Ten thousand feet in the air, the 25 year-old pilot stood near the open escape hatch of his sputtering B-25 bomber, watching the last of his crew's parachutes fade into the darkness and pelting rain. Fifteen hours earlier on April 18, 1942, Bill Bower, a 2 nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, lifted his plane off the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean – something he had never done, something his plane wasn't built to do – and headed for Tokyo . That night, after dropping the first bombs of World War II over Japanese industrial targets, little more than four months after Pearl Harbor, most of the 16 airplanes in his group, known as Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders, would be abandoned in the air as they ran out of fuel over China . One by one, each of the pilots found themselves in the same positions as Bill – the last one to jump. As warning lights flashed in the cockpit, Bower put his plane on auto pilot, felt for his most important possessions – two packs of Lucky Strikes, matches, a compass and a .45 – he patted the side of the plane and leaped into the black sky. He had just become one of the first American heroes of the war! (Special thanks to Jim Sheeler for the story.)

Sixty-three years later we are honoring this hero in Boulder , his hometown since 1966, when he moved here with his wife, Lorraine , and four children. We can thank Lorraine for his becoming a resident in our city – she was a Colorado native and after living all over the world knew she wanted to raise her family here. Living in a home nestled near the Flatirons, Bill worked in real estate for many years and enjoyed fly-fishing and traveling with his wife. He volunteered around our community and created stunning stained glass artwork. They were married for 62 years when she died of Parkinson's disease last March 2004. His home is filled with pictures of Lorraine , their children and their grandchildren.

Born in Ravenna , Ohio in 1917, Bill attended college for a year, but like so many young men at that time with war brewing, joined the Army in 1939 and received his pilot's wings in 1940. He met and married his wife while stationed at Lowry AFB. They were stationed all over the country at various bases. However, before Bill retired from the service he was stationed in Newfoundland , where he pioneered artic flights during the 1950s. He was the first pilot to land an airplane on an ice cap without skis, an astonishing feat.

In 1946 General Doolittle celebrated his birthday with the Raiders in a hotel. The Raiders have met every year since. In 1959, the city of Tucson , Arizona , gave the Raiders a set of silver goblets, one for each of the 80 men on the mission. Doolittle presented the goblets to the Raiders and a sacred ceremony for the crews began. The goblets hang in a display case at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with each name of a “Raider” inscribed right side up and upside down on it. After reading the names of each man in roll call fashion, the Raiders who are left answer “here” for those still living or go and turn a goblet upside down for those who have gone. They then toast “To those who have gone,” and sip their wine. When the last two men living remain for the ceremony, they will open a 1896 bottle of cognac (the year Jimmy Doolittle was born) and complete the ceremony for the last time. This year COL Bill Bower hopes to make the trip to Mystic, Connecticut , to continue to uphold this tradition.

The remarkable modesty of this man is perhaps seen best by the fact that none of his medals or honors hang around his home. His kids were even known to have played with them. Instead of being upset, Bill's attitude is “why be known for medals, when you can be known for the kids?” A father first and then a war hero!