Lieutenant Horace E. Crouch

Horace Ellis "Sally" Crouch was the son of Marvin Trawick Crouch and Bernice Inez Crouch (Bouknight). Crouch was a native of Columbia, South Carolina, he attended Columbia High School and earned a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from The Citadel. He received a postgraduate degree from Clemson University in 1973.

graduating in 1940; while a cadet he also served as a member of the South Carolina Army National Guard. He had one brother Marvin Trawick Crouch, Jr. was his older brother. His parents had an infant daughter born and died on 6 June 1912.

Logo of the South Carolina Army National Guard

On 5 December 1941,  Horace Ellis Crouch married Mary Epting Crouch of Columbia, SC. The couple were childhood friends from the ages of 10 and 12 and dated through their years at Columbia High School and while Crouch was a student at The Citadel. He attended navigator/bombardier and radar training school and began his service in Portland, Oregon. The couple had two children, one son and one daughter.

Horace Crouch (left) with fellow crewmembers Richard Joyce and Royden Stork having dinner in San Francisco the night before departing for the Doolittle Raid

In early December 1941, Mary Epting’s mother and two other ladies drove her from Columbia to Portland to be married to Crouch on 5 December 1941. The couple then honeymooned at Timberline Lodge in the mountains of Oregon. On December 7, 1941, they drove down to the local town to have brunch. A newspaper salesman stepped out in front of their car in the street with the newspaper stating that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Crouch knew at that moment he was about to be sent to war.

Coincidentally, in March 1941, the members of Crouch’s air crew in Portland were sent to the Lexington County Air Force Base in Columbia, S.C., for the initial meeting of the United States Air Force personnel who had been chosen for a secret mission of extreme importance and considerable danger. The group of men was asked to volunteer for a mission only known by them as “The B25 B Special Project nr 1.” The group was then transported to Eglin Field in Florida for training.

During the Doolitle raid he was the navigator and of Crew #10 flying on aircraft serial number 40-2250 which included Pilot Richard Joyce, Co-Pilot,  Royden Stork,  bombardierGeorge Larkin and flight engineer and gunner Edward Horton.

After dropping their bombs above Japan they flew on to China where the crew bailed out and were escorted to the safety in free China by local Chinese guerillas. 

Crouch bailed out of an airplane for the first time in his life in enemy territory after his first combat mission at the age of 21 and landed on the side of a mountain in China. On the ground, Crouch was alert enough to release himself from his parachute and soon was reunited with bombadier Edwin Horton.

The two American military men were taken in by the Chinese guerillas affiliated with Chiang Kai- Shek as instructed by Colonel Doolittle. They were revered as heroes by these Chinese and remained there unharmed until their return home.

 Crouch left

Crouch was a high school math and drafting teacher at Columbia High school for another 20 years after his military service and earned a master's degree from Clemson University. He was a member of the Doolittle Raiders Association and American Legion. In 1998, he was inducted into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame. He was also recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest award given by the State of South Carolina.

Crouch passed away on 21 December  2005. A new historic marker on Gervais Street in front of the South Carolina State Museum was designed by Grant Hughes and Martin Izett. It is placed next to the original memorial marker and lists the names and home states of all of the Doolittle raiders. Many of the trees in honor of the Doolittle raiders have been restored and replanted and more landscaping has been added to the site by Columbia Green Poem read at Horace Crouch’s funeral.

Raider

Men of honor
Who paid the cost
When our nation
Suffered such a lost

There was no doubt
About their fate
But our nation’s needs
Just couldn’t wait

The daring flight
And deadly run
They dropped their
bombs
And mission done

Out of fuel
Into the night
The long road home
Was full of fright

A grateful nation
You made so proud
Takes a moment
To thank you now

A full salute
We give you today
For a job well done
And the price you
paid

by Patrick Chisholm 13 April 2002

Horace Crouch (center) while serving with the 341st Bomb Group in China, 1943

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