Tom Griffin (aviator)

Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, Crew No. 9, 34th Bomb Squadron. From left to right: Lt. Thomas C. Griffin, navigator; Lt. Harold F. Watson, pilot; TSgt. Eldred V. Scott, gunner; Lt. James F. Parker, copilot; SSgt. Wayne M. Bissell, bombardier. On the deck of USS Hornet, April 18, 1942

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the 17th BG immediately began anti-submarine patrols off the coast of Oregon and Washington.[4]

In February 1942, Griffin volunteered for a "secret mission", even though he did not know what duties were involved or any other details. This mission ended up being the critical Doolittle Raid, which was led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. The raid was daring not only because of the intended targets, the Japanese homeland, but because the pilots trained to take-off in a B-25 bomber from the deck of an aircraft carrier, something neither the designers of the B-25, nor the aircraft carrier, ever envisioned.[6]

Griffin was the navigator for ninth bomber, plane# 40-2303 nicknamed "Whirling Dervish", to depart the deck of the USS Hornet during the mission. On April 18, 1942, Griffin and his B-25's four crewmembers, took off from the Hornet and reached Tokyo, Japan. They bombed their target; Tokyo Gas and Electric Company building in the southern part of the city. They then headed for their recovery airfield in China. Running low on fuel due to the early launch of the raid, the B-25s failed to reach any of the designated safety zones in China. Griffin and his crew bailed out behind Japanese lines over the city of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province, China. The pilot of Griffin's bomber, First Lieutenant Harold F. Watson, was badly injured during the bail out and was carried to Hengyang in a porter by friendly Chinese civilians along with the bomber's crew. On April 30, after the crew made their way to Chungking, Griffin, Doolittle and other bomber crew members were decorated by Madame Chiang Kai-shek.[4][7]

After the raid, from April to August 1942, Griffin remained in China, where flew one additional combat mission with the 34th Bomb Squadron. He was later reassigned as a B-26 Marauder navigator with the 438th Bombardment Squadron of the 319th Bombardment Group. On September 1942, the unit was sent to England and later to North Africa. Griffin flew 19 missions in support of Operation Torch and in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily. On July 4, 1943, his aircraft was shot down over Sicily and after bailing out, he was captured and taken prisoner by the Germans. He remained as a prisoner of war until April 1945, when his prison camp was liberated by Allied troops.[4][8]