William John Dieter

The crew of the Green Hornet (crew #6) just before take off for the mission on USS Hornet (CV-8), 18 April 1942.(Left to right) Lt. Chase J. Nielsen (navigator), Lt. Dean E. Hallmark (pilot), Sgt. Donald E. Fitzmaurice (engineer-gunner), Lt. Robert J. Meder (co-pilot), Sgt. William J Dieter (bombardier)

In early 1942, then lieutenant colonel James Doolittle volunteered for and received General H.H. Arnold's approval to lead the top secret attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, with targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya.

Exhibit at USAF Museum depicting a B-25B Mitchell in preparation for the Doolittle Raid.

After training at Eglin Field and Wagner Field in northwest Florida, Dieter and the other volunteer flight crew members proceeded to McClellan Field, California for aircraft modifications at the Sacramento Air Depot, followed by a short final flight to Naval Air Station Alameda, California for embarkation aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

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, drowned in trying to swim to shore (possibly due to internal injuries suffered in the crash), while the other three crew members of the 'Green Hornet' were captured shortly afterwards by the Japanese.

The following is an excerpt from a letter written in August, 1945, by Earl L. Deiter, S.J., (Capt) Chaplain, U.S. Army.[2] Note that all spelling, capitalization, and punctuation is "as is" in the original.

"1st. Lt. Dean E. Hallmark was pilot of the plane on which Lt. Neilson was Navigator and Bill[3] 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, (when?[4]) 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[5] 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. Upon examing the body of Bill carefully, he noticed quite a few bruises which obviously hindered Bill from swimming and staying afloat, but apparently he became exhausted while still in the water and no doubt drowning was the cause of his death."

"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. The native Chinese built a coffin for Bill and Fitzmaurice, and buried the both of them just over a little knoll a few yards back from the shore where the accident happened."

As noted in the letter, Dieter was originally interred at Shipu, China by Chinese civilians near the site of the crash. His body was returned to the States for reburial after interment at Schofield Barracks, Mausoleum #2 in Oahu, Hawaii. In 1949, his body was relocated permanently to Golden Gate National Cemetery.