Wakeboarder Forum Index

 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   StatisticsStats   FavoritesFavorites   RegisterRegister   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages  Log inLog in 
BlogsBlogs   

Doolittle Raiders meet for the last time.

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Wakeboarder Forum Index -> Non-Wakeboarding
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
vette74
Wakeboarder.Commie
Wakeboarder.Commie


Joined: 30 Jul 2003
Posts: 2144
City: Houston

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 4:55 am    Post subject: Doolittle Raiders meet for the last time. Reply with quote

What an inspiring example of the "Greatest Generation."




A final toast for the Doolittle Raiders
It's the cup of brandy that no one wants to drink.

Recently, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered publicly for the last time.

They once were among the most 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 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 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.

_________________
There'll be two dates on your tombstone/ And all your friends will read 'em/ But all that's gonna matter is that little dash between 'em...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
goofyboy
Wakeboarder.com Freak
Wakeboarder.com Freak


Joined: 19 Jul 2004
Posts: 4463
City: Houston

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

that's a hell of a story.
_________________
Work SUX!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
STPHNSN23
Guest





PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i hadn't heard of them or that mission before. that's awesome.
Back to top
Okie Boarder
Ladies Man
Ladies Man


Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Posts: 10056
City: Edmond

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow...cool! That actually gets me a little choked up reading it.
_________________
If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?


Last edited by Okie Boarder on Jun 07, 2013 9:53 am; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger
Nor*Cal
Ladies Man
Ladies Man


Joined: 12 Jan 2003
Posts: 9479
City: Sac

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 9:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Um??? The whole second half of that abomination of a movie Pearl Harbor was about this raid.
_________________
If I agreed with you we would both be wrong.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
STPHNSN23
Guest





PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

well. i haven't seen pearl harbor.
Back to top
wakeboarderdave1
Wakeboarder.com Freak
Wakeboarder.com Freak


Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 3161
City: St. Thomas, MO

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nor*Cal wrote:
Um??? The whole second half of that abomination of a movie Pearl Harbor was about this raid.


War movies are generaly my favorite types of movies. I have never been able ot finish this movie.

_________________
RIP DLS.

"When you've got that many stars on your hat, you're pretty good." - Keith Jackson
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Blog Visit poster's website
jt09
Ladies Man
Ladies Man


Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 22083
City: Austin

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 11:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

little dusty in here.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jt09
Ladies Man
Ladies Man


Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 22083
City: Austin

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2013 11:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wakeboarderdave1 wrote:
Nor*Cal wrote:
Um??? The whole second half of that abomination of a movie Pearl Harbor was about this raid.


War movies are generaly my favorite types of movies. I have never been able ot finish this movie.


never mind that it was an obviously shltty movie, so most of us never even started watching it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aubs
Motorboat Queen
Motorboat Queen


Joined: 12 Jan 2003
Posts: 9167

PostPosted: Jun 09, 2013 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Part of my Masters work involved me interviewing WWII survivors. Some of the stories they have are absolutely incredible. This is a dying generation. If you know anyone who participated in WWII but their story hasn't been shared yet, urge them to work with their local historical society to get the information recorded.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jason_ssr
Wakeboarder.com Freak
Wakeboarder.com Freak


Joined: 13 Jan 2003
Posts: 4054
City: Dallas, Tx

PostPosted: Jun 10, 2013 5:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aubs wrote:
Part of my Masters work involved me interviewing WWII survivors. Some of the stories they have are absolutely incredible. This is a dying generation. If you know anyone who participated in WWII but their story hasn't been shared yet, urge them to work with their local historical society to get the information recorded.


Great advice, Aubs. When I was in 7th grade I had a history project due, and of course being a snot-nosed kid with football on the brain, I tried to find the easiest way to get it done. A family friend was having her grandfather in town who was a WW2 vet. I was thinking, sweet, ill go over to hang out, hit him up with some generic questions, get a couple of quotes on cassette, type it all out, and Im done!

I started the cassette sat down and said "Hi, I want to ask you a few question about your military service, first, state your name." ....and those were the last words I said. He began to speak and it was like Morgan Freeman X 1,000,000. The story and detail in which he spoke were unlike anything I had ever heard before or since. He was at Pearl Harbor and his story was incredible. He was doing his morning duties when the attack occured. He immediately manned his deck gun and started shooting down zeros when a kamakazi hit close to him and shrapnel broke both his femurs. He crawled back to his gun and kept firing until he passed out from the pain. He woke up on the deck of his ship buried in a hill of bodies. His legs hurt but his toe was in extreme pain. They had assumed he was dead and had given him a toe tag and threw him in the pile.

That one afternoon changed my understanding of war, love, hate, patriotism, duty, honor, and gave me a profound respect for our greatest generation. The humility in which he told his story and the grit it took to retell it choking back the tears and shaky voice was humbling. Something I will never forget.

_________________
TONA

My avatar is NOT a pic of me! HAHA!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail AIM Address
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Wakeboarder Forum Index -> Non-Wakeboarding All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

Add To Favorites

Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
             


Copyright © 2012 - Wakeboarding - Wakeboarder.com - All Right Reserved
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group