If you like military history

[Captain Liger 0]

I know I could've posted on a different thread but this is a pretty popular place and most of you know me from here and military and politics are intertwined so I said 'what the heck.'

Some of you know that I majored in history and every chance I get I try to study our nation's military history and on a personal level do my best to interact with it. I posted MONTHS ago on the football forum looking for info on my late relative Dean Hallmark who played football at Auburn in the mid 1930s. I already know a great deal about him and at the time was hoping someone had access to a Glomerata from either 1936 or 37 and could find his photo for me. At any rate, Dean was born and raised in the great state of Texas and grew up in Greenville. After graduating from high school he played football at Paris (TX) Junior College before transferring to Auburn on a football scholarship in 1936. "His freshman photo in the 1936 Glomerata shows a handsome, serious-looking young man. He was an outstanding lineman on the 1936 freshman football team, which beat Georgia Tech and Birmingham-Southern in the only two games they played. His name is referenced in that same Glomerata as an outstanding plebe on the team. But Hallmark's ambition was not focused on being a football star at Auburn. He intended to become a pilot, and with war threatening in Europe, he dropped out of Auburn in 1937 and later joined the Army Air Corps."*

Dean went on to become one of the pilots in the Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942. The Raid was the first retaliatory strike against Japan after Pearl Harbor. The Raid itself wasn't meant to do any real damage to Tokyo but, rather, hurt the pride of the Japanese people, force Japan to redeploy aircraft closer to the home islands, and give a morale boost to the American people. Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle led a flight of 16 B-25B Mitchell medium bombers off the deck of the USS Hornet and struck targets in and around Tokyo. Dean's target was steel mills. Because the Raid had to launch early (they had been spotted by Japanese picket boats) the Raiders found themselves running low on fuel as they approached the Chinese coast. Reaching the predesignated safe fields were now out of the question and all crews either bailed out over China or ditched in the ocean just offshore. One bomber diverted to Russia because it was burning fuel and extremely fast rate than the other aircraft. The engines on Dean's plane cut out about three miles short of the coast and he opted to ditch in the sea. Of the 5 crewmen, two were killed as a result of the ditching and drowned. Dean, his copilot Bob Meder, and his navigator Chase Nielsen survived the crash and swam to shore where they later buried the bodies of the two dead crewman that eventually washed up. Trying to evade capture, Dean and his survivng crew were captured by the Japanese about a week later. They were taken to Shanghai where they discovered that the crew of plane 16 had too been captured. A mock trial then took place in Tokyo. There were never told the charges against them, no translators were provided, and they were all found guilty of "war crimes" and sentenced to death. Afterwards, they were all forced to sign "confessions" that were written in Japanese and were not translated for them. Dean just happened to sign a confession that said he intentionally bombed and strafed schools and hospitals. The death sentences in October of '42 were downgraded to life imprisonment except for three, Dean being one of the three. On October 15, 1942, Dean, along with the other two Raiders sentenced to die, was executed by a firing squad. Their bodies were immediately cremated and the ashes intentionally mislabeled to cover up what had happened. Dean's copilot, Bob Meder survived being executed but later died in the POW camp from malnourishment, dysentery, and beri-beri. Dean's navigator, Chase Nielsen, was the only member of Crew 6 to survive the war and he is still alive today. He testified in the war crimes trials after the war and found the ashes of the cremated Raiders. Dean is today buried at Arlington National Cemetary. He was posthoumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

This past April, between my leaving Ft. Hood and reporting to Ft. Gordon, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the 64th Annual Doolittle Raiders Reunion. It was held this year at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. Of the sixteen surviving Raiders today, eight were able to attend. I was even more fortunate to be able to attend as a member of the Raider Family and had unrestricted access to every aspect of the reunion. It was quite an honor to be to mingle and just stand among these American heroes. According to all the Raiders and their family members, I was the first EVER member of Dean's family to show up at a reunion. They were just as happy to see me as I was them. I was able to spend time with Chase and talk about Dean. I was also able to talk to Robert Hite who was the copilot of crew 16 and who held Dean's head in his lap the night before he was executed. Quite moving. When Mr. Hite saw my nametag he immediately knew who I was and why I was there. Tears flowed from his eyes as steadily as water from a faucet. It was quite an emotional moment....for both of us. He and Chase both agreed that Dean was "one hell of a pilot" and "just a swell and sweet guy." They said I stood about as tall as Dean was but Dean was much bigger than me. He must have been as he played on the line at Auburn. They said he rarely spoke of his time at Auburn but when he did they said he spoke of it fondly and that he enjoyed playing football and just being a student there. Chase said Dean wasn't nervous at all as they sat on the deck of the Hornet waiting to take off. He asked was everyone ready and when they all replied yes then off they went. Chase said even over the target area Dean wasn't nervous or scared. He just flew like he normally did and when they were getting close to the Chinese coast he let the crew vote whether to bail out over the ocean or ditch. The crew voted to ditch and Dean went with that. Chase said when the "Fuel Empty" lights came on and the plane was running on fumes, Dean reached up, pulled out the bulbs, and calmly said "I don't need no damn lights telling me what I already know."

