This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
Crouch, Horace Ellis, Lt Col USAF(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Columbia, South Carolina
Last Address Columbia, South Carolina
Date of Passing Dec 21, 2005
Location of Interment Greenlawn Memorial Park - Columbia, South Carolina
He was the navigator-bombardier in crew #10 pn the Doolittle Raid. After the raid he flew additional missions in the CBI Theater. He served as an officer 1940-57 and as an enlisted man 1937-39 and from 1958 until he retired from the USAF May 1, 1962.
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) Horace Ellis Crouch (ASN: 0-395839), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement as Navigator 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 Crouch 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. Action Date: April 18, 1942
Division: Doolittle Tokyo Raider Force Crew #10: (Plane 40-2250, target Tokyo.) 89th Recon Sq. L-R: Lt. Horace E. Crouch (navigator/bombardier), Lt. Richard O. Joyce (pilot), unidentified gunner, who was replaced at the last minute & did not go on mission, Lt J. Royden Stork (co-pilot), Sgt. George F. Larkin, Jr. (flight engineer). The fifth member, S/Sgt. Edwin W. Horton, Jr. (gunner) is not pictured. (USAF photo)
Other Memories He served as a B-29 navigator, and as the Wing Flying Training and Ground Training Officer with Headquarters 307th Bomb Wing at Kadena AB, Okinawa, from July 1952 to February 1953, and during this time he flew combat missions during the Korean War.
http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1883
