Born: March 14, 1917 Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army Air Forces Service# 0-419237
11TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (MEDIUM), 341ST BOMBARDMENT GROUP, 14TH AIR FORCE
Date of Enlistment: June 1940 Home or Place of Enlistment: St. Maries, Idaho Died: November 17, 2002
Clayton Campbell was born on March 14, 1917, in St. Maries, Idaho. After completing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Idaho, he enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Corps on June 22, 1940. He was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his navigator wings on June 24, 1941, and then served as a B-25 Mitchell navigator with the 37th Bomb Squadron at Pendleton Field, Oregon, from June 1941 until he was selected for the Doolittle Mission in February 1942. Lt Campbell was the navigator on the 13th B-25 to take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) on April 18, 1942, and after bombing enemy shipping and supplies at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, the crew flew to China and bailed out when their aircraft ran out of fuel. He remained in the China-Burma-India Theater flying combat missions until he returned to the United States in June 1943, and he left active duty and joined the Air Force Reserve on December 28, 1945, retiring from the reserves in 1963. Clayton Campbell died on November 17, 2002, and was buried at the Dry Creek Cemetery in Boise, Idaho.
SILVER STAR CITATION
Service: Army Air Forces; Rank: First Lieutenant; GENERAL ORDERS: Headquarters, China Air Task Force, General Orders No. 19 (December 20, 1942)
CITATION: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Clayton J. Campbell (ASN: 0-419237), United States Army Air Forces, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action as member of an air crew of the TENTH Air Force, while participating in a raid against the Japanese Concession in Hankow, China, on 16 July 1942. The actual bombing of Hankow was performed in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire, but so precisely did every member of this crew perform his assigned duties, that every bomb dropped was seen to land directly in the target area. This one mission was responsible for the destruction of large quantities of gasoline and other war supplies, in addition to several hundred enemy casualties, and further resulted in shattering the enemy’s confidence in their protection against air raids, as evidenced by Chinese Intelligence reports confirming the results of this raid. Such gallantry in action in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire while carrying out a successful attack in an area known to be defended by superior numbers of enemy fighters is characteristic of the finest traditions of the Army Air Forces.
DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS CITATION
Service: Army Air Forces; Rank: First Lieutenant
CITATION: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Clayton J. Campbell (ASN: 0-419237), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement as Navigator of a B-25 Bomber of the 1st Special Aviation Project (Doolittle Raider Force), while participating in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on 18 April 1942. Lieutenant Campbell with 79 other officers and enlisted men volunteered for this mission knowing full well that the chances of survival were extremely remote, and executed his part in it with great skill and daring. This achievement reflects high credit on himself and the military service.