US Air Force,
San Antonio: Col. Jack Ahren Sims was among the first pilots to fly in the Doolittle-Tokyo Raid on April 18, 1942 – the first United States aerial invasion of Japan during World War II.
Sims died June 9 in Naples, Fla. He was 88.
“He did a great service to this country,” said friend and biographer Al Cook.
Four months after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Maj. John Hilger, second in command to Lt. Col. “Jimmy” Doolittle, chose Sims as his co-pilot for the first American bombing of the island during the war. The raid helped raise American morale and showed Japan the U.S. could fight back after Pearl Harbor.
Sims was one of 80 volunteer pilots for the Doolittle-Tokyo Raid. He was then a 2nd lieutenant and co-piloted one of the 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet on the morning of the attack.
