Sergeant Edward J. Saylor Jr.

His father, Ed Saylor, Sr. (a Spanish-American War veteran) epitomized that adventuresome spirit of first generation immigrants to the new world. His Bavarian born parents settled in Mankato, Minnesota where Ed was born in 1896. Mankato was fertile farm country of the northern tier states. The soil yielded an abundant harvest of grains, vegetables, and fruits. The lure of the great western expanse was his dream. 

He moved from Mankato to Barnum. Ed Saylor Sr. loaded up his few possessions, livestock, brother Art, and stowed away younger brother Julius and dog Rex, all in a box car. 

Ed Saylor, Sr. worked as a tenant rancher just long enough to realize he wanted a place of his own. So, once again, with brother Art, lock, stock, and barrel were packed up and this time, driven, as in a cattle drive driven, south and east of Great Falls. Their journey was not easy, taking several weeks to cross over a snow covered mountain trail. The pioneers would eventually settle down in tiny Brusett, Montana located in McCone County.

The senior Saylor, born 18 January 1878, married Lorena "Rena" Heisel, born on 28 February 1882, in 1909.  The couple had 7 children. Richard, Francis, Dan, John, Kay, Ed Jr. and Ervin.

Edward J. Saylor was born in Brusett, Montana, on 15 March 1920, and was raised on a cattle ranch. Tired of ranch life, he joined the military in 1939, having never seen a bus or train outside the movies.Ed Saylor Jr. saw a poster that promised $78 per month to be a mechanic and offered peacetime pay. This persuaded him to join the U.S. Army Air Corps out of high school.

Life was rewarding but difficult on the Brusett ranch. The closest amenities were 30 miles away in the town of Jordan, a post office, general store, and boarding school, and not much more. It was in Jordan where Ed Jr. and the other kids started their formal elementary school education. Later, they would attend G.C.H.S., Garfield County High School.

One day, when Ed Jr. was at the Jordan Post Office, an Army Air Corp flyer advertised for men with mechanical aptitude. That portion was likely glanced over. After all, any ranch hand worth their salt, tackles all the challenges of operating and maintaining a fully fledged cattle spread. Older brother John convinced his younger brother to enlist with him. All doubts quickly vanished when Ed read the $72 per month pay that was being offered. It was big money back in 1939. Ed knew it would be his ticket off the ranch and would ease the financial hardships of ranching.

After bombing Japan, he (Saylor Jr. was flight engineer in the crew) and his crew had to ditch their B-25 off the Chinese coast after it ran out of gas a mile from a little island controlled by the Japanese.

After reaching shore, on a life raft that had been partly punctured by their sinking plane, they found that their only Chinese phrase, "We're Americans," had been taught to them in the wrong dialect.

A fisherman saved them, hiding them under mats on his boat, and a 14-year-old orphan became their guide and scrounger of food in the subsequent weeks as they evaded Japanese patrols on the mainland. The boy disappeared in the chaos of the war without a trace, Mr. Saylor said.

"I was going to bring him home with me," he said. "We owed him."

After the airmen made it to a safe area controlled by the Chinese military, they were reunited with some other crews from the raid. Mr. Saylor's wife learned he was alive from watching a newsreel about the raiders that included scenes of him receiving a medal from Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the wife of the Chinese leader.

Ed Saylor Jr. was married to Lorraine Saylor for 69 years, until her death in 2011. They had three children. Edward Saylor died at an assisted living center in Sumner, Washington, on 28 January, 2015, at the age of 94. Members of his family revealed he died from natural causes.

on : https://travelforaircraft.files.wordpress.com/9012/05/9ccc-vol-9-2-0-the-doolittle-raid-final-version.pdf   you find an interesting story/article about the Saylor family in Minnesota/Montana at the end of th 19tn century.

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