Posted on 04/19/2006 4:15:59 PM PDT by SandRat
God bless those brave men
...and all of our servicemen, past and present.
Thanks, SR - amazing men! I did a whole paper on them. It is great to know that some of them are still with us.
One of those guys gave a talk at the elementary school I was attending eons ago, and that was my first exposure to the story.
I have no idea today which man it was. I seem to recall that he autographed a book in my father's possession, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" which he probably still has, so it might have been Captain Lawson.
I'll ask next time I speak to him.
Such patriotism and bravery. Like none you will find in the ThugoRats of today -- devout anti-American COWARDS...that brave souls like this fight and die to protect. Such a crime upon reason.
As an FYI, David Thatcher is the last surviving crew member of the B-25 "Ruptured Duck", commanded by Captain Ted Lawson, (the author of "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" which the movie of the same name was based upon).
As I recall, Thatcher received the Silver Star and was commended for basically saving the rest of his crew after they crashed, as Thatcher was the only one to escape serious injury.
But each and every last one of them, American heroes never to be forgotten. God Bless Them.
bttt
These men are true heroes. One of my favorite movies is about this raid, "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037366/
Thanks for this posting SandRat. I was honored in my life to meet one of the men that flew on that mission. He at that time was Captian Davey Jones. When I knew him he was A Two Star General and was the Commander of the Eastern Test Range, when I was at Patrick AFB Florida. What you need to understand is that it wasn't just me. General Jones rode a bicycle on the flight line and though the jet engine shop. If you had less than four stripes on you arm the General would stop and talk to us. The E-8's and E-9's would tell us not to talk with the General. We had to tell them that we didn't start it, he stopped and talked with us and once he talked with us he would stop and talk with us when he saw us again. He was a special person in my life and I was HONORED to be one of the guys he stopped and said Hi too.
Those guys were amazing. Good book - The Doolittle Raid by Carroll V. Glines. Toward the end, the story of Sgt. DeShazer in captivity being awoken by a voice telling him to pray for peace is incredible.
"He was held as a prisoner of war until Japan surrendered in August 1945."
Let it be known that all the Raiders (not executed) received life sentences & were to be held even after the war but were discovered & rescued by chance in the final days of the war.
The Doolittle Tokyo raid was one of those defining moments in military history and will remembered 1,000 years from now.
To me, all of the crew members that participated in the Doolittle Tokyo raid have become the definition of hero!
Bump
God bless these guys. I love every one of em.
A very respectful salute! Thank you, gentlemen all, for a wonderful job wonderfully well done. You lit a beacon of hope at a time of the greatest darkness and peril America has ever faced, and your grateful nation, and all who hold dear the values of civilization, will forever remember you and keep you enshrined in their hearts.
I recall reading the book, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo when I was in grade school . The concept and execution of the raid was amazing.
My oldest daughter danced with him at a charity event in the Melbourne, Florida area back in the late 1960's. His wife Anita was running the event that would fund a foster home for girls that was to be built in Cocoa Beach area. My wife's sister, Jerri was on that charity committee as well and that is how we got to attend the event.
Since the wife and I actually remembered the Doolittle Raid from our youth, it was quite a pleasure for us to meet General Jones and see him dance with our daughter!!
Also, just in case you did not know this, he was shot down over North Africa in late 1942 and was a prisoner in a Stalag. He was also awarded a medal for his escape attempts. You have heard of the GREAT ESCAPE MOVIE, haven't you?
QUITE A MAN, QUITE A TEXAN!!
Good to see the father of a classmate of mine is still with us.
They sure as heck did!! I remember it well...
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