MSGT Edwin Bain

Edwin Vance Bain was born on September 23, 1917, in Greensboro, and grew up in a community that would later take pride in his extraordinary service to the nation.

Edwin joined the Army in 1936. In early 1942, Edwin was selected as one of the 80 elite airmen chosen for the Doolittle Raid, the first U.S. air strike against the Japanese home islands. On April 18, 1942, he served as a gunner aboard a B-25 Mitchell bomber launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet—an unprecedented feat at the time. After bombing targets in Japan, Edwin and his crew flew to China. When their aircraft ran out of fuel, the crew safely bailed out over Japanese-occupied China and were aided by Chinese civilians and guerrillas. Edwin became separated from the crew and was reported missing. Rescured by local sympathetic famers, after two days he reunited with his crew in a friendly Chinese village.

Sgt. Bain flew as a member of Crew No. 14, which successfully bombed industrial targets in Japan before continuing toward China. Like the other Doolittle Raiders, his crew faced extreme danger, limited fuel, and uncertain recovery, yet their mission succeeded in delivering a powerful psychological blow to Japan and a critical boost to American morale following Pearl Harbor.

After returning to the United States, Sgt Bain transferred to the 441st Bomb Squadron of the 320th Bomb Group at MacDill Field, Florida, in June 1942, and deployed with his unit to North Africa in December 1942, serving as a gunner on B-26 Marauder bombers.

In July 19, 1943, he volunteered for an additional mission to help a friend complete his B-26 crew, and was killed in action when his aircraft took a direct hit over Italy. Sacrificing his own chance to parachute to safety, Bain made sure each of his fellow crew members got out of the stricken aircraft. By the time the last man was out, the plane was too low for him to jump. Bain and the plane crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea and were never found., and his remains were never recovered. For his supreme sacrifice, Bain was posthumously awarded an unprecedented second Soldier’s Medal.

Edwin received his firs Soldier’s Medal earlier in the war when rushed back into a burning aircraft after a training accident to save the lives of fellow crew members at great risk to his own life.

Bain has a memorial located in front of the Old Guilford County Courthouse on the 200 block of W. Market St., in Greensboro. The unadorned tablet gives details on Bain’s participation in the famous 1942 “Doolittle Raid” on Japan; the first United States offensive action against the Japanese mainland in World War Two.

He is also memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.