Position brought risks WW II veteran recounts time with brigadier

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 6, 2004 by Steve Fry Capital-Journal

MILLER T. CAMPBELL

- 83 years old.

- Born in Madison, Ind., but was raised from age 3 in Lexington, Ky.

- Served in U.S. Army Air Force from Sept. 30, 1940, to Sept. 5, 1945.

- Received Bronze Star for meritorious service in Italy, campaign medals and four stars for campaigns in North Africa and Italy.

- Technical sergeant when released from service.

- Earned degree in civil engineering in 1950 from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.

- Worked for 33 years for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. as an engineer, including in Luxembourg for three years and Sweden for one year before retiring in 1988.

- Married to Bonnie Campbell, who was born in Lexington, Ky., for 58 years.

- Father of Mary Anspaugh, Michael J. Campbell and Alice Marshall, all of Topeka, and Joyce Cunningham, of Akron, Ohio.

MIKE SHEPHERD/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Miller Campbell, a decorated World War II veteran, was a driver for Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, who led the famous bombing raid over Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka and Kobe, which happened 62 years ago today.

DOOLITTLE'S DRIVER

By Steve Fry

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Jimmy Doolittle --- leader of a high-risk raid on the Japanese home islands just months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Medal of Honor recipient and Army Air Force general --- had a down-to-earth style, Miller Campbell remembers.

In a recent interview, Campbell, Doolittle's driver for 13 months in World War II, remembered Doolittle shortly before the 62nd anniversary of Doolittle's famed raid on Japan.

In September 1940, Campbell was 19 when he volunteered to enter what was then the U.S. Army Air Corps so he had some choice in what his assignment would be. Campbell, who liked aviation, underwent training to be an airplane mechanic.

'Stroke of luck'

By chance, Campbell was assigned to be a driver for Doolittle's chief of staff in North Africa because there weren't planes for Campbell to work on. When Doolittle needed a driver, Campbell was put into the slot in a "stroke of luck," Campbell said.

The Doolittle Raid

On April 18, 1942, Doolittle piloted the first of 16 B-25 medium bombers off the pitching deck of the U.S.S. Hornet, each to drop four 500-pound bombs on targets in Japan, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka and Kobe.

The bombers didn't have enough fuel to return to the Hornet and flew on to China and Russia. All the bombers were lost and several of the 80 aviators were captured, then executed, including a Kansan, Sgt. Harold A. Spatz, of Lebo, who was the engineer-gunner aboard the 16th bomber to take off.

When Campbell first heard that Doolittle led the raid on Japan in bombers taking off from navy carriers, he was incredulous.

"I was like everybody else. I can't believe that because you can't fly a bomber off an aircraft carrier. It was just an impossible thing to do," Campbell said.

About the time Campbell became his driver, Doolittle had received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt and had been promoted to brigadier general, all tied to the Doolittle Raid.

The Doolittle Raid did some damage to Japan, and after months of defeats to Japanese forces capturing American and other Allied territory in the Pacific Ocean, American morale went up, Campbell said.

Driving Gen. Doolittle

After the raid, Doolittle was ordered to command the 12th Air Force in North Africa, to which Campbell was assigned. Campbell started driving for Doolittle in December 1942.

Doolittle was an energetic, relatively short man in his 40s who would chat with his much younger driver.

Doolittle "was a helluva good guy," Campbell said. "He really was an ordinary-man type. He wasn't really a military man. He was more of a GI Joe type."

Discretion was part of Campbell's job description. When Campbell drove, topics of any talks between Doolittle and other high-ranking passengers stayed in the car, Campbell said. Doolittle never talked about the raid to Campbell.

"He wasn't the kind of guy to brag about his accomplishments," Campbell said.

Bombs and bullets

Driving a general didn't mean there weren't risks for Campbell.

Campbell was sleeping on the night of Dec. 2, 1943, in his quarters at the army air force headquarters in the port city of Bari, Italy, when a huge explosion in the harbor woke him. Italian civilians and about 1,000 seamen, including some Americans, were killed.

"It blew all the windows out of the headquarters building," Campbell said. German dive-bombers had swept in and sunk 17 Allied ships, including one hauling ammunition and 100 tons of mustard gas.

"Everyone was surprised that it happened," Campbell said. "All you could see were a lot of flames and oily smoke."

Doolittle told the British harbor master that the headquarters building was available as an emergency hospital if he needed it, Campbell said.

In December 1942 in Algiers, a 20mm armor-piercing shell punched a hole into the car Campbell was driving.

"We didn't even know it hit the car until the next morning (when) I saw the hole in the top of the hood," Campbell said. "The bullet was laying on the floor in the car."