1Lt. Robert L. Hite, USAAF -- Ouachita County Courthouse, Camden AR
N 33° 35.052 W 092° 49.828
15S E 515731 N 3716066
This memorial plaque honoring 1Lt. Robert L. Hite, USAAF, at the Ouachita County Courthouse in downtown Camden AR.
Waymark Code: WMX116
Location: Arkansas, United States
Date Posted: 11/10/2017
Views: 1
This specific veteran memorial is located on the south side of the Ouachita County Courthouse along Jackson Street SW in downtown Camden. It is one of over a dozen veteran and war memorials installed at this courthouse.
The memorial reads as follows:
"“The First to Fight”
“Doolittle Raiders”
April18, 1942
[USAAF logo] [1LtHite portrait] [Doolittle Raoder’s logo]
1st Lt. ROBERT L. HITE, USAAF
0-417960
Crew 16
“This force Is bound for Tokyo” – Lt. Colonel James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle
April 18, 1942
ROBERT LOWELL HITE
Robert L. “Bob” Hite of Camden, Arkansas was born in Odell, Texas on March 3, 1920. He was educated at West Texas State Teacher’s College at Canyon Texas. In 1940, he entered the Army Air Corps and became a pilot. Hite was copilot on an Army B-25B Medium Bomber named “Bat out of Hell” which participated in the famous Doolittle Tokyo Raid. The Doolittle raid was the first bombing raid on Tokyo, Japan on April 18, 1942. The Army Air Force complement was led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle. The Japanese Navy discovered the presence of the aircraft carrier USS HORNET. All Japanese ships in the area were destroyed by U.S. Navy escort ships.
At 8:25 a.m., 16 B-25 aircraft began taking off from the deck of the HORNET, 650 miles from Japan, disregarding the fact that they were 200 miles away from their intended takeoff point. This added greatly to their peril by overtaxing their fuel consumption, but the Raiders took off despite the added risk. At 920 a.m. Hite’s aircraft was the last aircraft of 16 to depart from the HORNET.
When Hite’s aircraft reached the mainland of Japan, they headed for the industrial city of Nagoya, 200 miles southwest of Tokyo. The ill-fated crew successfully bombed the oil storage tanks and aircraft factory despite enemy fighter attack, then they turned for China, but ran out of fuel before reaching friendly territory. They were forced to bail out and landed in Japanese held territory and were captured and incarcerated in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in China. Two B-25 crews were captured, 2 were killed on bailout, one died in captivity and 3 were executed by firing squad.
The remaining four “Doolittle Raiders” were tried in the Japanese military court and what did and damned to die by execution, but the Emperor of Japan reprieved their sentence to life in prison with special treatment. Robert Hite, George Barr, Jacob the chaise or and Chase Nielsen spent the next 40 months in captivity in China and were released on August 20, 1945.
Camden Historical Advisory Commission
2008"
Website pertaining to the memorial: [Web Link]
List if there are any visiting hours:
24/7
Entrance fees (if it applies): 0
Type of memorial: Plaque
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