William ‘Billy Jack’ Dieter (October 5, 1912 – April 18, 1942) was a sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps.

Dieter was one of only three airmen to die in the raid itself, when his B-25 Mitchell, 'Green Hornet', crashed on the coast of China, having run out of fuel.

Arnold's approval to lead the top secret attack of 16 B-25 medium bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, with targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya.

Donald E. Fitzmaurice, drowned in trying to swim to shore (possibly due to internal injuries suffered in the crash), while the other three crew members of the 'Green Hornet' were captured shortly afterwards by the Japanese.

More significantly, Japanese commanders considered the raid deeply embarrassing, and their attempt to close the perceived gap in their Pacific defense perimeter led directly to the decisive American victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

When asked from where the Tokyo raid was launched, President Roosevelt coyly said its base was Shangri-La, a fictional paradise from the popular novel Lost Horizon.