The first blood that the USA drew after Pearl Harbor was the Doolittle raid. It had been a bad five months, with the Imperial Japanese forces going from victory to victory. The raid was a huge morale booster, and the 62 men who survived the raid and the rest of the war were heroes, sought after and feted across the Republic. There was a movie about it.
In 1959, the city of Tucson presented the survivors with 80 silver goblets (one for each man in the raid) and a bottle of 1896 Hennessy VS cognac. The survivors have met each year since, but have never opened the bottle. Instead, they've been saving it for a final toast.
Today, they meet for the last time. Time has done what war could not, and only four of the fliers remain. This is their final reunion. The bottle will be opened, and a toast made by those present to those accounted for.
Fair flying and God Speed, Doolittle Raiders.
Hat tip: friend Ralph in email, whose step Dad fought in the Pacific Theater.
Knew one of the survivors, a great gent, and never thought he was a hero. none of them did!
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ReplyDeleteIn another great moment, I recall last year on the 70th anniversary of the raid, there was a B-25 fly-in at Wright Patterson Air Base. If memory serves, something like half of all the remaining B-25s in flying condition went to Ohio to pay tribute.
- Brad, ww2 history geek
Ted Lawson's book (from which the movie, above, was made) was the first biographical story from WWII that I ever read. I was 11 at the time, and it induced a life-long love for the aircraft of that war. But those men are among the most courageous of the war.
ReplyDeleteI salute them again.
The P-38 was what drew me in, and the B-24 has to be my favorite bomber (my grandfather was a propeller mechanic on them in Italy, come to find out!), but the B-25 was an awesome little plane, too. Been a LONG time since I've sat down and watched that movie, I need to do so again. And beg forgiveness for ever having spent money to see that Ben Aflec abortion "Pearl Harbor".
ReplyDelete:salute: Blue skies and tailwinds, gentlemen.
One minor scene in my novel that I really really like is one character who knows military history telling another character about the Doolittle Raid.
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