30 seconds over Tokyo
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:49 pm
It was dawn of April 18,1942 and the 16 Army B-25's of the secret mission sat on the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet ready for their launch against Japan. The leader of the mission, was the intrepid Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. The crews were all hand chosen by their commander and had trained very hard for the mission. Suddenly the crews were alerted and the big Army bombers were to launch. They had been spotted by a Japanese patrol boat some 250 miles from their projected launch point. Even though the Japanese boat was sunk, the decision was made to launch in case the boat had been able to radio a warning.
One of the crew members of Doolittle's airplane crew number one. was a person little known even today to most Americans. He was the navigator/bombardier for the mission, Hank Potter a young lieutenant then. Hanks biggest contribution to the mission was not to be his participation in the mission but his design of a light wooden simple bomb sight to be used in the mission. Weight being of primary concern in the launch of the bombers from a carrier deck, Doolitle had asked his navigator, bombardier if he could make a bomb site that would take the place of the heavy Nordon bomb sight. Hank met the challange and made sixteen of the small but effective wooden devices.
Hank Potter retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of Colonel, He lived out his retirement years in San Marcos , Texas where he was a very active member of the Centex Wing of the CAF. Hank was alway present when the hard work was to be done in the main hanger. He and I had the misfortune of putting up the folding chairs after the USO dance from the night before at the Gathering of Memories Air show in 1998; He , like so many others that did so much for us during WWII, has passed on. He was one of the most jovial war hero's I had ever known.
After the famous mission over Tokyo, Hank like all of the survivors went into combat in other theaters of the war. He was a B-26 navigator in the North African theater and later the European theater.
I feel lucky to have known Hank Potter . Before he died he made a replica bomb sight for the CAF Museum in San Marcos airport, like the one he used to drop his bombs on Tokyo in 1942.
One of the crew members of Doolittle's airplane crew number one. was a person little known even today to most Americans. He was the navigator/bombardier for the mission, Hank Potter a young lieutenant then. Hanks biggest contribution to the mission was not to be his participation in the mission but his design of a light wooden simple bomb sight to be used in the mission. Weight being of primary concern in the launch of the bombers from a carrier deck, Doolitle had asked his navigator, bombardier if he could make a bomb site that would take the place of the heavy Nordon bomb sight. Hank met the challange and made sixteen of the small but effective wooden devices.
Hank Potter retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of Colonel, He lived out his retirement years in San Marcos , Texas where he was a very active member of the Centex Wing of the CAF. Hank was alway present when the hard work was to be done in the main hanger. He and I had the misfortune of putting up the folding chairs after the USO dance from the night before at the Gathering of Memories Air show in 1998; He , like so many others that did so much for us during WWII, has passed on. He was one of the most jovial war hero's I had ever known.
After the famous mission over Tokyo, Hank like all of the survivors went into combat in other theaters of the war. He was a B-26 navigator in the North African theater and later the European theater.
I feel lucky to have known Hank Potter . Before he died he made a replica bomb sight for the CAF Museum in San Marcos airport, like the one he used to drop his bombs on Tokyo in 1942.
When the last of the ww11 generation is gone the heartbeat of America will be silent 