William Kinson "Bill" Doran (1924-2008)
DORAN, MONTGOMERY, ERBE
Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 12/14/2008 at 12:37:27
THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.
Nov. 28, 1924-Dec. 6, 2008
William Kinson "Bill" Doran, 84, died Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008, at Israel Family Hospice House in Ames, in the company of his three sons and daughters-in-law, following a long and private battle with cancer. There will be no public funeral.
Born Nov. 28, 1924, to Lant and DeElda Doran, of Boone, Bill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1947. Married that same year to the former Joan Montgomery, also from Boone, he shipped off to Korea in 1950, serving aboard the Sumner class destroyer Douglas H. Fox. During this tour of duty, he led a whaleboat raiding party along the North Korean coastline, charged with demolishing harbor closure nets and disrupting Sampan activity providing aid to enemy forces. This type of small boat raiding party was the first of its kind for the U.S. Navy in modern times and set a precedent for future operations. Known as Doran's Raiders, this effort has been documented in Military History Magazine and was the focus of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute. Lt. Doran was awarded the Bronze Star for these actions.
At the end of World War II and before his Korean service, he was stationed in Guam where he participated in War Crimes trials associated with the cannibalism of American airmen by Japanese soldiers on the island of Chichi Jima during World War II. Due to the heinous nature of the proceedings, the military sealed the records of these trials for 50 years. Upon his retirement from a long and successful legal career in the Boone firm co-founded by his father, he dedicated a great deal of effort in his retirement years to securing the release of these documents via the Freedom of Information Act, and assuring this story be told to the world. "I owed it to those boys," Doran said.
These efforts resulted in the book, "Flyboys," written by James Bradbury, author of the bestselling "Flag of our Fathers."
A dedicated outdoorsman, he was a life member of the National Rifle Association and a dedicated supporter of conservation causes of all types. On safari in then-Tanganika in 1962, he took the World Record East African Eland. While he hunted and fished around the world, he took the greatest satisfaction in time spent afield in Iowa and surrounding states with a dedicated and close circle of friends. In the last few decades of his life, he pursued the goal of becoming the best wild turkey hunter of all time.
He is survived by three sons and their families, Chris and Michelle Doran, of Panora, Jeff and Debe Doran, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Dan and Angela Doran, of Boone. There are six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren in the family.
He is also survived by one sister, Jaquline Erbe, of Des Moines, and his former wife, Joan Montgomery, of Bainbridge Island, Wash.
He was preceded in death by his brother, Dr. John Doran, of Ames.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Israel Family Hospice House in Ames.
Online condolences may be expressed at
www.starkwelin.comStark-Welin Funeral Directors in Boone is in charge of arrangements.
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