Chase Nielsen

Chase J. Nielsen
Born	(1917-01-14)January 14, 1917 Hyrum,Utah,U.S.
Died	March 23, 2007(2007-03-23)(aged 90) Brigham City,Utah, U.S.
Buried	Hyrum City Cemetery Hyrum, Utah, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch	United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force
Years of service	1939–1961
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Unit	17th Bomb Group
Battles / wars	World War II Doolittle Raid
Awards	Distinguished Flying Cross Purple Heart(2) Air Medal

Chase Jay Nielsen(January 14, 1917 – March 23, 2007) was a career officer in theU.S. Air Force.He participated in theDoolittle Raidin 1942 and was one of the four survivingprisoners of warfrom that raid.

Early life

Born inHyrum, Utahto Floyd Nielsen and Carrie Miller Nielsen, who were of Danish, Swedish, Prussian, and Welsh descent. He was one of six children born to the family and was a member ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In 1935, he graduated from South Cache High School in Hyrum, Utah and then attendedUtah State University,where he graduated in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering.

Military career

In August 1939, he enlisted in theU.S. Army Air Corpsas a flying cadet atFort Douglasin Utah. He graduated from Navigator School in June 1941 and on the same month, Nielsen was assigned to the17th Bomb GroupatMcChord FieldinWashington,which was equipped with theNorth American B-25 Mitchellbomber.

World War II

After theJapanese attack on Pearl Harboron December 7, 1941, the 17th BG immediately begananti-submarine patrolsoff the coast ofOregonandWashington.

Doolittle Raid

See also:Doolittle Raid

Nielsen (left) stands with his fellow crewmen before theDoolittle Raid.

In February 1942, Nielsen volunteered for a "secret mission", even though he did not know what duties were involved or any other details. This mission ended up being the critical Doolittle Raid, which was led by Lieutenant ColonelJimmy Doolittle.The raid was daring not only because of the intended targets, the Japanese homeland, but because the pilots trained to take-off in a B-25 bomber from the deck of an aircraft carrier, something neither the designers of the B-25, nor the aircraft carrier, ever envisioned.

Nielsen was the navigator for sixth bomber, plane# 40-2298 nicknamed "The Green Hornet", to depart the deck of theUSSHornetduring the mission. On April 18, 1942, Nielsen and his B-25's four crewmembers, took off from the Hornet and reached Tokyo, Japan. They bombed their target; a steel mill in the northern part of the city. They then headed for their recovery airfield in China. Running low on fuel due to the early launch of the raid, the B-25s failed to reach any of the designated safety zones in China. The pilot of Meder's bomber, First Lieutenant Dean E. Hallmark, was forced to ditch at sea off the coast ofWenzhou, China.Second LieutenantWilliam J. Dieter(bombardier) and Sergeant Donald E. Fitzmaurice (gunner) drowned when the aircraft ditched into the sea, while Nielsen, Hallmark and co-pilotRobert J. Medermanaged to swim ashore. The next day, they buried the bodies of Fitzmaurice and Dieter.

On April 27, as they tried to reach safety with the help of friendly local Chinese, all three men were captured by Japanese troops and interred as POWs inShanghai,along with crew of the sixteenth bomber. Nielsen and other American prisoners were held in solitary confinement, where they were threatened and tortured by the Japanese, but resisted weeks of interrogation. The Japanese government sentenced all the eight prisoners to death and after a mock trial on October 14, 1942, Hallmark, Second LieutenantWilliam G. Farrow(pilot of bomber#16) and Sergeant Harold A. Spatz (gunner of bomber#16) were selected for execution, while the Japanese commuted others to life in prison. The three men were executed on October 15, 1942, at Shanghai's Public Cemetery No. 1.

Nielsen and other prisoners of the raid were placed in solitary confinement and on the anniversary of the Doolittle Raid in 1943, the prisoners were transferred to a military prison atNanking,where Meder died in December 1943, due tomalnutritionandberi-beri.Meder's death resulted in the improvement of conditions for Nielsen and the remaining prisoners of the raid. On August 20, 1945, Nielsen and other prisoners were rescued at the end of the war by anOffice of Strategic Servicespara-rescue team and brought back to the U.S. He returned toShanghaiin January 1946 to testify in the trials against his former captors, who had tortured him withwaterboarding,then called the "water cure."Extracts from his testimony were later presented at theTokyo Trial.

Post war

Nielsen at the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders memorial at theNational Museum of the United States Air Force(2006)

Nielsen became a member ofStrategic Air Command(SAC) in March 1949 atRoswell AFBin New Mexico, where he was assigned to the509th Bombardment Group,the first group to be organized, equipped and trained fornuclear warfare.Enola Gay,theB-29that dropped theLittle Boyatomic bomb onHiroshimain the first ever use of a nuclear weapon, was assigned to the 509th.

During his decade with SAC, Colonel Nielsen helped the command develop key operational innovations, includingradar navigationbombardment,air refuelingemploying the flying boom, andelectronic countermeasures.He helped integrate "fail safe"and other emergency war order procedures into SAC's unique set of flight profiles.

Colonel Nielsen returned to the air while assigned to SAC and reached more than 10,000 flying hours inB-29s,B-50s,B-36sandB-52s.His longest flight lasted 26 hours non-stop without refueling fromOkinawa,Japan,toWalker Air Force Base,in a B-36. Lieutenant Colonel Nielsen retired from the Air Force in 1961. He accumulated over 10,000 flying hours during his Air Force career.

Later life

Funeral of Lt. Col. Chase J. Nielsen (2007)

Nielsen was married twice and had three children from his first marriage, and several grand and great-grandchildren.

After his retirement from the Air Force, Nielsen began a career as an industrial engineer with the Ogden Air Logistics Center atHill Air Force Base,Utah. He retired in 1981.

Nielsen died at his home inBrigham City, Utahon March 23, 2007, at the age of 90. He was buried at Hyrum City Cemetery inHyrum, Utah.

Awards and honors

U.S. Air Force Master Navigator/Observer Badge
Distinguished Flying Cross						Purple Heart with bronzeoak leaf cluster
Air Medal				Air Force Commendation Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster				Air Force Presidential Unit Citation with bronze oak leaf cluster
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award				Prisoner of War Medal				American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal withservice star				Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with bronzecampaign star				World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal with service star				Air Force Longevity Service Award with four bronze oak leaf clusters				Armed Forces Reserve Medal
Republic of China Medal of the Armed Forces A-1				Republic of China Order of the Sacred Tripod				Republic of China War Memorial Medal

• In 2002, he was inducted into theUtah Aviation Hall of Fame.

References

This article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theUnited States Air Force