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Contact Info
Home Town Melrose, New Mexico
Last Address Joplin, Missouri
Date of Passing Jan 17, 2004
Location of Interment Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery (VA) - San Antonio, Texas
He was the pilot in crew #2 on the Doolittle Raid. After the raid he stayed in the CBI Theater for a short time then served in England, North Africa and Italy until 1944. After the war he served in the USAAF & USAF until retiring from the Air Force Oct 31, 1969.
His DFC citation: Awarded for actions during World War II
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Travis Hoover (ASN: 0-421149), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement as Pilot of a B-25 Bomber of the 1st Special Aviation Project (Doolittle Raider Force), while participating in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on 18 April 1942. Lieutenant Hoover with 79 other officers and enlisted men volunteered for this mission knowing full well that the chances of survival were extremely remote, and executed his part in it with great skill and daring. This achievement reflects high credit on himself and the military service.
Division: Doolittle Tokyo Raider Force Crew #2 (Plane #40-2292, target Tokyo): 37th Bomb Sq, L-R: Lt. Carl R. Wildner, navigator; Lt. Travis Hoover, pilot; Lt. Richard E. Miller, bombardier; Lt. William N. Fitzhugh, copilot; Sgt. Douglas V. Radney, flight engineer/gunner. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Synopsis of his Silver Star citation: Awarded for actions during World War II
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Captain (Air Corps) Travis Hoover (ASN: 0-421149), United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force during World War II.
General Orders: Headquarters, 15th Air Force, General Orders No. 588 (1944)
The 28th began its active existence at the start of 1940 as the 28th Composite Group, containing a mix of pursuit and bombardment aircraft. After the outbreak of the Second World War the group was posted to Alaska, and it would remain in that theatre for the rest of the war.
During 1941 this was a quiet area, but in June 1942 the Japanse attacked the Aleutian Islands as part of the wider Midway campaign. The 28th helped to fight off the attack on Dutch Harbor, but was unable to prevent the Japanese capturing Kiska and Attu islands.
Over the next year the Americans prepared to recapture the two islands. In August 1942 they built an airbase on Adak island. In March 1943 the 28th moved to the new base and took part in the heavy bombardment of Kiska. Attu was recaptured in May 1943 after some fierce fighting, while the Japanese evacuated Kiska in July. In the same month the 28th carried out the first attack on Japanese targets in the Kuril islands.
At the end of 1943 the 28th was re designated as a bombardment group. It took part in the bombardment of the Kuril islands that convinced the Japanese that the Americans were planning to invade Japan from Alaska, using the Aleutian and Kuril islands as stepping stones. The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its efforts between April 1944 and August 1945, a period that saw the Japanese post 30,000 men and hundreds of aircraft in what was essentially a dead theatre.
The 28th was an unusually fluid group starting and ending the war with completely different squadrons. It also went through a large number of commanding officers - a total of eleven between December 1941 and the end of the war.
Main Bases
March Field, California: 1 February 1940
Moffet Field, California: 10 December 1940-12 February 1941
Elmendorf Field, Alaska: 23 February 1941
Adak: 14 March 1943
Shemya: 25 February 1944-20 October 1945