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Lucian  N.  Youngblood  
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Ribbons
 
  Rank, Service
Major O-4,  U.S. Air Force
  Veteran of:
Texas Army National Guard 1936
U.S. Army 1936-1938
U.S. Army (USAAC, USAAF) 1940-1947
U.S. Air Force 1947-1949
World War II 1941-1945
Cold War 1945-1949
  Tribute:

Lucian Youngblood was born on May 26, 1918, in Pampa, Texas. He enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard on August 21, 1936, and served with the 143rd Infantry until enlisting in the U.S. Army on September 10, 1936, where he served with Company I of the 23rd Infantry at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, until his honorable discharge on August 22, 1938. After completing 2 years of college, Lucian enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Corps on November 23, 1940, and was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings on July 12, 1941. His first assignment was as a B-25 Mitchell pilot with the 95th Bomb Squadron of the 17th Bomb Group at Pendleton Army Airfield, Oregon, from July 1941 until he was selected for the Doolittle Mission in February 1942. Lt Youngblood was the co-pilot on the fourth B-25 to take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) on April 18, 1942, and after bombing Tokyo his crew flew to China and bailed out when their aircraft ran out of fuel. He remained in the China-Burma-India Theater after the raid, and served as a B-25 pilot with the 11th Bomb Squadron of the 341st Bomb Group in India from May 1942 until he returned to the United States in May 1943. Capt Youngblood served at bases in South Carolina, New York, and Kansas before serving in Newfoundland, Canada, from February 1946 to August 1948. His final assignment was with the 2150th Rescue Unit at Hamilton AFB, California, from August 1948 until he was killed in the crash of a C-47 Dakota on February 28, 1949. Lucian Youngblood was buried at the Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston, Texas.

His Distinguished Flying Cross Citation reads:

For extraordinary achievement while participating in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on April 18, 1942. Lieutenant Youngblood 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 Lieutenant Youngblood and the military service.

  




Crew 4 of the Doolittle Raiders, left to right-Lt Harry C. McCool, Cpl Bert M. Jordan, Lt. Everett W. Holstrom, Sgt Robert J. Stephens, and Lt Lucian N. Youngblood.

 


 

 
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Contact Veteran Tributes at info@veterantributes.org