Background
Denver Truelove was born in Clermont, Georgia, on April 10, 1919.
Denver Truelove was born in Clermont, Georgia, on April 10, 1919.
He was one of the eighty Doolittle Raiders who bombed Japan in April 1942. After the Doolittle Raid, Truelove was involved briefly in North Africa. He went on active duty in the Army Air Corps on September 15, 1941.
Doolittle Raid Truelove volunteered for a secret mission that became known as the Doolittle Raid, named for its leader, the famous aviator James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle.
The raid was meant to bomb the Japanese in response to the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Truelove was the bombardier for plane crew #5, one of the 16 B-25 planes that took off from the aircraft carrier United States Ship Hornet.
In a well-known account of the raid, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, author and raider Ted Lawson mentions eating blueberry pie with Lieutenant Truelove, ignoring the battle-stations drill.
During the mission, Truelove successfully dropped bombs on the capital city, Tokyo.
Truelove"s crew, piloted by David M. Jones, bailed out over China. Post-Doolittle Raid After the Doolittle Raid, Denver was on leave for time in Georgia. He was incredibly successful in War Bond sales, at one point outselling Dorothy Lamour when he sold $70,000 in bonds.
After a short time in England, Truelove was stationed in North Africa.
During this time, he was promoted to Captain. In North Africa, he checked fliers in and out and also flew on some missions.
“When I do not fly, I check others out and in. Some do not return. I have been around the world.
Our country is the best, and I am willing to die for our United States of America," Truelove wrote in a letter to his family.
Captain Truelove was assigned to the 428th Bomb Squadron, 310th Bomb Group. On April 5, 1943, his unit was attacking an Axis shipping convoy in the Mediterranean Sea. Office Trappin, Sicily, his B-25, piloted by Captain Richard A. Aldrdige, was shot down.
Of the crew of six on board, Truelove, Captain Richard T. Norvell, and Technical Sergeant Warren V. Richardson were not recovered and were declared Missing in Action (Master of International Affairs).