Omar Adelard Duquette was born January 25, 1916 to Sylva and Philomene (Collard) Duquette in Warwick [now West Warwick], Rhode Island, the second oldest of five brothers and two sisters. In his youth, Omar was known as an inventive mechanic. His family recalls stories of building an electric car in the 1930s and building a boat with some of his brothers in their father's basement [which, by the way, was too big upon completion to ever leave the basement!]. Also known as a bit of a daredevil by his friends, he never passed up any stunt that was presented to him. It was before the start of World War Two [WWII] when Omar joined the Army Air Force [AAF] as an aircraft mechanic.

In 1942, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war with Japan, President Roosevelt assembled his top military staff to assemble a Strike against Japan's homeland as soon as possible. Admiral Ernest J. King asked if any aircraft could take off from a naval carrier at sea. Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, a noted racing and stunt pilot on active duty in the AAF, was asked to recommend an AAF bomber that could take off in 500 feet from a space not over 75 feet wide with a 2,000-pound bomb load and fly 2,000 miles. He concluded that the B-25, if modified with extra fuel tanks, could fulfill the requirements.

The plan was this: a Navy task force would take 16 B-25s to a point about 450 miles off Japan where they would be launched from a carrier [the USS Hornet] to attack military targets at low altitude in five major Japanese cities, including Tokyo, the capital. The planes would then fly to bases in China where the planes and the crews would be absorbed into the Tenth Air Force, then being organized to fight in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater. 140 men volunteered to train for a very dangerous top-secret mission in which only 15 planes and their crews [out of 24 crews training]. Omar Duquette was one of these brave volunteers. As every other crewman was cross-trained for several duties, Omar was both an aircraft mechanic and a gunner.

In the early morning hours of April 18, the USS Enterprise's [AKA "Big E"]radar spotted two small ships. The force changed course briefly to avoid them. The weather turned sour; light rain was falling and green water was plunging down the Hornet's deck. A dawn patrol was sent up from the Enterprise to scout the area. One of the pilots sighted an enemy surface ship and dropped a message to the "Big E's" deck, noting the ship's position and adding, "Believed seen by enemy." Admiral Halsey promptly flashed a message to Captain Mitscher: "Launch planes to Col. Doolittle and gallant command, good luck and God bless you."

The B-25s were quickly loaded and one by one moved into takeoff position. Doolittle was first off at 0820; the 16th B-25 was off an hour later. Just as the pilot of the last plane had started his engines, a deckhand slipped on the wet deck and fell into the B-25's whirling left propeller, which severed his arm. Omar was part of the 5-man crew aboard Aircraft #12. After dropping ordinance on its target city, aircraft #12 and the others made their way to China, extremely low on fuel. Omar's crew and many of the 16 launched planes ditched over Japanese-occupied China and had to make their way to the safety of the Chinese officials. More than a quarter-million Chinese subsequently paid with their lives when ruthless Japanese soldiers murdered anyone suspected of helping the Americans and even people whose villages the Americans had passed through. Omar had broken his foot and was photographed in front of a shelter carved into a mountain in china, where he hid from the Japanese with some of the other survivors.

Omar made it to safety and recuperated from his injuries. He made history by being part of the emotional turning point for America in WWII. Their mission gave us the assurance that Japan was vulnerable after all, and therefore, could be beaten.

A few months later, Omar volunteered for a second "suicide" bombing mission over Japanese-occupied China. His aircraft crashed near the infamous Burma Road. None of the crews' bodies was ever recovered.

Omar was highly decorated by the United States Government and remembered annually by Jimmy Doolittle and his "Raiders" at their reunions. A monument was erected to honor Omar's memory on the town square in Phoenix [a neighborhood of West Warwick], Rhode Island where Omar grew up. Jimmy Doolittle himself came to the dedication ceremony and met Omar's family. Soon thereafter, some of Omar's friends got together and founded the AMVETs (American Veterans) organization in the name of Omar Duquette. The AMVETs continue to hold ceremonies to honor the memory of Omar and the other men of West Warwick who gave the ultimate sacrifice during WWII.

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