Over the years the term ‘hero’ has been distorted to the extent that it is hard to differentiate between a faux-hero and a true hero. We call athletes heroes for playing games that excite us. We call someone a hero who calls the authorities with a tip leading to the arrest of a terrorist or wanted criminal. Heroes, my ass! Cops, firefighters and members of the military are true heroes.
A hero is someone who risks his own life on behalf of others. It is shameful that many still believe former football star O. J. Simpson, a murderer and convicted robber, is a hero.
Greg Countie and Lee Lawrence are true heroes. Both are sergeants with the Houston Police Department who also did a tour of duty in Iraq as military reservists. Greg sent me the following FAA report on William Bower who took part in and survived the famous Doolittle bombing raid on Tokyo during WWII. If you asked today’s high school graduates about the Doolittle raid you would get a blank look, but you can bet they will know all about America’s star athletes. What a shame!
A FINAL FLYOVER
Focus FAA
May 26, 2011
To commemorate Memorial Day, Focus FAA is posting this story about an American hero and how the FAA was able to grant him his final wish. We also use this occasion to remember with gratefulness the sacrifice of so many Americans.
William Bower never asked a lot from his country, and even if he had, it's doubtful this country could repay its debt to him and so many other Americans like him.
But the United States, and particularly the FAA, was able to fulfill one final request of Bower's. The retired Air Force colonel and WWII veteran asked that a B-25 bomber be allowed to fly over his grave upon his burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
The B-25 is significant to this story, because it was the type of plane that Bower piloted during the famous Doolittle bombing raid on Japan during WWII. The raid — named after its leader Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle — was a huge morale lift for Americans, coming shortly after the catastrophe at Pearl Harbor, when America's fortunes seemed at low tide. Sixteen bombers carrying 80 crewmembers took off on April 16, 1942 from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier to strike at the heart of Japan.
There were several catches: a B-25 had never flown off the deck of a carrier before, and no one was sure if it was possible. The other catch: the plane could not carry enough fuel for a return trip. After the bombing raid was completed, pilots were to ditch their planes in the ocean, or perhaps in China, if they could reach the mainland.
All planes made it off the carrier, reached their targets and fulfilled their missions. One plane made it to Russia, where the crew was interned for 14 months. The other planes either ditched in the water or over China. Seven men from the mission died while bailing out, or from drowning, execution by the Japanese, or from malnutrition. The story of the Doolittle Raid lives on in military annals.
The end of this story began a few weeks ago when William Bower died at the age of 94. His family approached the Transportation Security Agency for a waiver to allow the civilian flight of a B-25 through restricted airspace (Arlington National Cemetery is within restricted airspace). The TSA denied the waiver, not understanding the back story of this unusual request.
But controllers at the Potomac TRACON understood the symbolism of the event. Determined to help the Boiwer family, the TRACON notified JJ Johnston, manager of the National Capital Region Coordination Center.
Johnston was familiar with the Doolittle Raid and its significance in U.S. military history. He knew that “due to the special nature of the requirement, the sensitivity of the event, and internally [at the FAA], it was the right thing to do.
“I took it upon myself to work with the TSA and the other air security partners in the national capital region to take a second look and — consistent with security protocols — get this approved,” Johnston said.
Johnston knew he had to hustle, because the funeral was only two weeks away. He provided William Bower's background and history, and information on the raid, to the TSA. “I knew I could make a convincing argument,” he recalled. He was right. The TSA agreed to a waiver for the flight.
Natalie Smith, the procedures manager at Potomac TRACON, coordinated the flight path, while
Johnston worked on the air security side of things.
“Everyone was terrific and jumped on board to get it done,” said Johnston.
On the day of the funeral, Johnston and his staff watched as the B-25 was put into its holding route to await its cue. “We watched the entire flight come in toward D.C. and climb slowly back out towards the east,” said Johnston. It was an emotional moment for all involved.
“I was so proud to be part of it,” he said.
Thomas Casey, director of Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, an organization dedicated to the memory of the raiders, who helped fulfill the pilot's final wish, offered his “deepest thanks” to everyone involved. “The Bower family may never realize the time and negotiating involved in this effort; however, they will see and hear the results at 1100 hours on Monday April 16 on a hill at Arlington National Cemetery, when [the B-25] breaks the morning silence overhead in a final salute to an American hero.”
Col.William Bower (Ret.) was buried on that day, just two days short of the 69 anniversary of the Doolittle Raid, with full military honors and the final flyover of a B-25, the plane he flew into history.
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