Posted on 03/01/2013 9:43:41 AM PST by xzins
Now, he’s flying with the angels.
Tom Griffin, one of just five surviving Doolittle Raiders, died Tuesday night in his sleep at the Fort Thomas VA hospital in Kentucky. He navigated one of 16 North American B-25 Mitchell bombers from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific during the early dark days of World War II to launch a surprise daylight attack on Tokyo, lifting American morale. The longtime Green Township, Ohio, resident was 96.
By his own count, Mr. Griffin cheated death eight times during World War II. The first time was when he took off in a land-based bomber from the deck of the USS Hornet at 9 a.m. April 18, 1942. The mid-ocean takeoff made history. No land-based bomber had ever taken off from an aircraft carrier in combat. The Raiders made history later that day when they bombed Tokyo in partial payback for Japan’s Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Mr. Griffin’s plane, which he named the Whirling Dervish, knocked the lights out in Tokyo. The Whirling Dervish’s bombs flattened the Tokyo Gas & Electric plant.
Thanks for the explanation.. Refreshes my memory, especially the tail winds. What a blessing, huh? This was a suicide mission because these men went ‘knowing’ they’d probably not be retrieved alive. I recall one bomber went down along the coast line of Japan or an island?? Others made is all the way to China. Just think, if these MEN were around today, Sean Smith and Ty Woods would’ve been rescued but now we have a President who is more concerned about winning elections than the lives of BRAVE Americans in need of rescue.
They did their job, now we need to step up and do ours...
You know, stevie_d_64, that is a good post.
Thanks
A mission for the ages.
RIP Tom Griffin.
The Japanese had a small number of extremely good pilots. They flew aircraft that were world beaters in the hands of an expert, and which would kill a novice. The A6M is not spectacular in any particular. It is slower than the Bf 109, the Spitfire can match it for maneuverability. Almost anything with US insignia was better armed and more durable. What made the Zero a legend was the men who flew it. Once they died the very nature of the aircraft and its successors meant that there was no way to quickly bring up replacements.
In contrast the Americans brought out planes like the F6F and F4U that could beat the Japanese in every category, and yet were durable enough to allow novice pilots to survive their first missions and become experienced. The average pilot in the late war US Navy and USAAC were vastly better then the men who went to war in 1941. One reason for that was the US tactic of bringing home top aces to teach recruits how to better fight their aircraft. In contrast in Japan and Germany the rule was fly till you die. It did mean that the Axis powers produce super aces like Erich Hartmann, Günther Ral and Saburo Sakai. However it also meant that those super aces were supported by a bunch of guys who didn't know how to set their trim tabs correctly. Quite literally as late in the war Robin Olds shot down one German who was crabbing sideways in his Bf 109 because of failing to reset his trim tabs after takeoff.
That and the fact they could take off from the carrier but couldn’t land on it.
RIP.
What you say makes sense to a degree.
I am sure that I quoted Sakai, at least roughly correctly tho.
My scoutmaster when I was a boy was a survivor of a POW camp in Japan. He went down after a B-29 bombing raid the same week we dropped the bomb. He spent every bit of his captivity inches from execution as the Atomic Bomb aftermath made those late captured POWs great targets for those holding them.
He had a self published account in AF archives, “Behind the Blindfold”.
He told me of this all after I was grown, and never mentioned it when he was a scout leader, but the other Dads knew of it and held him in the highest regard.
Additionally, there was no way to recover/land a B-25 on a carrier.
You served your country well!
I’ve read one interesting observation about US pilots, from both Japanese and German aces. Starting as early as the Flying Tigers, they were often amazed to see a single US plane, or just a few, turn into vastly superior numbers of enemy planes and fight against bad odds. They said the US pilots were fearless.
I think the Great Depression played a part in making that generation tough. Whatever it was they were brave, capable, and effective.
Torpedo Squadron 8 had no air cover and their slow lumbering planes while carrying torpedoes were a sitting duck yet they went in and tried losing every man but one. None of their torpedoes made a hit but the Japanese fighters having been drawn down to just about the waves could do nothing as the dive bombers attacked and within a few minutes either 3 or 4 of their carriers were in flames.
The Japanese and Germans of that era were also extremely capable and brave. In other words we were not fighting a bunch of pansies but some of the best in the world.
I recall another tid bit from Saburo Sakai’s book. They were stationed at Lae on New Guinea when he got word that American Marines had landed at “Buna?” or somewhere. The message was that the Americans were fighting like demonic beings and they could not hold against them.
I would say the U.S. Marines had the respect of the Japanese.
It isn’t often you can call someone a hero and it be true, but these guys were truly heroes in every sense of the word!(and probably a little crazy too)
What those men did was remarkable at the time, pulling off what could easily be considered a ‘suicide mission’.
I’ve seen the actual footage of those planes taking off, and it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up just to look at it. Those planes just BARELY made it off the deck. They were so slow, it almost looked as if the carrier just moved out from under the plane, rather than the plane taking off. Wow....
I have his autoraph, which I received at an air show. What a brave patriot.
R.I.P. Mr. Griffin. Thanks and gratitude.
I met both Col. Cole and Hite, Hite’s son was a cadet with me at military school. My roommate’s father was a flyer with VF229 on the Canal.
Not least by causing the Japanese to recall their fleets in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific to initiate said attack.
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.