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Contact Info
Home Town Kalamazoo, Michigan
Last Address Naples, Florida
Date of Passing Jun 09, 2007
Location of Interment Naples Memorial Gardens Cemetery - North Naples, Florida
Wall/Plot Coordinates Veterans Field of Honor
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
He was the co-pilot in crew #14 on the Doolittle Raid. After the raid he flew combat missions in India, North Africa, and Europe. After the war he stayed in the USAAF and USAF until he retired Jul 31, 1968.
His DFC (1st of 2) 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) Jack A. Sims (ASN: 0-421340), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement as Co-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 Sims 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.
Base, Station or City
FL, England, North Africa, Italy
State/Country
Not Specified
Patch
458th Bombardment Group, Heavy Details
Assigned 8th AAF: January 1944
MIZPAH
Wing/Command Assignment
2 BD, 96 CBW 11 Jan 1944
2 AD, 96 CBW 1 Jan 1945
''SPOTTED APE''
''THE CATS...''
Combat Aircraft:
B-24H
B-24J
B-24L
B-24M
Stations
HORSHAM ST. FAITHS: 29 January 1944 - 3 July 1945
Group COs
Col James H. Isbell 16 Dec. 1943 - 9 Mar. 1945.
Col Allen F. Herzberg 10 Mar. 1945 - 18 Jun. 1945.
First Mission: 24 Feb 1944
Last Mission: 25 Apr 1945
Missions: 240
Total Sorties: 5,759
Total Bomb Tonnage: 13,204 Tons
Aircraft MIA: 47
Major Awards:
None
Claims to Fame
Carried out operational test of Azon radio-controlled bomb for OAF.
Early History:
Activated on 1 July 1943 at Wendover Field, Utah. Assembly began at Gowen Field, Idaho, on 28 July 1943. The unit trained there until early September 1943 then moved to Kearns Field, Utah. On 31 October 1943 the unit moved to train at Tonopah AAFd, Nev. The ground unit moved to the port of embarkation on the 29th of December 1943. The aircraft flew to the UK via the southern ferry route. The ground unit sailed from New York on USS Florence Nightingale on the 18 January 1944.
Subsequent History:
Redeployed to the US in June 1945. The aircraft left Horsham St. Faiths on the 14 June 1945. The ground unit sailed on the Queen Mary from Greenock on the 6 July 1945, arriving in New York on the 11 July 1945. The group was established at Walker AAFd, Kansas on the 25 July 1945, and later at March Field, Ca. to train as a B-29 unit, but with end of war in Pacific, the Group was inactivated on the 17 October 1945.