WWII Airman Honored 72 Years after his Death
The cost of war cannot be measured in just combat deaths. More than 16 million Americans served in World War II, and the inherent risk of war touched all corners of the Armed Forces. Training accidents, disease, weather, and equipment could all lead to death, especially for those flying in the Pacific.
Commissioned in the Army Air Forces in January 1943, 1st Lt. Bernard F. Dotson served with the 673rd Bomber Squadron, 417th Bomber Group, Light. Prior to shipping overseas, he spent months training in the United States. During this time, he communicated regularly with his family about wanting to provide financial support, and his love of flying. “Maybe someday you’ll take up flying and like it was much as I do,” wrote Dotson in a letter to his 2-year-old niece Jo Ann in April 1943. “In fact, I may be around to take you for your first ride. How would you like that?”
His letters also showed his confidence in his leadership abilities. “I’d really like to have a squadron of my own now because I believe I could run it and run it right,” said Dotson in a letter to one of his brothers in September 1943. “That might be overconfidence, but I’ve become quite a hit since I graduated.” Dotson got his wish in 1944 when he became a squadron leader while serving as a bomber pilot in the New Guinea area. The 417thth Bombardment Group, Light operated in support of ground forces on New Guinea and struck airfields, bridges, personnel concentrations, installations, and shipping in the area.
At just 22 years old, Dotson’s plane went down in the south Pacific in Huon Gulf, about 15 miles southeast of New Guinea on April 17, 1944. “About ten minutes after Lt. Dotson broke formation his plane fell into a spin and he crashed into the sea,” said Maj. Charles Johnson in a letter from June 1944 about Dotson’s death. “It is my belief and also the rest of the pilots in the formation that some of the baggage became entangled in the controls of the airplane causing it to crash.” The cause of the crash was never officially determined, and the remains of all three men aboard were never recovered.
His mother, Pvt. Laura F. Dotson, was serving as a WAC at the time of his death. Her platoon sergeant spoke with her the night she received the news of her son’s death. “It was all I could do to hold back the tears when she was in here tonight—she’s so proud of her boys. She talked on and on and I didn’t make any attempt at stopping her,” said Cpl. Florence Richey in a letter to Bernard’s brother in April 1944. “We need so many more women like here in the world.” Her other two sons, Allan Dotson Jr. (Jo Ann’s father) and William Dotson, served during World War II in the Army and Navy respectively. The strength and character of the Dotson family remains strong decades later.
While Bernard never had the chance to take Jo Ann for her first plane ride, 72 years after his death, Jo Ann’s son, Paul Holland, traveled to Manila American Cemetery to honor his great uncle, who is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing.