When Bert Mervin Jordan was born on 3 September 1919, in Covington, Garfield, Oklahoma, United States, his father, Jacob Alexander Jordan, was 41 and his mother, Ida Irene Coombs, was 39.
Bert M. Jordan had at least one brother. Floyd Mili Jordan who was born in 1905 and died in 1967.
The Garfield County town of Covington is located six miles south of U.S. Highway 64 on State Highways 74/15 approximately seventeen miles southeast of Enid, the county seat. The surrounding area was part of the Cherokee Outlet, opened by run in 1893. The town is named for local homesteader and townsite investor John Covington.
He married Judy Lula Mae Smith on 4 December 1943, in Charleston, Mississippi, Missouri, United States. He lived in Lincoln Township, Garfield, Oklahoma, United States in 1920.
When Bert was asked what his strongest memory was of the Doolittle Raid, he can clearly say that jumping out of the plane with his parachute over China was the most frightening moment he has ever experienced in his life.
It was raining very hard. When the pilot (Lieutnant Everett W. Holstrom) told him to jump, he did. The plane was out of gas. He thanked the pilot for the good flight. We'll see each other later. After jumping out, he pulled the cord and his parachute immediately opened. I was very relieved.
Soon he heard water flowing. He thought this was a small river as it heard water flowing over rocks. Suddenly he felt that his feet touched the water. However, his parachute got stuck in a tree. He cut the parachute ropes except one. With this one rope he started to move back and forth over the shallow water until he was on the bank of that small river. Then he cut his last rope.
He remained on the bank of that river all night and the morning of the next day.
In the afternoon when he walk away from the place, he met eight Chinese who, after pushing back and forth, took his weapon. The Chinese took me to their village and locked me in a building.
Luck was on my side as there was a telephone in the building. One of the Chinese started calling and suddenly gave me the phone. I heard an English voice on the other end of the line. I still don't know whose voice it was, but it was a relief. The voice told me that they knew about the Raid on Tokyo and that they would pick me up the next day. The Chinese were suddenly a lot friendlier and gave me back my personal belongings. I got my gun back the next morning.
The next morning they came for me and took me to another location where I met and found two of my fellow crew members. Once again I was very relieved. After seven days they smuggled me out of the country. I still remember that it was a very tiring journey
He died on 3 April 2001, in Bonham, Fannin, Texas, United States, at the age of 81, and was buried in Georgetown Cemetery, Pottsboro, Grayson, Texas, United States next to his wife who died two months before him. The couple had 3 children.
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