It's been 75 years since 80 men took to the skies over the Pacific in B-25 Mitchell bombers on a daring mission to attack Tokyo, highlighting the firepower America could bring just months after the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
Colorized photos of the U.S. Army Air Forces pilots and crew before they took off for the raid have been released to mark the anniversary.
"I wanted to do this to remind people of the extraordinary courage and selflessness of these 80 men," said Lori Lang, who in recent weeks breathed life back into the original black-and-white photos.
Lang has colorized hundreds of military photos from the U.S. and all over the world, for families or collectors, and since 2014 has managed a Facebook page for enthusiasts called "Our Colorful History."
A Wisconsin native, she first took interest in colorizing military photos because of her great-great-great-grandfather, who served with the 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. Her passion quickly expanded to subsequent wars and general military history.
The majority of the images she colorizes come from archives and museums.
"Many people don't know about the Doolittle Raid and what it meant for this nation four months after Pearl Harbor," Lang told Military.com on April 16. "In black and white, the crew photos look historic, look like they belong in the past."
Dubbed the Doolittle Raiders after their commander, then-Lt. Col. James "Jimmy" Doolittle, the pilots and crew took off from the deck of the USS Hornet on the first airstrike against Japan on April 18, 1942.
Today, only one famed Raider remains.
Richard E. "Dick" Cole, 101, recently said his brief but necessary training got him through the raid. Cole, who retired as a lieutenant colonel, was the co-pilot of Crew No. 1.
"The flight was designed to do two things: One, to let the Japanese people know that they could be struck by air; and the other thing was the morale, and we did that so we were very proud of that," Cole told Military.com in September.
The Raiders have been repeatedly celebrated, most recently in the fall when the Air Force named its next-generation B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber the Raider -- which Cole was invited to announce.
Then-President Barack Obama signed a bill honoring the Raiders with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 for their "outstanding heroism, valor, skill and service to the United States." A year later, the medal was presented at the U.S. Capitol, and now sits at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
Lang said younger generations may not relate to the original black-and-white images.
"By colorizing them, the images come to life," she said in a statement. "This is the first time these images have been seen in color, or as near as I could get them to that point, since they were taken before the raid. For some of these men, this is the last photo they'd ever take. I hope that the families and friends of these crew members will be able to see the photos."
Here's a closer look at the photographs, along with captions provided by Lang:
Crew No. 1
Crew No. 1 (Plane #40-2344, target Tokyo): 34th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle, pilot; Lt. Richard E. Cole, copilot; Lt. Henry A. Potter, navigator; Staff Sgt. Fred A. Braemer, bombardier; Staff Sgt. Paul J. Leonard, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). After running low on fuel, all five members bailed out of the airplane over Haotian Guan, China, where they were assisted by the local Chinese to the Western Zhejiang Administration. All five crew members survived the mission.
Crew No. 2
Crew No. 2 (Plane #40-2292, target Tokyo): 37th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Travis Hoover, pilot; Lt. William N. Fitzhugh, copilot; Lt. Carl R. Wildner, navigator; Lt. Richard E. Miller, bombardier; Sgt. Douglas V. Radney, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). The pilot, Lt. Travis Hoover, was able to crash land the plane in a rice paddy in Japanese occupied Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. There, they were assisted by the Chinese to reach Western Zhejiang Administration. All five survived the mission.
Crew No. 3
Crew No. 3 (Plane #40-2270, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, (Left to Right) Lt. Charles J. Ozuk Jr., navigator; Lt. Robert M. Gray, pilot; Sgt. Aden E. Jones, bombardier; Lt. Jacob E. Manch, copilot; Cpl. Leland D. Faktor, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). Cpl. Leland D Faktor, far right, died when he fell off a cliff when the crew was forced to bail out over the mountains of China. The remaining four pilots were assisted by the local Chinese and made their way to Chu Hsien. Pilot Robert Gray was later killed in action during a combat mission on Oct. 18, 1942, while serving with the 341st Bomb Group in India. Robert Gray received the Distinguished Flying Cross for part in the Tokyo Raid.
