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Doolittle Raider Nielsen dies at 90

One of the last remaining “Doolittle Raiders” died Friday, bringing the number of living Raiders down to 14.

Retired Lt. Col. Chase J. Nielsen was 90 when he died in his Brigham City, Utah, home.

Born Jan. 14, 1917 in Hyrum, Utah, Nielsen attended Utah State University and graduated in 1939 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. In August 1939, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a flying cadet. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in June 1941.

Nielsen, a lieutenant at the time, was the navigator of “Crew #6,” one of 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers and 80 airmen that launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet on April 18, 1942. Their mission was a retaliation raid on Japan in response to the Pearl Harbor attack. The raid was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and led by pioneer airman Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, from whom the mission’s airmen took their nickname.

Because the approaching fleet was detected by a Japanese patrol boat, the airmen had to take off 200 miles farther out from the Japanese mainland than planned. This stripped them of the option of a round-trip flight, making the end goal to land on the Chinese mainland.

After successfully dropping bombs on a Tokyo steel mill, Nielsen’s aircraft was one of two planes unable to reach the Chinese landing strip. His bomber went down over Japan, where he and seven surviving crew members became prisoners of war. Nielsen was rescued by pararescuemen after 40 months of confinement, during which he was tortured and four of his fellow POWs died.

Nielsen retired from the Air Force in 1961 as a lieutenant colonel and began a career as an industrial engineer at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. He retired in 1981.

Nielsen’s decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart with cluster, the Air Force Commendation Medal with cluster, Outstanding Unit Award, Longevity Ribbon with four clusters, and the Breast Order of Pao Ting from the People’s Republic of China.

Two recently deceased Raiders, Nielsen and Staff Sgt. William L. Birch, will be toasted during the “Goblet Ceremony” at this year’s Doolittle Raider reunion, to be held April 17-21 in San Antonio. Each of the 80 Raiders has a goblet with his name engraved twice, so that it can be read after it is turned upside down in recognition of his death. When only two Raiders remain alive, they will toast the group with a bottle of cognac from 1896, the year of Doolittle’s birth.

“I hope and pray that our young men and young women who are serving in the service today will be protected; that they will live their lives in accordance with the military rules and laws of war, that they will do their best and that they will appreciate their country and protect their flag as we tried to do ourselves,” Nielsen said during last year’s reunion ceremony.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Allen-Hall Mortuary in Logan, Utah.