Sergeant Waldo J. Bither

Sergeant Waldo J. Bither was the oldest Raider who participated in the Doolittle Raid (except James Doolittle). Sergeant David W. Pohl (crew 8) was the youngest Doolittle raider.

Waldo James Bither Sr. was born on 31 October 1906, in Linneus, Maine. His father was James Good Bither and his mother was Alta Laura Outhouse. He had 7 sisters and brothers. Waldo J. Bither  was the second oldest of 8 children his parents had. He graduated from Houlton High School and he took lessons at the Ricker Classical Institute. 

Ricker Clasical Institute. 

Ricker College was a small college located in Houlton, Maine . It opened in 1848 and closed in 1978. It began as Houlton Academy in 1848, before being subsequently renamed Ricker Classical Institute in 1887. It became Ricker Junior College in 1934 and operated as a four-year liberal arts college between that point and its closing in 1978.

The name "Ricker" was taken from Doctor Joseph Ricker, who was at the time the State Secretary of the Maine Baptist Convention.

Doctor Joseph Ricker

On the flight to China after bombing Japan,  Bither spotted a Japanese weather boat. His crew strafed the vessel with the plane’s .50-caliber machine guns, sinking it. Unfortunately, the long flight and bad weather made for disastrous delays, forcing 11 of the 16 raiding crews to bail out, including Bither’s. The others crash-landed or ditched in the water, and nearly a dozen men were killed or captured.

Bither was one of 64 raiders who found safe haven—thanks to a little luck, a lot of stamina and the help of the Chinese. For his part in the most famous air raid in WWII history, 

As with many other small, private colleges in the US, Ricker College faced financial difficulties in the 1970s and was forced to close its Houlton campus in May 1978. Other off-campus programs in continuing education remained operational after the main campus's closing, but not at the collegiate level.

He registered for military service in 1925.

Waldo J. Bither married Bessie Susan "Sue" McClure on 31 March 1936, in Minden, Webster, Louisiana. The couple had 1 son and 1 daughter. They lived in Ward Four, Caddo, Louisiana in 1940 and San Antonio, Bexar, Texas in 1950.

Waldo J. Bither died on 25 February 1988, in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas at the age of 81, and was buried in Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas.

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