Crew No. 4
Crew No. 4 (Plane #40-2282, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Everett W. Holstrom, pilot; Lt. Lucian N. Youngblood, copilot; Lt. Harry C. McCool, navigator; Sgt. Robert J. Stephens, bombardier; Cpl. Bert M. Jordan, flight engineer/gunner ((Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). All five survived the mission. Four remained in Indo-China where they continued to fly missions into 1943, Lt. McCool continued to fly missions in the European theater.
Crew No. 5
Crew No. 5 (Plane #40-2283, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Capt. David M. Jones, pilot; Lt. Ross R. Wilder, copilot; Lt. Eugene F. McGurl, navigator; Lt. Denver V. Truelove, bombardier; Sgt. Joseph W. Manske, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). All five crew members survived bailing out of their plane over Chu Hsien and were the first of the Raiders to reach China. Capt. Jones would later become a German POW during a mission in North Africa. He would be a prisoner of war for 2 ½ years and would help dig the tunnels that would later become known as the Great Escape. Two other crew members, 1st Lt. Eugene Francis McGurl and Lt. Denver Vernon Truelove, would be killed in action later in the war.
Crew No. 6
Crew No. 6 (Plane #40-2298, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Dean E. Hallmark, pilot; Lt. Robert J. Meder, copilot; Lt. Chase J. Nielsen, navigator; Sgt. William J. Dieter, bombardier; Sgt. Donald E. Fitzmaurice, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). After successfully completing their bombing run, the crew of the Green Hornet found themselves off the coast of China when fuel ran out. Lt. Hallmark ditched the plane in the ocean. Crew members Sgt. Dieter (far right) and Sgt. Fitzmaurice (center) did not survive the crash and drowned. The remaining crew swam ashore and were taken prisoner by the Japanese. On Oct. 15, 1942, Lt. Hallmark (second from left) was executed by the Japanese. First Lt. Robert Mader would die from beri-beri and dysentery on Dec. 11, 1942, while a prisoner of war. The only surviving crewmember, Chase J. Nielsen (far left), spent the remainder of the war as a Japanese prisoner. He would later testify at Japanese War Crime Trials.
Crew No. 7
Crew No. 7 (Plane #40-2261, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Ted W. Lawson, pilot; Lt. Dean Davenport, copilot; Lt. Charles L. McClure, navigator; Lt. Robert S. Clever, bombardier; Sgt. David J. Thatcher, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). Four of the five crew members would be injured when their plane ditched in the ocean off the China coast. Local Chinese bandaged them up and moved them to better medical facilities. Lt. Lawson would lose a leg and all his teeth in the raid. He later wrote the book, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," about his crew during the mission. Lt. Clever (Center) would be killed Nov. 20, 1942, while stationed in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in an air accident over Ohio. The remaining crew survived the mission and the war.
Crew No. 8
Crew No. 8 (Plane #40-2242, target Tokyo): 95th Bombardment Squadron, Capt. Edward J. York, pilot; Lt. Robert G. Emmens, copilot; Lt. Nolan A. Herndon, navigator/bombardier; Staff Sgt. Theodore H. Laban, flight engineer; Sgt. David W. Pohl, gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). Having been very low on fuel after their bombing run, the crew decided to land in Russia hoping they could refuel and fly on to China. Instead, the Russians kept the plane and the crew. After 13 months, the crew escaped to Iran. All five survived the mission and the war.
Crew No. 9
Crew No. 9 (Plane #40-2203, target Tokyo): 34th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Harold F. Watson, pilot; Lt. James N. Parker Jr., copilot; Lt. Thomas C. Griffin, navigator; Sgt. Wayne M. Bissell, bombardier; Tech. Sgt. Eldred V. Scott, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). All five crewmembers survived the mission and the war. The only injury was to Lt. Watson when the crew had to bail out.
