January 9, 2014
Doolittle Raiders fly into the sunset
Island Moon
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.”
Annual reunion Beginning in 1946, the surviving Raiders held a reunion each April, to commemorate the mission. It was held in al 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 The final four, Dick Cole, Robert Hite, Edward Saylor goblets. Each goblet was engraved with the name of a Raider. Every and David Thatcher. year, a wooden display case Last month in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered publicly bearing all 80 goblets was transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, for the last time. his goblet was turned upside down in the case at They once were among the most universally the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn admired and revered men in the United States. witness. 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. Now only four survive.
Retaliation 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 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.
Bombs over Toyko
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 had 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. After bailing out of his plane over a mountainous Chinese forest after the Tokyo raid, Griffin 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.
Doolittle’s Raiders at the time of t heir raid on Tokyo They bombed Tokyo, then flew as far as they could. Four planes crash-landed; eleven 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
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 last month marked 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 threw a six-day celebration of their valor, including luncheons, a dinner and a parade. 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.
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A 11
Frostbite Betty continued from A1
Then There Were Four
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. They went anyway.
sat 8:30-5:30
10514 S.P.i.d.
us any stories, photos or activities that you have and we’ll put them in the column. Also, Frostbite Betty is on Facebook so be sure to send her a friend request. And, be sure to read Ronnie’s music column this week… he will be writing about the live music around town that Winter Texans will find pleasing. So without further adieu, here’s Frostbite Betty’s first letter:
Hello from Frostbite Falls, Minnesota! Well it’s January. Today is sunny and not Winter Texans enjoy dancing to the sounds snowing, so that means COLD. Nineteen of the Medicare Band every Friday at degrees below zero this morning, and looking Sharkeys. out at the big lake I see it covered guy, sang The Logger’s Alphabet by steam. Even though the water , “A is for axes as well you all is still open in some places it is know / And B is for boys who 51 degrees warmer than the air! can use them also.... So merry, The steam cloud makes a misty so merry, so merry are we / No view of the low sun caught by mortals on earth are as happy as the waves. Bert is especially we.” There’s another song about entranced watching his first deep the happy logger that stirs his winter, including Betty out there coffee with his thumb. Those with her snow shovel. Skiing is big horses are so powerful, and great but the car was plowed in by Winter Texans Sherry rhythmical and quiet compared the road grader yesterday, had to and Larry from Iowa are to say a big old diesel skidder as dig it out first to drive up the hill greeted at the Tarpon Ice the loggers use now. to the trails that wind through the woods. Days are getting longer House by Kim Strickney. This was the beachy-est summer now, eight hours and 34 minutes. I can remember spending in all my many years here. There’s no The snow banks in town here are sand like in Port A, it’s all stones, up to my armpits. This buries the all shapes, all sizes, and not even fire hydrants, so they all have a all the same color. Bert has an eye post attached that sticks up above for the rocks here; the geology is the snow to mark it. as old as time, and golly gee the The summer was full of cooking variety of rocks is spellbinding. and eating fresh veggies from the Agates, basalt, granite, geodes, garden and watching the baby many many. I never knew. He’s chicks grow into the hens we been sawing them open and finding thought they were, except there’s a world of wonders there. I like one rooster. Now months later the amygdaloidal basalt, it wakes there are eggs, if we can get them They have to put long my tongue up to say the word, before they freeze. The summer sticks out to find their and is inlaid with wiggly graphic cottage is next to the horse yard, fire hydrants in Frostbite patterns. There is a gravel pit usually six horses there, but now north of town that has rocks that Falls. Jack and Julie, the two senior were exploded there from a huge Belgians, have gone to work. meteorite that landed 200 miles They give sleigh rides at one of the nearby away a gazillion years ago. Those are a swirl lodges now that there is plenty of snow on of color and dramatic patterns, not created in a their trails. We took a ride Christmas day, just calm slow environment. Imagine the sound . after sunset. We sat on hay in the back of the Until next time… cart, while we bounced and jostled through the Peace and love, woods, lighted up by a couple of lights attached to a battery. Part way along Marco, the horse Frostbite Betty
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