another silver goblet inverted, but not forgotten. Thank you Sir.
We really are losing these guys at an alarming rate now…soon there will be none left from that time. A true generation of heroes.
RIP indeed sir, you’ve certainly earned that and more.
R.I.P. Warrior. Enjoy Heaven, you did your time in hell.
Rest in peace, LTC Hile. Hooah
Rest in Peace, sir.
B-25s off a carrier .. they just don’t make them like they used to.
RIP Sir!
Here’s a site by the son of one of the raiders. It is chocked full of facts about the men and what became of them. Some were killed in later combat. Four became POWs—of the Germans! http://www.doolittleraider.com/ And here’s what the news of the raid looked like in papers across the country: https://www.google.com/search?q=doolittle+raid+newspapers&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=_RAcVZbpIYHZggSG04L4CQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1024&bih=697
Quick two-minute recap, complete with footage of the planes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyeAj1Ik2Bw
It’s often observed that the raid didn’t do much damage in Tokyo, and was more about morale, but as they point out in that video, it led the Japanese to expand their perimeter, which meant much more territory to defend, and led them to Midway…so these guys truly had a major impact on the Allies winning the war.
RIP Sir, than you for your service and sacrifices. I hope we can live up to what you earned for us.
To get a feel for what these guys did, check out the 1944 movie, “30 Seconds Over Tokyo”.
It really stands up after all these years, real B-25’s and real flying.
Movie Trivia: The aerial scenes over Tokyo were shot over Oakland, California. There happened to be a real oil refinery fire the day of the shooting and they used the smoke to recreate bomb damage in the film.
True heroes. RIP
Talk about balls!
These men had balls!
RIP Raider!