[DeTomaso] NPC: Doolittle Raiders
gow2 at rc-tech.net
gow2 at rc-tech.net
Mon Jul 29 15:55:57 EDT 2013
That would have been a very neat guy to know!
> Hank Potter was Doolittle's personal navigator and had his head in the
> nose
> of that infamous first B-25 to leave that deck. He lived here in Austin,
> TX
> until he died, and was a friend of mine. It was amazing to have the
> subject
> of documentaries and specials sitting across the table from me having
> lunch,
> or a drink. He was extremely friendly and forthcoming with information.
> He
> loved talking about his time in the Army Air Corps and Air Force.
>
> I asked him what it took for him to sign up for, then fly that mission.
> He
> said first of all, Jimmy Doolittle picked him to fly with him, so he
> didn't
> have much time to think about saying no. Then he said he didn't really
> think much about it. The world was at war and he was just doing his job,
> one he liked doing. He didn't even worry that much about making it to
> China, or what would happen after that. The only thing that concerned him
> was making sure he lead all those guys the right direction�a truly amazing
> and humble guy.
>
> Richard
> Austin, TX
>
>
> From: <gow2 at rc-tech.net>
> Date: Monday, July 29, 2013 1:09 PM
> To: Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com>
> Cc: deTomaso List <detomaso at poca.com>
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC: Doolittle Raiders
>
> The airplanes were stripped of every piece of weight they could take off
> including armor and guns. The most risk on take off was form the first
> B-25 which was Jimmy Doolittle. As each aircraft took off the length for
> take off increased by the airplane that was no longer on the deck of the
> carrier.
>
> Japan did not think their home land could be hit and these guys had no
> good return plan. It was a one way trip. This hit on Japan changed the
> direction we were going on in the war.
>
> Jimmy Doolittle is also known for being the first to successfully develop
> and fly an instrument approach and many other things.
>
> G
>
>
>
>
>> I'm guessing that most of the list member are much more familiar with
>> the
>> Doolittle Raiders than most Americans, but it's still worth reading.
>>
>>
>> Subject: Doolittle Raiders
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ....interesting historical account from WWII
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Doolittle Raiders
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps this item will warm your heart?
>>>>
>>>> It's the cup of brandy that no one wants to drink.
>>>>
>>>> On Tuesday, in Fort Walton Beach , Florida , the surviving
>>>> Doolittle Raiders gathered publicly for the last time.
>>>>
>>>> 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
>>>> 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.
>>>>
>>>> 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.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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