William ‘Billy Jack’ Dieter (October 5, 1912 - April 18, 1942) was a sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps. Dieter served as a bombardier on the Green Hornet, the sixth plane to take off from a US carrier as part of the Doolittle Raid. This raid was a bold long-range retaliatory air raid on the Japanese main islands, on April 18, 1942, four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack was a major morale booster for the United States.
Early Life and Enlistment
Dieter was born on October 5, 1912, in Vail, Iowa, to Jesse T. Dieter and Mary McCalpin Dieter. After living in Vail, the family moved to South Dakota, Potosi, Missouri, and eventually, Tulelake, California. Dieter then enlisted in the Field Artillery on October 29, 1936, at Vancouver Barracks in Washington. Dieter served a three year term, then left the Army.
The Doolittle Raid
In early 1942, then lieutenant colonel James Doolittle volunteered for and received General H.H. Arnold's approval to lead a bombing raid on mainland Japan. On April 18, 16 North American B-25 Mitchell crews took off from the Hornet, reached Japan, and bombed their targets. Dieter was the bombardier in the sixth plane, the 'Green Hornet', piloted by 1st Lt. Dean E. Hallmark and 2nd Lt. Robert J. Meder.
While one crew chose to land in Russia due to their bomber's unusually high fuel consumption, the other fifteen planes then headed for their recovery airfields in China. Most of the other crewmen who participated in the one-way mission bailed out over China when their B-25s ran out of fuel; however, the Green Hornet crashed near the coast of China. Dieter and fellow crew member S/Sgt. Donald E. Fitzmaurice died in the crash.
The Crash of the Green Hornet
The following is an excerpt from a letter written in August 1945, by Earl L. Dieter (Billy Jack's uncle and a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest) to a number of his relatives, including this copy to Billy Jack's parents:
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"1st. Lt. Dean E. Hallmark was pilot of the plane on which Lt. Neilson was Navigator and Bill was Bombadier. They flew from the Hornet directly over Tokyo and Bill dropped his bombs 100% on his target, a large steel mill. The pilot headed for China, and at about 8:30 the night of April 18, 1942, while flying very low over the water, he noticed the gas tanks were empty and gave the order to prepare to crash. Hardly had the order been given, and without much preparation, the plane crashed into the sea, just a few hundred yards from the coast. Bill was riding in the nose of the plane, and when the plane crashed, the nose was broken open, apparently swooping Bill out of the plane. Capt. Nielson said that when he got out of his position, Bill was already standing on top of the plane, and that he said, "I am hurt all over". They all adjusted their life belts, and started swimming to shore. Lt. Hallmark was helping Corporal Donald Fitzmaurice of Lincoln, Neb., and someone was helping Bill. When Lt. Neilson reached shore he said he was exhausted and collapsed. On awakening the next morning, he saw the bodies of Bill and Corp. Fitzmaurice which had washed ashore."
The shore where the accident took place was at the foot of a little village of 300 or 400 people, named Shipu, which in turn was about 20 or 30 miles south of Ningpo. Any large map of China will show the town of Ningpo.
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