Word Celebrity Blog

Colonel  Jack A. Sims



Jack Ahren Sims was born on February 23rd, 1919, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Colonel Sims was called "Kalamazoo's first flying hero"' in the 1940s for being among the pilots who conducted the Tokyo raid under the direction of General Jimmy Doolittle on April 18, 1942. The exploits of the Doolittle Raiders, who flew many missions over Europe during World War II, served as a morale booster for the United States.

As one of 80 volunteers for an unknown and dangerous mission, Colonel Jack Sims (then a 2nd Lieut.) co-piloted one of the sixteen B-25 Mitchell medium bombers that were launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet, on the morning of April 18, 1942.



















Jack Sims was 23, at the time of the he took off for the Tokyo raid.

Major John Hilger, second in command to Lt. Col. “Jimmy” Doolittle, chose 2nd Lieut.Jack Sims as his co-pilot for the first bombing of the Japanese Home Islands. They were part of crew 14 (the 14th plane to take off from the ship). This was four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United State's entry into WWII.























The co-pilot, 2nd Lieut. Jack Sims is the 2nd from the right.


In 1942, a Kalamazoo Gazette article reported that, following a visit home to Kalamazoo, "Major Sims was sent to the African European theater, where he completed 40 bombing missions, again under General Doolittle's command. On his 40th and last mission, his B-26 bomber was struck by enemy fire in the right motor, and he barely managed to make a safe landing behind the Allied lines."

The Doolittle Raid raised the morale of the American people and our Allies. It showed the Japanese people and their military leaders that their homeland was no longer impregnable.  It has said that the Doolittle Raid eventually triggered the Battle of Midway, which ended Japan’s dominance in the Pacific War.





















The Raid, which was memorialized in the book and movie "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo", and more recently, re-lived in significant part in the movie "Pearl Harbor", was an early defining moment in Jack Sims' military career. The action of flying a fully loaded B-25 bomber off the deck of an aircraft carrier, in choppy seas and into enemy territory thousands of miles from home, had never been attempted before.

The bombers Had to fly some 400 nautical miles further from the target than was planned, because of an early sighting by several Japanese trawlers. This meant that Jack Sims and the rest of the Doolittle Raiders took off with almost certain knowledge that they did not have sufficient fuel to reach their intended destinations in unoccupied China. A crash landing in unknown territory was inevitable. Of the original men on the raid, 10% of them never returned. Four other men survived 40 months of solitary confinement in Japanese internment camps.

Co-pilot Jack Sims and his crew flew practically at sea level at an altitude of 50 to 75 feet, and then along the coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. They then rose to a bombing altitude of 1,500 feet as they approached the city of Nagoya, to avoid being hit by heavy flak and Japanese fighters. They successfully bombed their four military targets, including the Mitsubishi Aircraft Works. The amount of damage was not very sinificant, but the psycologigal damage was very important. For the first time, the Japanese homeland was bombed. Because of this, the Japanese Government kept significant military forces out of the war, in order to protect the homeland

After heading across the East China Sea, Jack Sims and the rest of the 5 man crew were forced to bail out of the plane, empty of fuel, as it crashed into unoccupied China. Jack Sims landed on the side of a mountain, causing him to be temporarily "knocked senseless". The pilot, Jack Hilger, suffered broken ribs.
























The members of crew 14 were hidden in a Chinese village. From left to right are; Lt. James H. Macia (Navigator) Lt. Jack A. Sims (Co-Pilot) SSGT Jacob Eierman (Engineer) Major John A. Hilger (Pilot)


They were fortunate to be discovered by Chinese villagers, who at great risk to themselves, tended to them and eventually aided them to find their way to safe haven in Chungking.  There they rendezvoused with Jimmy Doolittle and other Raiders.  They received personal decorations from Madame Chaing Kai-shek.

Jack Sims stayed in the area of India, flying submarine patrol.  Major Sims was reassigned to North Africa, where he flew B-26 Marauder medium bombers.  As Squadron Commander of the 444th Bomb Squadron, 320th Bomb Group, attached to the United States 12th Air Force under the command of his former Raider commander, now Brig. General "Jimmy" Doolittle,  Major Sims flew 40 bombing missions. On more than a few of those missions, a successful return was uncertain until the very moment of landing, since having encountered direct hits from enemy fire and mechanical problems along the way. Major Jack Sims was shot down over Salerno, Italy on his 40th mission.

Upon his return to the United States, Major Sims continued to serve in the Air Force in various capacities. During that time he earned his MBA at the University of Chicago.  He spent 4 years at the Air Command and Staff School Air Force Base as a student, and later as a faculty member. He then attended the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base.

Major Jack Sims held several unique and high profile assignments. One of them was being named to the position of Chief United States Air Force Liaison Officer in the United States House of Representatives. He held that position for 6 years. Later, Major Sims was assigned to the United States Embassy in London as, Chief of the United States Air Force - Royal Air Force exchange program. After that, he was back in Washington DC as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, United States Air Force Headquarters.





















After 28 years of serving his country, Jack A.Sims retired from the Air Force with a rank of full Colonel with a Command Pilot rating.


