WWII Bomber For Sale

“Skunkie,” the B-25 bomber that was pulled out of Lake Greenwood 27 years ago is up for sale.

The Celebrate Freedom Foundation wants to sell the bomber found at the bottom of Lake Greenwood in 1983. The plane had been sitting there for almost 40 years when it was pulled up by a navy research boat said Larry Russell, Executive Director of the Celebrate Freedom Foundation.

“The Navy used these aircrafts for training. In the summer a lot of the Navy reserve units will bring their boats to the lakes and use sonar and cameras to search the planes out,” said Russell.

The plane is painted like the bombers used by the Doolittle raiders who bombed Tokyo in retaliation for Pearl Harbor in World War II.

“The Doolittle Raiders had a phenomenal mission,” said Russell

In World War II, Lt. Col. James Doolittle led 80 men who volunteered for the mission, knowing almost for certain they were going to die. The Raiders gathered at the Columbia Air Base and trained to take off from an aircraft carrier.

On April 18, 1942, 16 of the planes took off from the ship The Hornet and bombed Tokyo in retaliation for the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The mission did not cause any kind of substantial destruction, but Russell said it did affect the outcome of the war in other ways.

“It caused the military to call a lot on infantry back to Japan to save the mother country. That in effect probably saved tens of thousands of American lives by not having to fight all those Japanese on the other islands,” said Russell

“Skunkie” sank during a training accident on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the pilot and the instructor pilot were flying just a few feet above the water. As Russell tells it, they noticed a few young ladies on the side of the beach and when they were distracted, the blades hit the water and caused the aircraft to crash.

“It’s true because we have paperwork showing the instructor pilot was sent to the front lines as a forward air controller. That is the worst job they can get in the air force,” said Russell.

The pilot’s survived but Skunkie sank to the bottom of the lake.

After being retrieved, the plane has been in a damaged hanger at Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport in Columbia since 1992. The foundation cannot afford to restore the plane and wants to sell it to a museum to be used as an education tool.

“Kids now days are more interactive learning rather than sitting own with books so to get something like this in front of them makes it easier to absorb that information,” said Russell.

It was also the showpiece for the 50th Reunion of Doolittle’s Raiders and in two other reunions since. Russell hopes to find a viable, active museum that can get it restored to show children here in South Carolina.

“I would love to keep it in SC but there are no museums to keep this in. Maybe down to Georgia with the 8^th Air force, maybe to Charlotte they have a nice museum. I’d love to have the museum here,” said Russell

Many people agree that Skunkie is part of South Carolina’s history and should be kept in the state. The plane is currently selling for $650,000 online.