“Doolittle Raider Doc: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, the Rest of the Story” Hangar Flying Session

“Doolittle Raider Doc: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, the Rest of the Story”

David Schall, MD, Great Lakes Region FAA Flight Surgeon

The story is about the Flight Surgeon who flew on the Doolittle Raid (Dr. Thomas R. White). Dr. White o aided the seriously injured crew from Ted Lawson’s plane (Ruptured Duck) (Doc did an amputation in the field under spinal with 1890’s surgical equipment) and evacuated them over 15,000 miles back to Walter Reed Army Hospital. Dr. Schall will also weave in the story of 2 other individuals, one being a Flight Surgeon classmate of Doc White who became the first Flight Surgeon killed in combat at Pearl Harbor (Dr. William R. Schick, a Surgeon from Chicago). Lastly, Dr. Schall will close with the story about Jake DeShazer who was one of the captured crews who spent 4 yrs in solitary confinement and later became a missionary in Japan for 16 years. The rest of DeShazer’s story, how he met and impacted the life of the lead Japanese pilot on the raid on Pearl Harbor, is incredible.

David Schall, MD, is the Regional Flight Surgeon for the FAA Great Lakes Regional Office. His office provides service to an 8 state region from the Dakota’s to Ohio, covering 85,000 Airmen, 4000 Air Traffic Controllers and 500 Aviation Medical Examiners. He is Board certified in Aerospace Medicine as well as Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, and has additional Fellowship training in Ear & Skull Base Surgery (Otology-Neurotology), one of only two Aerospace Neurotologist in the world. Dr. Schall serves as a Consultant to the Federal Air Surgeon in Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery. He is a retired Air Force Colonel having served a 37 yr career in Active, Guard & Reserve capacity. As a Chief Flight Surgeon, he has flown in over 42 different military aircraft types from the F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, to Blackhawk Helicopters and Cobra Gunships, accumulating over 1,700 hrs. He has been a private pilot since 1978. His interests are Spatial Disorientation and acceleration induced injuries to the Cervical Spine. Dr. Schall is in the midst of writing what promises to be a terrific book about a doctor who was one of Doolittle Raiders.