Army captain's roots branch to a Doolittle Raider

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mike Hammond
  • Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNEWS)- --  "I don't need a light to tell me what I already know!" said 1st Lt. Dean Edward Hallmark, ripping the flashing red light bulbs from the display in the cockpit of his B-25. It was April 18, 1942, and Lieutenant Hallmark and his crew were running out of gas over the coast of China following the famous Doolittle Raid. When the fuel lights illuminated, it wasn't news to the pilot or his crew.

About 63 years later, while watching the film, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," a different kind of light came on for a relative of Lieutenant Hallmark. .. a cousin he never knew, but who unknowingly followed in his footsteps in serving the country.

"All of a sudden, someone said 'There goes Hallmark!' And I began to wonder if he could have been related to me," said Army Capt. Adam Hallmark, a squadron signal officer based at Fort Hood, Texas. "I'm sort of into genealogy, so I started doing some research. I eventually found out we were distant cousins -- which turned out to be a complete surprise for everyone in my family!"

Captain Hallmark said his research led him to pencil in the details of what followed his cousin's last mission.

"He was captured shortly after his plane went down (April 18, 1942), and eventually taken from China to Japan for what they (enemy forces) called a 'war crimes trial,'" Capt. Hallmark said. "Then he was taken back to China, where on Oct. 15, 1942, he was executed."

Capt. Hallmark attended last year's Doolittle Raider reunion, where he met some of the surviving crew members who knew his cousin. Retired Lt. Col. Chase Nielsen, who passed away this year on March 23, was at that reunion. A fellow POW from Lieutenant Hallmark's plane, Colonel Nielsen told Captain Hallmark his cousin was "real cool," and a team player.

"Colonel Nielsen remembered that Lieutenant Hallmark let the guys on the plane decide whether to try crash landing in China or to ditch in the ocean," Captain Hallmark said. "They elected to ditch in the ocean, and he did -- but not before ripping the 'low on fuel lights' out of the display panel and tossing them on the floor!"

Hearing the details of his distant cousin's military service has instilled pride in Captain Hallmark.

"Reading about his sacrifice has really motivated me," the captain said. "He took the job, not even knowing what it was, and he did it well. Then, after what he endured as a POW, and eventually giving his life ... I'm not going to let the family down."

Captain Hallmark said he has served a year in Iraq and is scheduled to go back for a longer period of time in September. As this year's reunion ceremony took place in a hangar full of reporters and Airmen, many noticed the Army captain in full service dress uniform standing silently near the surviving Raiders.

"I'm here to honor Lieutenant Hallmark and those who served with him," the captain said.

"Since no one in my family even knew about him, I've taken it upon myself to make sure we remember him. The Raiders always remembered him, and now my family will." 

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

Click here to view the comments/letters page