Sergeant William J. Dieter
- First name: | William |
- Middle name: | John |
- Last name: | Dieter |
- Nickname: | Billy Jack |
- Rank Doolittle raid: | Sergeant |
- Last rank: | Staff Sergeant |
- Service number: | 6565763 |
- Date of birth: | 05 October 1912 |
- Place of birth: | Vail, Iowa |
- Date of death: | 18 April 1942 |
- Place of death: | Drowned - coastline of China, close to Shipu near Ningbo in the Zhejiang provence, China. |
- Place of the cemetery: | Later reburied in San Bruno, California |
- Name of the cemetery: | Golden Gate National Cemetery |
Additional info
Dieter was born on 5 October 1912 in Vail, Iowa to Jesse T. Dieter and Mary McCalpin Dieter. After living in Vail, the family moved to South Dakota, Potosi, Missouri, and eventually, Tulelake, California.
Dieter was the bombardier in the sixth plane, the 'Green Hornet', piloted by Dean E. Hallmark and Robert J. Meder as co-pilot.
The following is an excerpt from a letter written in August, 1945, by Earl L. Dieter, S.J., (Capt) Chaplain, U.S. Army:
The pilot of Crew 06 (Dean A. Hallmark) headed for China, and at about 8:30 pm the night of April 18, 1942, while flying very low over the water, he noticed the gas tanks were empty and gave the order to prepare to crash. Hardly had the order been given, and without much preparation, the plane crashed into the sea, just a few hundred yards from the coast.
Bill (William J. Dieter) was riding in the nose of the plane, and when the plane crashed, the nose was broken open, apparently swooping Bill out of the plane. Capt. Nielson said that when he got out of his position, Bill was already standing on top of the plane, and that he said, "I am hurt all over". They all adjusted their life belts, and started swimming to shore. Lt. Hallmark was helping Corporal Donald Fitzmaurice of Lincoln and someone was helping Bill.
When Nielson reached shore he said he was exhausted and collapsed. On awakening the next morning, he saw the bodies of Bill and Fitzmaurice which had washed ashore. The shore where the accident took place was at the foot of a little village of 300 or 400 people, named Shipu, which in turn was about 20 or 30 miles south of Ningbo. The native Chinese built a coffin for Dieter and Fitzmaurice, and buried the both of them just over a little knoll a few yards back from the shore where the accident happened. The graves were hidden for the Japanese oocupying forces in China.
Some sources say that Dieter and Fitzmaurice were later buried in Shantou, China and then their bodies were flown over to the United States wehere they were reburried. About Shantou I'm not sure and I don't have a date when their bodies arrived in the United States. As noted in the letter, Fitzmaurice and Dieter were originally interred at Shipu, China by Chinese civilians near the site of the crash. His body was returned to the States for reburial after interment at Schofield Barracks, Mausoleum #2 in Oahu, Hawai. On 10 January 1949, his body was relocated permanently to Golden Gate National Cemetery.
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Extra information
Doolittle Raider William Dieter was initially buried by Chinese civilians on a small slope above the beach near the village of Shipu, approximately 20-30 miles south of Ningbo, China. This burial took place shortly after his crash on April 18, 1942. His grave, along with that of his fellow crew member Sgt. Donald Fitzmaurice, was hidden from the occupying Japanese forces.
After the war, Dieter's body was moved to Schofield Barracks Mausoleum #2 in Oahu, Hawaii, and then permanently relocated to Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California, on January 10, 1949
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The Heroes of Doolittle's raid on Japan in april 1942
by Mr. Geert Rottiers
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