The U.S. Air Force will host the famed Doolittle Tokyo Raiders' final toast to their fallen comrades during an invitation-only ceremony on Nov. 9, 2013, at the
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
The
71st Doolittle Reunion
was held in
Fort Walton Beach Florida
71st Doolittle Reunion
was held in
Fort Walton Beach Florida
April 17th thru 20th, 2013
Occasionally a FW: message arrives that I'm pleased to share with you... such as this one:
Fw: The cup of Brandy no one wants to drink --- Doolittle Raiders
On
Tuesday, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the surviving Doolittle Raiders
gathered publicly for the last time.
They
once were among the most universally admired and revered men in the United
States. There were 80 of the Raiders in April 1942, when they carried out one
of the most courageous and heart-stirring military operations in this nation's
history. The mere mention of their unit's name, in those years, would bring
tears to the eyes of grateful Americans.
Now
only four survive.After
Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States reeling and
wounded, something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around.Even
though there were no friendly airfields close enough to Japan for the United
States to launch a retaliation, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen B-25s were
modified so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier.
This had never before been tried -- sending such big, heavy bombers from a
carrier.The
16 five-man crews, under the command of Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who himself
flew the lead plane off the USS Hornet, knew that they would not be able to
return to the carrier. They would have to hit Japan and then hope to make it
to China for a safe landing.But
on the day of the raid, the Japanese military caught wind of the plan. The
Raiders were told that they would have to take off from much farther out in
the Pacific Ocean than they had counted on. They were told that because of
this they would not have enough fuel to make it to safety.And
those men went anyway.
They
bombed Tokyo, and then flew as far as they could. Four planes crash-landed; 11
more crews bailed out, and three of the Raiders died. Eight more were
captured; three were executed. Another died of starvation in a Japanese
prison camp. One crew made it to Russia.
The
Doolittle Raid sent a message from the United States to its enemies, and to
the rest of the world: We will fight. And, no matter what it takes, we will win.
Of
the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war. They were celebrated as national heroes,
models of bravery. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture based on the
raid; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson, was
a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase became part of the
national lexicon. In the movie-theater previews for the film, MGM proclaimed
that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride."
Beginning
in 1946, the surviving Raiders have held a reunion each April, to commemorate
the mission. The reunion is in a different city each year. In 1959, the city
of Tucson, Arizona, as a gesture of respect and gratitude, presented the
Doolittle Raiders with a set of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet was engraved
with the name of a Raider.
Every
year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is transported to the
reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, his goblet is turned upside down
in the case at the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn witness.
Also
in the wooden case is a bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special cognac. The year
is not happenstance: 1896 was when Jimmy Doolittle was born.
There
has always been a plan: When there are only two surviving Raiders, they would
open the bottle, at last drink from it, and toast their comrades who preceded
them in death.
As
2013 began, there were five living Raiders; then, in February, Tom Griffin
passed away at age 96. What a man he was. After bailing out of his plane over
a mountainous Chinese forest after the Tokyo raid, he became ill with malaria,
and almost died. When he recovered, he was sent to Europe to fly more combat
missions. He was shot down, captured, and spent 22 months in a German prisoner
of war camp.
The
selflessness of these men, the sheer guts ... there was a passage in the
Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Mr. Griffin that, on the surface, had nothing
to do with the war, but that emblematizes the depth of his sense of duty and
devotion:"When his wife became ill and needed to go into a nursing home, he
visited her every day. He walked from his house to the nursing home, fed his
wife and at the end of the day brought home her clothes. At night, he washed
and ironed her clothes. Then he walked them up to her room the next morning.
He did that for three years until her death in 2005."
So
now, out of the original 80, only four
Raiders remain: Dick
Cole (Doolittle's co-pilot on the Tokyo raid), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor and
David Thatcher. All are in their 90s. They
have decided that there are too few of them for the public reunions to
continue.
The
events in Fort Walton Beach this week will mark the end. It has come
full circle; Florida's nearby Eglin Field was where the Raiders trained in
secrecy for the Tokyo mission. The town is planning to do all it can to honor
the men: a six-day celebration of their valor, including luncheons, a dinner
and a parade.Do
the men ever wonder if those of us for whom they helped save the country have
tended to it in a way that is worthy of their sacrifice? They don't talk about
that, at least not around other people. But if you find yourself near Fort
Walton Beach this week, and if you should encounter any of the Raiders, you
might want to offer them a word of thanks. I can tell you from first hand
observation that they appreciate hearing that they are remembered.
The
men have decided that after this final public reunion they will wait until a
later date -- Some time this year -- to get together once more, informally and
in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle of brandy. The
years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to wait until there
are only two of them. They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets. And
raise them in a toast to those who are gone.
PLEASE
SEND THIS ON TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO WERE TOO YOUNG TO KNOW ABOUT THESE GUYS. THIS SHOULD BE READ BY EVERY KID IN GRADE AND HIGH SCHOOL SO THEY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.
