How did the B-25 Mitchell revolutionize U.S. air power in World War II, and earn its status as an aviation icon?

Ron Skipper: We could not get to Japan with what we had available at the time.

They needed something to be able to take off from a navy aircraft carrier.

Sometimes the most historically impactful things can be found in the most unassuming of places.

From the outside, this hangar at Jim Hamilton-L.B.

Owens Airport looks just like any other, but housed inside is a relic which helped change the course of world history.

I'm your host, Andrew Davis.

Not far to travel this time around!

From our home base in Columbia, South Carolina this artifact is right in our own backyard.

"December 7th, 1941 a date which will live in infamy."

After the attack at Pearl Harbor, American armed forces needed a morale boost and it came in the form of the Doolittle Raiders.

Could you tell us about the infamous attack at Pearl Harbor?

The attack on Pearl Harbor, of course, as we all know was a surprise.

We were ill prepared when it occurred in a number of ways, but one way was we could not get to Japan with what we had available at the time.

Of course, ships getting there, they could be easily spotted and that sort of thing.

We didn't have aircraft that could just go because we didn't have forward bases that we could fly from.

So the mission of the Doolittle Raiders was a huge morale builder for the people of the United States and for the service personnel that were conducting this operation, and that we were able to advance with our aircraft carriers that did not get attacked in Pearl Harbor because they were at sea, but move in close enough where we could actually launch a attack on Tokyo.

As little effect as it actually had, it was a big morale booster for the U.S. and for all the servicemen involved.

Host: Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle needed volunteer aircrews for this retaliatory strike against Japan, and those crews would be found here in Columbia, South Carolina.

Skipper: When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor morale was very low in the U.S. and through the military.

They wanted some way of coming in and showing that we could fight and we could build the morale back up.

Jimmy Doolittle was an aviator in the Army during World War I.

When World War II broke out, he was selected to do a special mission and to choose the teams that would fly this special mission.

South Carolina was a primary training base for B-25's at the time there were numerous bases around South Carolina, and they selected Columbia Army Air Base to be the focal point for that training.

The 17th Bomb Group was in Oregon, and they were reassigned here and used at Columbia Army Air Base to select the crews and to do a limited amount of training before moving on.

Host: The Army Air Corps needed an aircraft capable of taking off from a Navy aircraft carrier, a feat never attempted at that point in history.

U.S. Navy Captain Francis Low felt that twin engine Army bombers could take off from an aircraft carrier.

Colonel Doolittle was the perfect man to make that plan a reality.

Skipper: Other aircraft were considered, but B-25 had a couple of things: the size, it could carry a payload, and it had the range to do the mission.

But the unique thing about it was they needed something with those ingredients to be able to take off from a Navy aircraft carrier, which had never been done before.

And so therefore, it was selected as the aircraft of choice.

Host: On June 6th, 1944, on the exact same day as the D-Day invasion in Normandy a world away, here in South Carolina, low altitude bombing exercises were being conducted with B-25 trainees over Lake Greenwood.

During the course of those exercises, a B-25 C's propellers accidentally touched the water below, causing it to crash and sink into the lake where it rested for 39 years.

The plane was found intact in March 1983.

Mat Self, the son of Greenwood Mills founder Jim Self, organized a group to raise this B-25.

In cooperation with Senator Strom Thurmond and the U.S. Navy Reserves, the aircraft was salvaged from its watery grave.

Chuck Messick: In March of 1983, we went to search for the aircraft.

We brought some explosive ordnance disposal folks from from Charleston up to help us do the side scan sonar to look for the aircraft.

Well the EOD folks had arrived a day before we got there and was searching the lake for for the aircraft with the side scan sonar.

Then after that March weekend that we found the aircraft, we went back and started our process, worked at getting the tasking from the Navy to recover the aircraft, and then started the project for making a salvage plan, getting the assets available to us to make it work.

There were so many volunteer companies that provided things such as Duke Power provided some of the barges, things of that nature, and we scheduled it in August.

We came down here and we recovered the aircraft in a matter of ten days, I guess.

Host: After the bomber was recovered, it needed a home.

Columbia's Owen's Field Airport seemed the proper choice.

Skipper: Columbia had hosted Doolittle Raider reunions here in the past because they started at Columbia Army Air Base.

Their idea was to acquire this aircraft, bring it here and restore it for Doolittle Raider reunions that were going to be held here.

And because the money was invested by the city and by the county to do the restoration, of course, stayed here.

And logistically, it's difficult to move that large aircraft around anywhere.

So therefore, it just became home here for this aircraft.

Host: This B-25 "C" model is the last remaining aircraft from the fleet used to train the airmen who perpetuated Doolittle's legacy at Columbia Army Air Base.

There are only six B-25 C's left in existence.

Although she will never again take to the skies, she is currently undergoing restoration for static display.

The South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation plans to use her as the centerpiece for a future aviation museum in the Palmetto State.

For more information about seeing this warbird for yourself visit www.SCHistoricAviation.org.

We'll see you next time on Curiosity Trek!