Col. Robert G. Emmens, retired, one of the Doolittle Raiders who carried out the surprise air strike on Tokyo in 1942, died Thursday at his home here. He was 77 years old.
The cause of death was cancer, said his wife, Justine.
As a first lieutenant, he was a co-pilot on one of the 16 B-25 bombers under the command of Col. James H. Doolittle that were left the carrier Hornet to carry out the Tokyo raid on April 18, 1942.
All of those 16 crews except Lieutenant Emmens's either crashed on the China coast or bailed out. His plane touched down in a large field outside Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, which was not then at war with Japan, held the crewmen captive for 13 months, until they escaped to Persia. Colonel Emmens later wrote a book about his experience as a captive, "Guests of the Kremlin."
Colonel Emmens retired from the Air Force in 1964; returned to Medford, his hometown, and worked as a stockbroker and in real estate.
A version of this obituary appeared in print on Sunday, April 5, 1992, on section 1 page 34 of the New York edition.
The cause of death was cancer, said his wife, Justine.
As a first lieutenant, he was a co-pilot on one of the 16 B-25 bombers under the command of Col. James H. Doolittle that were left the carrier Hornet to carry out the Tokyo raid on April 18, 1942.
All of those 16 crews except Lieutenant Emmens's either crashed on the China coast or bailed out. His plane touched down in a large field outside Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, which was not then at war with Japan, held the crewmen captive for 13 months, until they escaped to Persia. Colonel Emmens later wrote a book about his experience as a captive, "Guests of the Kremlin."
Colonel Emmens retired from the Air Force in 1964; returned to Medford, his hometown, and worked as a stockbroker and in real estate.
A version of this obituary appeared in print on Sunday, April 5, 1992, on section 1 page 34 of the New York edition.
Col. Robert G. Emmens, retired, one of the Doolittle Raiders who carried out the surprise air strike on Tokyo in 1942, died Thursday at his home here. He was 77 years old.
The cause of death was cancer, said his wife, Justine.
As a first lieutenant, he was a co-pilot on one of the 16 B-25 bombers under the command of Col. James H. Doolittle that were left the carrier Hornet to carry out the Tokyo raid on April 18, 1942.
All of those 16 crews except Lieutenant Emmens's either crashed on the China coast or bailed out. His plane touched down in a large field outside Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, which was not then at war with Japan, held the crewmen captive for 13 months, until they escaped to Persia. Colonel Emmens later wrote a book about his experience as a captive, "Guests of the Kremlin."
Colonel Emmens retired from the Air Force in 1964; returned to Medford, his hometown, and worked as a stockbroker and in real estate.
A version of this obituary appeared in print on Sunday, April 5, 1992, on section 1 page 34 of the New York edition.
The cause of death was cancer, said his wife, Justine.
As a first lieutenant, he was a co-pilot on one of the 16 B-25 bombers under the command of Col. James H. Doolittle that were left the carrier Hornet to carry out the Tokyo raid on April 18, 1942.
All of those 16 crews except Lieutenant Emmens's either crashed on the China coast or bailed out. His plane touched down in a large field outside Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, which was not then at war with Japan, held the crewmen captive for 13 months, until they escaped to Persia. Colonel Emmens later wrote a book about his experience as a captive, "Guests of the Kremlin."
Colonel Emmens retired from the Air Force in 1964; returned to Medford, his hometown, and worked as a stockbroker and in real estate.
A version of this obituary appeared in print on Sunday, April 5, 1992, on section 1 page 34 of the New York edition.
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