Posted on 11/30/2008 7:00:37 AM PST by SandRat
World War II hero David "Davey" M. Jones one of the famed Doolittle Tokyo Raiders died Tuesday in Tucson at the age of 94.
Jones, a University of Arizona alumnus, retired from the Air Force as a two-star general in 1973 after a long and decorated military career. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and numerous other honors.
He was one of the raiders who used B-25 bombers to hit targets in Japan in April 1942, a few months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
"Medium bombers had never been flown from a carrier, and sailing so far into enemy territory endangered the U.S. Navy task force," the U.S. Air Force fact sheet on the raiders says of the high-risk operation.
Jones, who was 28 at the time of the raid, recalled the one-way mission in an April 2004 Arizona Daily Star article.
"You knew when you started that we didn't have enough fuel to make it, period. But you couldn't think about that," he said.
After the raid, Jones bailed out in China, where the Chinese helped him return to the United States, the U.S. Air Force's biography of him says.
In 1944, Hollywood paid homage in the film "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy as Doolittle.
Another Doolittle Raider, retired Air Force Master Sgt. Ed Horton Jr., died last week at age 92, the day after Jones. He died in Florida, The (Panama, Fla.) News Herald reported.
The U.S. Air Force's biography of Jones tells of other events in his military career: In December 1942, he was shot down over Bizerte, North Africa, when he was second in command of a light bomb group.
He spent 2 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III and led the digging team on the tunnel "Harry," the basis for the movie "The Great Escape," starring Steve McQueen.
"He was so modest he didn't even try to be modest," said Tom Collins, a close friend of Jones, who had lived in Tucson since 1998. "He was calmly in command of himself and everything around him."
Jones would often talk about his experiences in a "joking way," Collins remembers. "He had quite a sense of humor."
Jones' survivors include his wife, Janna-Neen Jones. Plans for services are pending.
● Contact reporter Danielle Sottosanti at 618-1922 or at dsottosanti@azstarnet.com.
WOW! Dolittle raid, North Africa, stalag luft 3. Amazing American patriot.
God bless men such as these.......
Wow.
ping
PING
Yes, yes all well and good. But to be appreciated in America today he would have to be willing to scratch his crotch on Dancing with Stars.
Another cup tuned over. At the Air Force Museum, there is a set of silver cups and a bottle of Cognac. When all but two raiders are gone, the last two will open the bottle to drink to their fallen comrades...
Somewhere in this country there is a place where they would meet every so often,and on a bookshelf there is a bottle of wine with two glasses. They were put there at their first reunion. The last two survivers are going drink that bottle together in memory of their comrades who have gone before them.
There is even a display of goblets surrounding the bottle each inscribed with the names of the Raiders. The goblets are turned over one by one as each passes away.
Deepest Regards
alfa6 ;>}
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