Staff Sgt. David Jonathan Thatcher and Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole
Posted on 06/25/2016 8:49:57 AM PDT by darkwing104
This week America lost another hero. Retired Staff Sgt. David Jonathan Thatcher passed Wednesday in the Missoula hospital in Montana as a result of a Stroke. He was 94.
After finishing High School, Thatcher joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. He was assigned to the Air Corps’ 17th Bomb Group as a B-25 Gunner. After the attack on Pearl Harbor that forced the United States into WWII, he volunteered for a top-secret mission. SSGT Thatcher was assigned and trained with 1st Lt Ted W. Lawson. Their B-25 was known as “The Ruptured Duck" and was made famous in Lawson’s book “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.” After the crews trained for short field take offs at Eglin AFB, Florida, the bombers were flown to NAS Alameda, California where they were placed on the Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet, heading straight for the coast of Japan.
The B-25s launched a daring raid against Japan after launching from the Hornet. The crew hit their target and flew to China. The Ruptured Duck’s crew were forced to ditch their plane off the coast of a small island. Most of the crew were severely injured except SSGT Thatcher who acted fast to save other crew members from drowning and applied aid for their wounds. With the help of Chinese guerillas, they evaded the Japanese soldiers to safety in Mainland China. For his action SSGT Thatcher was awarded the Silver Star.
Last Survivor
>P?Retired Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole, age 100, was Lt. Col. James "Jimmy" Doolittle’s co-pilot on the first B-25B to take off from the deck of the USS Hornet. The bombers had to take off before reaching the planned launch point because the Hornet had been spotted by a Japanese ship. The early launch made a safe landing in China unlikely.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecoachsteam.com ...
Staff Sgt. David Jonathan Thatcher and Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole
The last survivor is Dolittle’s copilot.
B-24’s little brother.
Blue skies and soft landings Sargent.
The last survivor is Doolittle’s copilot.
Yep. Isn’t that something.
May Staff Sgt. David Jonathan Thatcher rest in peace.
One of the other last Doolittle Raiders, Edward J. Saylor lived just a few miles from us. He was 94 and died last year. I took video of him speaking at the annual Heritage Dinner at the Officer’s Club at McChord AFB on Joint Base Lewis-McChord the year before he died. He was a very good speaker and it was an amazing talk. After he died I asked the Retired General in charge of the retired officers group if he would mind if I posted the video online but he didn’t want me to.
We last visited with Ed Saylor at a “Ronald Reagan Club” meeting in South Tacoma a few months before he died. He was still very sharp mentally, but did seem tired compared to previous years. My wife was scheduled to speak; she asked if Ed would say a few words, but he wasn’t feeling up to it.
My wife met Doolittle’s granddaughter, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes and several remaining Doolittle Raiders in Hawaii in 2008. Jonna has written several books. My wife was invited to attend the ceremonies commemorating the Pearl Harbor attack that year by the Fort DeRussy Museum Staff. My wife works with museums and military organizations setting up displays and giving presentations honoring our military. It is more of an obsession and hobby, but it does give us the opportunity to travel and meet a lot of interesting people.
RIP HERO
Had the privilege to take my father (WWII) vet to the last official Doolittle Raiders reunion in Fort Walton,Florida a couple of years ago. At the time, there were 4 survivors, but only 3 in attendance.
One of the highlights of the trip was watching Col. Cole flying a B-25 that was at the reunion. The owner of the aircraft said he offered Col. Cole an opportunity to take the controls and it was as if Cole had flown the aircraft every day. Cole was as smooth as glass, not deviating altitude and actually landing the aircraft.
It was an amazing week having the opportunity to see and talk with these brave aviators up close. It was also the last opportunity for me to have some quality time with my father who was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
It was a humbling experience to be at this reunion with Thatcher, Cole and Saylor. As the last of the Doolittle Raiders, their stories held the attendees captive. Although old in years, as the stories were told, you could see the young men that had departed the deck of the Hornet as if it were yesterday
Now there is only one.
May God welcome SSgt Thatcher into Heaven and reunite him with the other Raiders that have already made that journey. May Col. Cole take solace in the fact that even after all the Raiders are gone, their stories will live on in perpetuity.
God speed SSgt Thatcher. Your missions are over, you are home at last.
Times not on the side of these guys. I saw Dick Cole last year at an event last year. Doing reasonably well for being 100’ but he’s 100...
You should read Day of Deceit by Robert Stinnet.
We were able to decider all Japanse radio transmissions by the start of the war and were able to triangulate their fleets positions from different stations all the way fron Japan to Oahu. Not all the messages are available, but with what has been released, we can know without a doubt that the fleet did not practice radio silence.
The only surprised ones were Kimmel and Stark as this information was not passed to them.
Nice.
Wow...he was on the “Ruptured Duck”. I remember reading this in the book “Thirty seconds over Tokyo” when I was a kid.
So sad. RIP.
I wonder if they had a tontine?
I grew up, and even served with their contemporaries. To think that we still had a couple of CW vets still around when I was a kid and when the raid on Tokyo occurred. I hate hearing about these WW II guys passing away, they had such an influence on my life. I will always feel attached to them. Especially that Retired 3 Star General who encouraged me to go OCS when I was 19 and in college.
It turns out that the Japanese high command, shocked and humiliated by the surprise attack on their homeland, drew fighter and reconnaissance aircraft back to the home islands. This weakened Japan's front lines and permitted US forces to be more aggressive.
More important, suspecting that US held Midway Island in the central Pacific could be used to launch more attacks on the home islands, the Japanese Navy came up with a complicated plan to seize the isolated scrap of sand and coral rock. US cryptanalysts though detected the preparations, which permitted the US Navy to ambush the Japanese at the Battle of Midway and destroy three Japanese fleet carriers.
The US victory at the Battle of Midway proved to be the turning point of the entire Pacific War. After Midway and the loss of their best carriers and pilots, the Japanese suffered only defeats. And it was the Doolittle Raid that goaded the Japanese into the Battle of Midway.
Yes
More impressive than I had imagined. The Air Force Academy Cadets that provided the escort and guards forever will be proud of even being close to it.
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