Col. Jack A.Sims '  awards for valor and service include:

• Legion of Merit (2)
• Distinguished Flying Cross (2)
• Bronze Star
• Air Medal (8)
• Order of Celestial Cloud (Chinese award for the Doolittle-Tokyo Raid)
• European-African-Mideast Campaign
• Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with three Battle Stars
• WWII Victory Medal
• Air Force Longevity Service Award (2)
• Army Commendation Medal
• National Defense Service Medal (2)
• Army Occupation Medal (Japan)
• United Nations Service Medal (Korea)
• Korean Service Medal
• American Defense Service Medal
• Air Force Good Conduct Medal

Various war uniforms, parachutes, weapons, diaries, and personal belongings related to Col. Jack Sims' wartime service are on display at the Wright-Patterson U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio; the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in Michigan; and the Military and Space Museum in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

In 1968, Jack Sims and his wife, Lee Adams Sims, moved to Naples, Florida, where they raised their youngest daughter, Kimberly, and became active members of their community. Jack Sims was a successful businessman and eventually became involved in real estate. His vision, dedication and hard work - skills all honed during his long military life - contributed to his success.

Col. Jack Sims was recently enshrined in the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame as "an outstanding air and space pioneer", taking his place along side Henry Ford, Charles A. Lindbergh, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, and other aviation pioneers. He also held officer- military pilot membership in the Order of Daedalians, an organization dedicated to ensuring America's preeminent position in air and space.

In Nov. 2006, at the opening of the WWII Memorial Center in Washington, he received the Audie Murphy Award for distinguished service to the United States military.


























Col. Jack A. Sims, a decorated World War II veteran, died Saturday, June 9, 2007, in Naples, Florida, after a long illness. He was 88 years old.

















Jack Sims was a member of the Naples Community Church. The Funeral Services were held on Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 10 a.m. at the Bower Chapel, Moorings Park, with Dr. Kirt Anderson officiating.




















Naples Memorial Gardens Cemetery


The body of Col. Jack A. Sims was interned at the Naples Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Naples, Florida.

A eulegy was given by a friend, Al Cook.

Jack Sims is survived by Lee, his wife of more than 42 years and his children, Mrs. Kimberly Staley of Atlanta, Georgia,  Mrs. Brigid Hansen of Portage, Michigan,  Mr. John Sims of Richmond, Virginia  and Mr. Michael Sims of Kansas City, Missouri.  Grandchildren are Quincy, Kal, Erica, Emily, Sara and Michael and one great grandson, Gavin.  Special friends Dottie Freeland and Stella Oreschnick.

"I think that pretty much made him who he was. It was a defining time in his life," his daughter, Brigid Hansen, said of Col. Jack Sims' role as one of the Doolittle Raiders.

"I'm not sure he would have continued a military career if that actually hadn't happened, because he spent the rest of his career in the military," serving 28 years, said Hansen, who lives in Portage, Michigan

Brigid Hansen said her father, who graduated from Western Michigan University and spent the last 39 years in Florida, was often interviewed or asked to speak about his time as a combat pilot, including why he took part in what she said some considered `"basically a suicide mission."

She said that and her siblings urged their father, for years, to publish his memoirs, but it was military historian Al Cook who finally convinced her father to write "First Over Japan".






















In a 2002 book by Col. Jack Sims, "First Over Japan", he wrote: "There was nothing routine about any bombing raid. Sometimes we experienced heavy flak from the ground batteries and sometimes the sky around us was `quiet. ... Sometimes it was a `milk run' with no opposition and no casualties; other times, lots of guys got killed, hurt or bailed out and became prisoners of war."

Al Cook, a veteran who lives in Fort Myers, Florida, said that he sat down with Sims for 39 interviews that resulted in a 105-page, spiral-bound work about Sims' life and career.

When Mr.Cook read a paragraph from the epilogue, Jack Sims "lost it completely," said Cook, who delivered the eulogy at Col. Sims' funeral.

"On the way out of the house - I'll never forget it - Jack was in a wheelchair. He grabbed my arm and said, "Well, we beat old father time." I said, "Yeah, we beat him.""

"Now, he's a man of the ages. A man of American history,"  Mr. Cook said of Col. Jack Sims.





















Since the end of WWII, the Doolittle raiders have gathered yearly at reunions around the country. "Their numbers have dwindled. and at their 65th reunion in April, only seven or eight were present", said Brigid Hansen, who attended the gathering with her husband.  Her father was too ill to attend.



















Retired Lt. Col. Dick Cole turns over the goblet of Lt. Col. Chase Nielson.


With the passing of Col. Sims, this left only 13 survivors of the Doolittle Raiders.:

William M. Bower

Richard E. Cole

Jacob D. DeShazer

Thomas C. Griffin

Nolan Herndon

Robert L. Hite

Edwin W. Horton, Jr.

David M. Jones

Frank A. Kappeler

James H. Macia

Charles J. Ozuk

Edward J. Saylor


























“I’ve often thought about my wartime buddies (those still around and those long gone), the good times, the bad times, the 'adventure' and the lasting impact they had on me. It was the norm then for a 22-year-old kid to go off to the wars and come back a man, old beyond his years and somewhat wiser…it was a time when we matured quickly. The post-war Doolittle reunions recalled past experiences and the nostalgia was often painful and hard to take. Still, we met and we continue to meet and enjoy our camaraderie. Life has been good! I have been blessed with a wonderful wife who has always looked after me. Also have four children, six grand- children and one great grandson – I’ve had an extraordinary life. How could one ask for more?”















Col. Jack Sims Leaves A Legacy For All Americans To Remember.