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Last update: 14 August 2023
Crew 03

Lieutenant Charles J. Ozuk

Navigator
95th Bombardment Squadron
- First name:
Charles
- Middle name:
John
- Last name:
Ozuk, Jr.
- Nickname:
Carl
- Rank Doolittle raid:
Lieutenant
- Last rank:
Captain
- Service number:
0-419618
- Date of birth:
13 June 1913
- Place of birth:
Vesta Heights, Pennsylvania
- Date of death:
09 October 2010
- Place of death:
San Antonio, Texas
- Place of the cemetery:
Castroville, Texas
- Name of the cemetery:
Saint Louis Cemetery

Additional info

Charles J. Ozuk Jr. was the navigator in crew 03 during the Doolittle Raid. He would say his best memory of the raid was hearing a voice aboard of the USS Hornet announce, “Army men, man your planes!” after the Japanese spotted his ship's position (USS Hornet). Charles Ozuk was the last survivor of the 1942 Doolittle Raid over Japan living in San Antonio.

His father was Charles Ozuk  Sr. and his mother Anna Ozuk who was born in Czechoslovakia.  Charles J. Ozuk Jr. had three brothers and 1 sister. Walter Ozuk, Milo Ozuk, Ball Ozuk and Irene Ozuk.

Charles J. Ozuk Jr. married Georgian Mary Heany, the couple had four daughters and two sons - if I''m correct.

After bailing out of his plane on 18 April 1942, Charles Ozuk landed on Dajiankengwei Mountain, Changtai Town, Jiangshan County, Zhejiang Province.
 
He made a solid landing with his parachute, he seriously injured his left calf on a sharp rock and his tibia was bare.
 
He stayed on top of the mountain for two days and two nights, then made a stick out of a branch and tried to find his way down. However, he was seen by mountain patrols. The villagers Zhu Cai and Zhu Tiancai of Dajiankeng Village found Charles Ozuk and helped him down the mountain.
 
Bao Zhang Liao Shiyuan carried Ozark to his home, and his wife Zhou Lanhua cleaned his wound and treated his leg with an application of herbal therapy.
 
During his recovery Charles Ozuk regularly sits in the sun in a bamboo lounger in front of the house where he was cared for.
 
Liao Shiyuan en Zhou Lanhua
Liao Shiyuan and Zhou Lanhua
 
In the evening, Liao Shiyuan's younger brother, Liao Shiqing, made his room available to Ozuk. He himself slept in the attic.
 Ozuk rustte ooit op dit bed
Charles Ozuk once rested on this bed 
Chinese story - source - Chinese Newspaper - The Paper - The Paper reporter - Zhong Yuan -
 
Susann Ozuk, one of the daughters of pilot Charles Ozuk Jr., reconnected in 2009 with the Chinese family who saved her father thanks to a 1937 American penny her father gave to that family as a souvenir.
 
828582 fbs
Ozuk in his later years
 
1| Gravestone © find a grave.com – texasbaron
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Written and research by Geert Rottiers on .
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THE TOKYO SIXTEEN

The Heroes of Doolittle's raid on Japan in april 1942

by Mr. Geert Rottiers

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