Retired Lt. Col. Frank Kappeler was one of the heroic Doolittle Raiders  that struck the Japanese Home Islands in 1942 in World War II.  Kappeler was an essential key navigator aboard the "Hari Carrier" B-52 when the engines failed forcing himself along with his fellow crew members to bail out over China.  He credited Chinese locals for helping him evade capture by the Japanese.

Frank A. Kappeler was an Oakland Newspaper man