Crew No. 10
Crew No. 10 (Plane #40-2250, target Tokyo): 89th Reconnaissance Squadron, Lt. Richard O. Joyce, pilot; Lt. J. Royden Stork, copilot; Lt. Horace E. Crouch, navigator/bombardier; Sgt. George E. Larkin Jr., flight engineer; SSgt. Edwin W. Horton Jr., gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). The only plane to sustain damage during the bombing attacks, all five members survived the mission and would continue to conduct missions in Indochina into 1943.
Crew No. 11
Crew No. 11 (Plane #40-2249, target Yokohama): 34th Bombardment Squadron, Capt. C. Ross Greening (89th RS), pilot; Lt. Kenneth E. Reddy, copilot; Lt. Frank A. Kappeler, navigator; Staff Sgt. William L. Birch, bombardier; Sgt. Melvin J. Gardner, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). The crew bailed out 200 miles inland from the coast. Lt. Reddy broke his kneecap and suffered a scalp wound and Sgt. Gardner sprained both ankles. The entire crew made it safely to Chuhsien where the two men received treatment.
Crew No. 12
Crew No. 12 (Plane #40-2278, target Yokohama): 37th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. William M. Bower, pilot; Lt. Thadd H. Blanton, copilot; Lt. William R. Pound Jr., navigator; Tech. Sgt. Waldo J. Bither, bombardier; Staff Sgt. Omer A. Duquette, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). All five survived the mission.
Crew No. 13
Crew No. 13 (Plane #40-2247, target Yokosuka): 37th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. Edgar E. McElroy, pilot; Lt. Richard A. Knobloch, copilot; Lt. Clayton J. Campbell, navigator; Master Sgt. Robert C. Bourgeois, bombardier; Sgt. Adam R. Williams, flight engineer/gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). All five would survive the mission and continue to fly missions in Indo-China for more than a year. From Lt. McElroy's mission report regarding the bail out: "Each man wore life jacket, gun belt with gun, knife, canteen, extra clips and first aid pack and flashlight. Ship was on an A.F.C.E. heading of 260° M. speed 160 M.P.H. Crew bailed out close together as possible at 2245 o'clock. I went last retarding throttles completely before leaving ship. Everyone landed safely except Sgt. Williams who landed in tree and wrenched his knee slightly."
Crew No. 14
Crew No. 14 (Plane #40-2297, target Nagoya): 89th Reconnaissance Squadron, Maj. John A. Hilger, pilot; Lt. Jack A. Sims, copilot; Lt. James H. Macia Jr., navigator/bombardier; Staff Sgt. Job Eierman, flight engineer; Staff Sgt. Edwin V. Bain, gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). All five would safely bail out over mainland China where they received help from the local Chinese to reach Chu Hsien. They would continue to serve in Indo-China and Europe.
Crew No. 15
Crew No. 15 (Plane #40-2267, target Nagoya): 89th Reconnaissance Squadron, Lt. Donald G. Smith, pilot; Lt. Griffith P. Williams, copilot; Lt. Howard A. Sessler, navigator/bombardier; Lt. Thomas R. White, flight engineer; Sgt. Edward J. Saylor, gunner (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). Pilot Donald Smith would survive the mission but would later be killed in action in Europe on Nov. 12, 1942. The remaining crew would survive the war.
Crew No. 16
Crew No. 16 (Plane #40-2268, target Nagoya): 34th Bombardment Squadron, Lt. George Barr, navigator; Lt. William G. Farrow, pilot; Sgt. Harold A. Spatz, engineer/gunner; Lt. Robert L. Hite, copilot; Cpl. Jacob DeShazer, bombardier (Colorized image © Copyright 2017 Lori Lang, LBL Graphic Design, from U.S. Air Force photo). This was the last plane to leave the USS Hornet, almost an hour after the first plane flown by Lt. Col. Doolittle. The crew was forced to bail out over Japanese held territory and were taken prisoner by the Japanese. First Lieutenant William Farrow (second from left) and Sgt. Harold Spatz (center) were executed by the Japanese on Oct. 15, 1942. Lts. Hite and Barr, and Cpl. DeShazer (far right), were prisoners of war for 40 months until they were liberated on Aug. 20, 1945.
-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
