Posted on 04/13/2012 11:17:05 AM PDT by jazusamo
Edward Saylor still vividly remembers the Chinese boy who helped save his life. In the days after his plane crashed into the waters just off China’s coast, Mr. Saylor, now 92, and four other Doolittle Tokyo Raiders were desperate and hungry — but they had survived a daring mission that was America’s first military strike against the Imperial Japanese homeland, four months after the infamous sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.
“The thought hits you, where you’re at, what you’ve got to do. … We don’t speak the language, what do we do now? That’s what was going through our heads,” said Mr. Saylor, one of the five survivors of the raid who will mark its 70th anniversary on April 18. The young boy helped Mr. Saylor’s crew navigate the Chinese countryside and helped scrounge up what little food he could find, just enough to keep the exhausted airmen moving.
After a weeks-long journey of more than 100 miles — all the while avoiding Japanese forces who had set up blockades of the Chinese coastline — the crew eventually was picked up by an American plane.
To this day, Mr. Saylor still feels a deep debt of gratitude to the young stranger, whom he never saw again.
“We owed him big time,” he said of the boy. “He was sure good for us.”
80 men who made history
Seven decades later, the five remaining survivors of the raid led by then-Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle recognize their prominent place in history. Nothing like it had ever been done before. Nothing like it had ever been done before. But faced with an enemy that already had proved its ability to strike the U.S. homeland, 80 brave men volunteered for what had all the makings of a suicide mission,,,
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Rubbish...believe me, as long as any of the survivors who are left can draw a breath, they will find a way to make the reunion..
American balls...wish we still had them
Couldn’t agree more. The three interviewed don’t look bad for their ages and like you say, “they will find a way.”
thanks for link. I tweeted it.
BUMP!
That’s great, thanks!
Visit our thread next Wednesday the 18th to read the first reports of the raid to reach the American people. I’ll bet there were goose bumps across the fruited plain.
Bump.
Well said, every last one of these men were courageous above and beyond. I believe it a miracle so few perished on the raid due to the odds and the chain of events.
I’m looking forward to reading the thread on Wednesday, thanks.
Doolittle
ping
ping
“American balls...wish we still had them.”
###
Lost in the confused haze of moral relativism, fear of predatory lawyer scum, and non-judgmentalism.
Feel free to add your own.....
“After a weeks long journey of 100 miles skirting the Chna coast the crew was picked up by an American plane”
WOW! Now that is the other half of their story and a movie that was never made.
WOW! Now that is the other half of their story and a movie that was never made.
Actually, this half of the story was told as part of a movie plot --in 1944.
The movie was 'Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" starring Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Don Defore and a very young, Robert Mitchum.
Van Johnson's character in the movie (Ted Lawson) looks like it was based on what happened to Edward Saylor.
ping
Yea I saw the movie when it first came out. It covered part of the story but not what was (logistics n stuff like that)behind the rescue missions plus the flight out. Those emergency airfields, like the ones in Yugoslavia were secret at the time . .
Great movie!!..Very stirring theme music, and the shot when they fly the plane UNDER the Bay Bridge is a classic...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.