2 More Of The Legendary Doolittle Raiders Die

AirForceTimes.com - Springfield, VA, USA

2 more of the legendary Doolittle Raiders die

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Dec 3, 2008 5:49:14 EST

Two Doolittle Raiders who went on to serve long careers in the Air Force passed away in late November.

Retired Master Sgt. Edwin W. Horton, Jr., a Doolittle gunner and flight engineer, died Nov. 26 in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., from injuries suffered in a September automobile accident. Retired Maj. Gen. David M. Jones, a pilot, died of heart failure Nov. 25 at his home in Tucson, Ariz.

Their deaths leave nine survivors among the 80 aviators who flew the April 1942 mission, striking Tokyo and other Japanese cities, according to the Air Force.

Both airmen completed their B-25 missions over Japan and flew on to China, where they bailed out.

Horton and four other crew members parachuted out at night and hid from Japanese troops until finding safe refuge. Horton stayed in the China-Burma-India theater until July 1943. He retired from the Air Force in 1960 and had a second career as a civilian employee at the Air Force Climatic Laboratory, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., for more than 25 years.

After returning to the U.S., Jones took an assignment with the 319th Bomb Group in North Africa. He was shot down Dec. 4, 1942, over Bizerte, Tunisia, on his fifth mission.

German soldiers captured Jones and he spent the next 2½ years in a German prisoner of war camp, Stalag Luft III. Jones was involved in several escape attempts and was finally liberated in April 1945.

After the war, Jones’ career focused on bomber assignments and research and development work. He was director of the B-58 test force and at one time had more supersonic flying time in that aircraft than any other Air Force pilot, according to the Air Force.

In 1961, he was named vice commander of the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and deputy commander for the GAM-87 air-launched ballistic missile.

After the cancellation of the GAM-87, Jones became deputy chief of staff for systems at the Air Force Systems Command and in 1964 became deputy associate for manned space flight with NASA. In 1967, he took command of the Air Force Eastern Test Range at Cape Kennedy, Fla., for Manned Space Flight. He retired in 1973.