Next year's reunion will be held in San Antonio, TX and promises to be an eventful one as most of the surviving Raiders live in Texas. As luck would have it, I am going back to Ft. Hood later this year and will be able to attend the reunion again. I can't wait. If any of you are in the area I suggest you attend as well. You won't be disappointed. It's not everyday you get to stand in the shadow of REAL heroes.

Sorry if this is so long but I just wanted to share this with you since Dean was an Auburn man. I knew if anybody would appreciate it, it'd be you great bunch of people.

Below are a couple of pictures I took at the Reunion as well as scans of the Auburn Magazine from 2002 that ran an article about Dean, and some miscellaneous photos.

WAR EAGLE!!

Artist rendering of Dean playing football

Crew photo taken the day before the Raid launched. Left to right is Chase Nielsen, Dean Hallmark, Donald Fitzmaurice, Bob Meder, and William Dieter.

The plane in the center, tail number 40-2298, was the plane that Dean piloted. Its name was "The Green Hornet."

A picture I took of some of the Raiders signing autographs. That's Chase in the foreground. You wouldn't believe the number of people that turned out and stood in line for HOURS waiting to spend just a few seconds with these guys.

That's me on the right wearing an exact reproduction of Dean's leather A-2 flight jacket (and yes, that's an Auburn shirt underneath ). The fella on the left is Robert Dieter, great nephew of William Dieter who was the bombardier on Dean's plane. Dieter was one of the two crewman who drowned after ditching in the sea. Fitzmaurice was the other.

Me with Lt. Col (Ret) Chase J. Nielsen. A photograph that I never realistically expected to ever have. Just an awesome guy to be around and the stories he tells of being in a Japanese POW camp from April 1942 to the end of the war will leave you teary eyed.

*Taken from the Auburn Magazine, Spring 2002, Volume 9, Issue 1

[Bottomfeeder 244]

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/dehallmar...esite-photo.jpg

Damn good story. I'll keep an eye out for the yearbook. I watch the history channel quite a bit.

They made a movie about those guys.

The Purple Heart

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037197/

If want to purchase the VHS I suggest here:

http://www.deepdiscount.com/Purple+Heart+%...de/vhs/vhs.html

I would like to see them do a remake of that film.

JACOB DESHAZER:

MEMBER OF THE DOOLITTLE RAID

AND A PRISONER OF JAPAN

At last freedom came. On August 20th, 1945, American parachutists dropped onto the prison grounds and released us from our cells. We were flown back to the United States and placed in hospitals where we slowly regained our physical strength.

I have completed my training in a Christian College, God having clearly commanded me: "Go, teach the Japanese people the way of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ," and am now in Japan as a missionary, with the one single purpose to lead me - to make Christ known.

I am sending this testimony to people everywhere, with the earnest prayer that a great host of people may confess Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour."

http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~etmcmull/DESHAZER.htm

[Captain Liger 0]

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/dehallmar...esite-photo.jpg

Damn good story. I'll keep an eye out for the yearbook. I watch the history channel quite a bit.

They made a movie about those guys.

The Purple Heart

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037197/

If want to purchase the VHS I suggest here:

http://www.deepdiscount.com/Purple+Heart+%...de/vhs/vhs.html

I would like to see them do a remake of that film.

JACOB DESHAZER:

MEMBER OF THE DOOLITTLE RAID

AND A PRISONER OF JAPAN

At last freedom came. On August 20th, 1945, American parachutists dropped onto the prison grounds and released us from our cells. We were flown back to the United States and placed in hospitals where we slowly regained our physical strength.

I have completed my training in a Christian College, God having clearly commanded me: "Go, teach the Japanese people the way of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ," and am now in Japan as a missionary, with the one single purpose to lead me - to make Christ known.

I am sending this testimony to people everywhere, with the earnest prayer that a great host of people may confess Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour."

http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~etmcmull/DESHAZER.htm

240621[/snapback]

Thanks for posting the grave marker link. I didn't think to do that.

Yeah, I bought the Purple Heart movie about 5 years ago. It's loosely based on the Raiders as the movie sets up a bunch of guys who bail out of their B-25s over China and get captured.

