(February 13, 1917 - January 10, 2011)
A native of Ravenna, Ohio, Bower graduated from Ravenna High School in 1934.[1] He attended both Hiram College and Kent State University from 1934 until 1936.[2][3] Bower then joined the Ohio National Guard 107th Cavalry, based in Ravenna, from 1936 to 1938.[1][2]In 1940, Bower graduated from the U.S. Army Air Corps Flying School and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant, in the U.S. Air Force on October 4, 1940, with a rating of Army Aviator.[2] In October 1940, Bower joined the 37th Bomb Squadron, based at Lowry Field in Denver, Colorado.[2] He then transferred to the 17th Bombardment Group, headquartered at McChord Field in Washington state, in June 1941. [2]
In the months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Bower volunteered for the first American aerial attack on Japan.[2] The air raid, which came to be called the Doolittle Raid, after Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, took place on April 18, 1942.[1] Bower piloted one of the sixteen B25B Mitchell medium bombers which took off from the USS Hornet to attack cities on Honshu.[2]
Bower and his five member crew bombed the city of Yokohama during the raid.[1] They parachuted out of their B-25 over China during the night, which was his first jump from an airplane.[1] They were taken in by Chinese villagers until rescue by the Americans.[3] His mother, Kathryn Bower, was informed by Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle that Bower had survived the attack approximately one month later.[1] Eleven members of the Doolite Raid were killed or captured.[2]Bower and the other crew members were brought from China back to the United States.[2]
In June 1942, Bower and twenty-two other participants in the Doolittle Raid received the Distinguished Flying Cross during a reception held at the White House.[1] The city of Ravenna, Ohio, declared July 3, 1942, as "Bill Bower Day."[1] Bower married his wife, Lorraine Amman Bower, in the lobby of the Lady Lafayette Hotel in Walterboro, South Carolina, on August 18, 1942.[2] The couple had two sons and two daughters during their marriage.
Bower remained in the U.S. Air Force throughout World War II, achieving the rank of Colonel. He commanded the 428th Bombardment Squadron during the war[1] and served in Africa, including the allied invasion of North Africa, and the European Theater, including Italy, until September 1945.[1][2][3] He became a U.S. Air Force accident investigator following the end of World War II.[2] He also served as a commander of a U.S. Air Force transport organization in the Arctic.[2] Bower commanded Dobbins Air Force Base in Macon, Georgia, until his retirement from the U.S. Air Force in 1966.[1][3] Bower was also the recipient of a Bronze Star Medal and two Air Medals during his career.[3]
He moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 1966 with his wife, Lorraine Amman, and their four children.[1] He constructed and lived in a home on Dennison Lane in south Boulder for the rest of his life.[2]
Bower died at his home in Boulder, Colorado, on January 10, 2011, at the age of 93.[1] He suffered from complications of a fall that occurred in June 2009.[3] He was survived by his children - sons James and Bill and daughters Mary Brannaman and Mindy Bower - and six grandchildren. His wife, Lorraine, died in 2004.[1][2] He was the last surving member of his immediate family; he was predeceased by his sisters, Caroline Minnich (who died in 2010) and Mary Geyer, and brother, Ned Bower.[1]
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