Some 77 years ago today, the U.S.S. Hornet and the 16 U.S. Army Air Force bombers on its deck would have been rolling — as much as an 873-foot-long, 24,580 ton aircraft carrier can roll — in the rough, late spring Pacific Ocean.

On 15, April, 1942, two South Dakotans, U.S. Army aviators Lt. Henry Potter of Pierre and Lt. Don Smith of Oldham, both of whom volunteered for the mission, would have been fighting sea sickness and making final preparations for a bomb raid. Potter had a special responsibility, he was the navigator for raid commander Lt. Col. James Doolittle’s B-25 — Doolittle Raider #1. Meaning Potter would, basically, be guiding about half the attack force to their targets. Smith, piloted the B-25 called Doolittle Raider #15.


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