Cavman
07-12-2013, 03:08 PM
It's the cup of brandy that no one wants to drink.
The surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered publicly for the last time April 2013.
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 enoughfuel 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 nameof a Raider.
Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is
transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passesaway, 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, inFebruary, 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 firsthand 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
The surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered publicly for the last time April 2013.
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 enoughfuel 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 nameof a Raider.
Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is
transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passesaway, 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, inFebruary, 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 firsthand 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