Posted on 04/18/2015 7:50:20 AM PDT by GreyFriar
They're in their 90's now, old and bent. But 73 years ago today, their courage torched the skies over Tokyo, sending a message that the United States would stop at nothing to achieve victory.
Of the 80 airmen and pilots commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, that took off from the deck of the USS Hornet on April 18, 1942 bound for a bombing run over Tokyo, just two are still alive. Retired Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole, 99, and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, 93, will toast their 78 missing comrades at a private event later today, while taking part in a public ceremony at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/04/two_surviving_doolittle_raiders_present_congressional_gold_medal_to_museum.html#ixzz3XflFErw2 Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Ping.
They returned to the museum in Ohio for a Saturday event ceremony to present the Raiders’ Congressional Gold Medal for display.
“It just happens that way, I guess,” Thatcher, of Missoula, Montana, said of being one of the last survivors.
“Something’s just got to give,” said Cole, a Dayton native who lives in Comfort, Texas.
The museum’s director, retired Lt. Gen. Jack Hudson, accepted the medal, the highest honor Congress can give a civilian, for them in Washington on Wednesday.
Bravo for them. I believe one lives in our neck of the woods.
I believe Dick Cole wrote the “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” book.
God bless the men that fly and fight.
/johnny
There is a brand new book out on the Raid by James M. Scott,
“Target Tokyo”, very well researched. Just got a copy in this week from Amazon.com and I look forward to reading it.
For those that may not know President Reagan recalled General Doolittle to active duty in the early 1980’s so that he could promote him to full 4 star general. Great pic out there of Reagan pinning on that 4th star.
Once this would imply that their memory would live a long time.
Today, I don't know what it implies.
Anyway, God love these guys. We owe them big.
That sounds like something Reagan would do. Two great men.
Mr. Reagan was one class act.
Thank you for your post. I did not know Reagan did that.
Does anyone have the photo to post?
May God bless them.
Real heroes.
A friend of mine is the daughter of a Navigator of the mission. Before being a Navigator he wrestled in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, which Hitler attended. His daughter swam in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Many athletes took part in WWII. The book “Unbroken” is another good read of the courage and accomplishments of WWII.
And movie stars. That was back when the inhabitants were Citizens. The Citizens loved the united States, were taught personal responsibility, valued their freedom[s], and understood that from time to time, it was necessary to defend those freedoms. And last but not least, they eschewed the Welfare State. In other words, they lived in another World that exists here today.
Dick Cole has visited our Wings and Wheels Air and Car Show here in Georgetown, DE every year for the past few years.
Went to see him give a talk in 2013—he held about 500 people spellbound as he described the mission over Tokyo and how they survived. Bright and funny guy, too.
Dick Cole was Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot in the lead B-25.
We have a late model B-25(1944) based here in Georgetown called “Panchito”
If he still with us, Dick Cole will be here on October 3, 2015.
Georgetown, DE is about 2 hrs. from DC, from Philly, and from Baltimore
Thank you for finding and posting the picture of President Reagan promoting LTG Doolittle to full general (4 stars)
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