75 years ago today:

[Grand58742]

16 B-25 bombers made history. The Doolittle Raid helped a nation to understand they could fight back and made them believe in the coming victory. 80 heroes helped bring a nation to its feet.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/us/75th-anniversary-doolittle-raid/index.html


Richard Cole was not thinking much about the future when flying in the surprise Doolittle revenge raid on Japan 75 years ago Tuesday. He says he was scared all the time. Now, at age 101, he is the last survivor of the 80 gallant men who successfully bombed Japan and delivered a giant morale boost for the United States just months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Doolittle Raiders were beloved by a nation caught up in World War II. Cole will mark the 75th anniversary in ceremonies held at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base In Dayton, Ohio.

Lt. Col. Cole said, "It's kind of lonely because I'm the last one." When pressed about what the 75th anniversary of the attack means to him, Cole, with a twinkle in his eye, said, "It means I'm getting to be an old man." Later, Cole said on the anniversary, "You think about the whole group."

Sad to think there's only one left of the original 80.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid

[Singlestack Wonder]

Who will drink the last glass of Hennessy for Lt. Col. Cole and flip the glass?

Sad indeed....These great men continue to leave us as fewer and fewer of the next generations are taught about what these men stood for...

[soulezoo]

I met a few of them at Travis some years ago. I'm proud to have met them. I am still in awe of what they did. There's some big ball sacs there.

On edit: I had to go back and look. That was 2003. There were still 4 living then and 3 of the 4 came to the event. They had a toast then as well. LtCol Cole was Doolittle's co-pilot.

[SOWT]

Who will drink the last glass of Hennessy for Lt. Col. Cole and flip the glass?

Sad indeed....These great men continue to leave us as fewer and fewer of the next generations are taught about what these men stood for...

IIRC they opened the bottle and drank a toast a few years ago.

[Singlestack Wonder]

IIRC they opened the bottle and drank a toast a few years ago.

There was a glass for each crewman. When one passed, the remaining members drank a toast the and the crewman who had passed had his glass turned upside down on the shelf with the others. Only one glass remains unturned...

[rjacobs]

I thought last years was the final one... They(he???) werent going to do it anymore.

[RazorBurn]

Sad indeed....These great men continue to leave us as fewer and fewer of the next generations are taught about what these men stood for...

Sad indeed is right. Too few today know (or care) about how brave they really were. The Greatest Generation indeed! Thank you all for remembering them!

[SteyrAUG]

From a time when we didn't say "nothing we can do about it" as much and when things needed to happen we figured out a way to make it work.

Medium bombers off of a carrier, launched much earlier than intended. To quote the a film "Where do we get such men?"

[SeriousStudent]

I would be honored to raise a glass for these men.