Belle Fourche’s Doolittle Raider, Don Smith, to be featured in Veterans Day program

South Dakota was among the top states in sending its citizens to World War II service. Some accepted special assignments that became truly legendary, including Don Smith of Belle Fourche. He was one of 16 B-25 pilots who flew the daring Doolittle Raid.

Smith’s biographer, Paul Higbee, will speak at High Plains Western Heritage Center Veterans Day weekend to discuss Smith’s South Dakota youth and his wartime service. Sadly, Smith survived the Raid but not the war. “When I wrote about him I used his letters home, and I was fortunate to be able to talk to some of his fellow Raiders,” Higbee said. “All of those men are deceased now and they were immensely pleased to be able to help keep his memory alive.”

The Doolittle Raid was flown April 18, 1942, just four months after Imperial Japan struck Pearl Harbor. Most of the 16 planes flew on to China where most of the men crash landed or parachuted to relative safety. There they were pursued by the Japanese military who had made an educated guess about where the Americans might be found.

Higbee’s research resulted in a book published by the South Dakota Historical Society press titled “First Strike: South Dakota Doolittle Raider Don Smith”. Copies will be available at the program, 1:30 pm, Sunday, November 9. Music by Orion and Stacey Potter will follow.

Paul Higbee has been South Dakota Magazine’s feature writer and columnist covering the Black Hills for nearly 40 years.

He is also the author of book-length biographies about South Dakota Governor Tom Berry and World War II pilot Don Smith. Paul and his wife Janet live in Spearfish.