William Marsh "Bill" Bower was an American aviator, U.S. Air Force Colonel and veteran of World War II. Bower was the last surviving pilot of the Doolittle Raid, the first air raid to target the Japanese Home Island of Honshu. A native of Ravenna, Ohio, Bower graduated from Ravenna High School in 1934. He attended both Hiram College and Kent State University from 1934 until 1936. Bower then joined the Ohio National Guard 107th Cavalry, based in Ravenna, from 1936 to 1938. 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. In October 1940, Bower joined the 37th Bomb Squadron, based at Lowry Field in Denver, Colorado. He then transferred to the 17th Bombardment Group, headquartered at McChord Field in Washington state, in June 1941. In the months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Bower volunteered for the first American aerial attack on Japan. The air raid, which came to be called the Doolittle Raid, after Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, took place on April 18, 1942. [More at Wikipedia]

February 13th, 1917 in Ravenna  /  Died:   Jan 10th, 2011 - aged 93