Edward J. Saylor | A Doolittle's Raider, 94

Edward J. Saylor, 94, one of the four remaining Doolittle's Raiders who bombed Japanese cities in a bold daylight attack four months after Pearl Harbor, has died. His family said his Jan. 28 death at an assisted-living facility in Sumner, Wash., was from natural causes.

For years, Mr. Saylor talked to students and civic groups about his audacious mission, hinting at its significance with wry understatement. "We just did what we had to do," he told the New York Times. "It was a job."

In fact, it was more than that. Many historians see the 1942 U.S. attack as a crucially dispiriting event for a Japanese public steeped in the myth of the empire's invulnerability. It also was crucial for Americans, still reeling from the devastation of Pearl Harbor and other losses in the Pacific at the beginning of World War II.

As a sergeant in the Army Air Forces, Mr. Saylor heard that Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle, was looking for 80 crew members for a mission. He volunteered. Mr. Saylor received a Distinguished Flying Cross and other honors. The Doolittle Raiders were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2014. - L.A. Times