The movie Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo was made after Ted Lawson, pilot of crew 7, wrote a book by the same title. It's a pretty good movie but is focused more on Lawson than anyone else for obvious reasons. During the take-off scene on the Hornet they incorporated old radio transmissions from the carrier and you can distinctly hear a radio operator say "There goes Hallmark" when his plane takes off. Pretty neat.

Actually, work is underway as we speak to remake Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo but geared more towards the story of ALL the Raiders, not just Ted Lawson. The Doolittle depiction in Pearl Harbor a few years ago was a debacle so yes, there are plans to make a movie about the Raid. I met the screenwriter at the reunion and we talked at length about how the movie will be made. He sent me a copy of the script about a month ago and I've been slowly reading over it. So far so good. What I like is the writer is making a conscious effort to be historically accurate. A director and producer have yet to be chosen so we shall see what happens to the script when they get ahold of it. Hopefully they won't "Hollywood" it too much. Heck, I may even fly out there and audition for the part of Dean.

Jake DeShazer....an amazing man. A better man than me. Heck, they all are. NONE of the former POWs harbor any resentment towards their former captors. Chase does get a little angry though when talking about Dean and how unneccessary it was for him to be executed as well as the other fellows. But he has forgiven the Japanese. Don't know that I'd be so forgiving. But like I said, they're better men than me. DeShazer was also responsible for converting the leader of Japanese pilots on Peral Harbor to Christianity. Fuchida.....sound right? I can't remember off the top of my head.

[Ranger12 46]

I love to study history, especially American history, and to break that down even further, military history. My military service is what got me interested in that. I liked to go back and see how it was before me and how the current military evolved throughout time. My bookcase is full of military history books. My two favorite times are the Revolutionary War and World War II. I have recently started studying the Vietnam War even more because it is the war that birthed our modern special operations groups.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

I liked to go back and see how it was before me and how the current military evolved throughout time.

I like to live it out. Why, I don't know, but I always get that feeling. I wonder why?

[AUJarhead 70]

I have recently started studying the Vietnam War even more because it is the war that birthed our modern special operations groups.

240649[/snapback]

From the Vietnam era (and beyond), I love reading Richard Marcinko. Plus, he got his Masters from Auburn. A day isn't complete unless I can say "Doom on you" to at least one person at work.

[saniflush 0]

That is really cool! YOu still need to get your hands out of your pockets though!

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

Post of the day.

Very cool story, Adam.

[vatz22au 142]

Very nice read....

[Captain Liger 0]

That is really cool!  YOu still need to get your hands out of your pockets though!

240697[/snapback]

Sorry, I can't help it. Take a look at Dean in the crew photo and you'll notice that it's a genetic habit. Or maybe just an officer thing.........not quite sure.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I assure you, it is not an officer thing.

[Ranger12 46]

I assure you, it is not an officer thing.

240723[/snapback]

I was actually about to say that is was an officer thing. They have to find something to do with their hands or else they will get dirty. Sometimes it pays to not be in anymore so that I can pick on you officers.

[AUdaREALsecTigers 2]

Man that's awesome!

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Incredible.

[Captain Liger 0]

Thanks for all the positive feedback y'all. It was a pleasure sharing this with you. When I'm not wrapped up with work, this website , and whatever else is going on in my life I spend a lot of my time studying the Doolittle Raid and the history of the U.S. Army Air Corps/Force during WWII. I have a love affair with WWII aircraft that is almost equal to my love affair with Auburn. Both border on the unhealthy. The Raid is something that is close to my heart....hard to explain.

Anyway, I just wanted to follow up here and post some reading material just in case any of you care to ever read a little more into it. It's really interesting stuff.

Four Came Home: The Gripping Story of the Survivors of Jimmy Doolittle's Two Lost Crews

You will cry reading this book. You've been warned.

C.V. Glines is a retired USAF colonel and the official historian of the Doolittle Raid. This book is considered the authoritative source.

This book is about 500 pages long. I'm almost finished reading it. I really like this book and will most likely read it again, it's that good.

As far as the Raiders (read CV Glines) are concerned, this is not an "authorized" telling of the Doolittle Raid. I own this book. I've read it twice. I don't know what the big deal is because I like it a lot. Nelson did a good job telling the story and did his homework. I recommend this book...but don't tell the Raiders I said this.

You can get all these books at Amazon.com

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

[japantiger 4,051]

Nice job Cap'n. We owe these men more than we can ever repay. It is good to remind everyone of what "true" heroism is. To steal a quote from the CG of the Iwo Marines...."Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue" with these men.