GREENFIELD, IOWA – The Iowa Aviation Museum has inducted three soldiers from Iowa who participated in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942, into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame. The investiture ceremonies took place November 15, 2014 at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield, Iowa. Among the inductees included U.S. Air Force Colonel Charles Ross Greening, U.S. Army Air Forces Corporal Leland D. Faktor, and U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant William J. Dieter. The event was themed “The Best Iowa Has to Offer.” (www.FlyingMuseum.com).
The center was decorated with pictures of Greening, Faktor and Dieter, their crews and enlarged photos of the activities of early morning 18 April, 1942, including other flight crews, and the 16 B-25s on the deck of the “Hornet,” and taking off to bomb Tokyo.
The audience consisted of family members, friends, local and state dignitaries and descendents of other crew members of the 16 bombers.
The evening opened and closed with a color guard presenting the nation’s and Iowa flags. After opening remarks by Greg Schildberg, a video of Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds was shown. The two remarked these three American heroes and Iowans rose to the occasion when their country needed them most and volunteered for a secret mission offering little chance of survival; they were truly “the best Iowa had to offer.”
Main speakers for the evening were USAF Major Corey O’Toole, grandson of Doolittle Raider William Dieter’s cousin. His short presentation focused on “Actions leading up to this country’s involvement in World War II.” Then Jim Bower, son of William Bower (Doolittle Raider pilot, plane 12) gave an almost minute-by-minute recount of the vast Japanese territory held in the south Pacific on 18 April 1942, mostly seized in the four short months prior to the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.
Bower showed pictures of the Japanese fishing vessel that radioed in they had found the secret task force. This forced the tough decision by Doolittle; turn around or dispatch to bomb Tokyo in daylight instead of night time with not enough fuel to make pre-arranged landing sites in China. At 8:15 am, crews were ordered to man their planes.
Bower continued to wow the crowd with details of the landings of the three Iowa Raiders: Pilot Col. Charles Ross Greening, engineer/gunner Leland Faktor and bombardier Sgt. William Dieter. Faktor was the first casualty of the raid when he parachuted out over mountainous terrain and fell off a cliff on landing. Dieter and another crewmember drowned while swimming to shore when their plane ditched in the water within sight of the China coast. Dieter suffered severe injuries when he was thrown through the Plexiglas nose from the crash landing. He continued to occupy the bombardier position to warn the pilots of their height above the water and rough terrain in case they should reach land while flying in the inclement weather. Greening’s entire crew survived and in a few short months Greening was reunited with Doolittle and flew bombing missions from Africa against the Germans and Axis powers.
Leland grew up in Plymouth, Iowa and was slightly more than one month from his 21st birthday when he was killed. Bill Dieter was 29 years old and hailed from Vail, Iowa. C. Ross Greening was born in Carroll.
A member of each of the families took the podium to say a few words. Leland’s sister, 87-year-old Jaunita Cole, was escorted to the podium. Though Bill Dieter wasn’t married, the Dieter family was in attendance in force. Ross Greening’s sons and families presented the Iowa Aviation Museum with a copy of Greening’s book, still in the wrapper and signed by the author.
The evening concluded in the fashion of Doolittle Raider reunions. Colonel Robert King (Ret), Executive Director of the Iowa Department of Veteran Affairs, invited everyone to raise their glasses and successively toast Raiders Dieter, Faktor and Greening. As is the custom, toasters bid farewell by drinking Hennessy cognac in goblets bearing the events of the evening.
