Missouri and the War 305
MISSOURI AND THE WAR
PART VII
BY DOROTHY DYSART FLYNN1
Those men on Bataan—those fighting with their backs
against the rocky fortress of Corregidor knew theirs was a
hopeless struggle, yet knowing, fought on to give us, day after
grim day, time! Time that would bring victory that much
nearer for those coming after. Those first black war days,
with their horrors and heartaches, are scored on the debit
side of the calendar, but since Major General Jimmy Doolittle,
a former Missourian, led his bombers over Tokyo on April 18,
1942, ultimate victory has seemed assured. The road has
been paved with front page heroes such as Missouri's own
Butch O'Hare, who twice settled a battle. The first time was
in 1942 when he brought down five Jap planes single handed,
and it will forever be remembered that Butch, then a Lieutenant Commander, decided another battle in November
1943, when he broke up the heaviest and longest Japanese
torpedo plane night attack. He gave his own life in so doing
but he took his ninth Japanese plane down with him in a blaze
of glory. The ''doughboy's" general, Lieutenant General
Omar N. Bradley, credited with victory in North Africa,
hails from Moberly, and was the popular choice as leader of
American ground forces in the coming European invasion.
And so it goes. Missouri men and officers have taken part
in practically all the events since those dark days of 1941, even
to the extent of winning triple plays at the expense of tenacious
enemies.
Here are some of the milestones on America's victory
march, showing how the country was first plunged into dark
Dorothy dysart flynn, a native Missourian, was graduated from the
school of journalism at the University of Missouri in 1932. She is now a research associate on the staff of the State Historical Society of Missouri.
Life, Labor, and Society in Boone County, Missouri, 1834-1852, As Revealed in the Correspondence of an Imimgrant Slave Owning Family From North Carolina
