thousand...” and then make the plummet, but I was so anxious, I’ m pretty sure I made it to“ one thousand” and pulled my ripcord. I pulled down on it so fast, in fact, I think I gave myself a black eye.
Fortunately, my parachute landed in a tree. I spent the night up there and I don’ t think I slept, I might have dozed off, but I was no worse for the wear. When we jumped, we all had compasses and we knew to head west. Sure enough, we were all back together the following night. I’ ll always be grateful play a part in.
Of course, as the history books tell us, not all the men made it back from that war. That’ s a bittersweet thing. You hate to lose good friends, but I guess on the other side of it, you are inclined to be grateful that you are able to pay your respects. It’ s not easy, but I guess that’ s the name of the game. I was fortunate to form bonds with many of those men during my time and I’ m forever grateful for it. One of those men was Col. Doolittle. He said very little and wasn’ t one for much chit chat. If you fortunate to be in some pretty good outfits.
The best way to honor their legacy is to share my story. One of the stigmas that took place between WWI and WWII was this belief that if a veteran talked about his service, he was considered some kind of blowhard. Even though I don’ t go around talking about it, if people are serious and want to listen, I don’ t mind sharing my experience and it’ s really helped a lot because if nobody asks questions, you keep that bottled up and it just makes
IN 1943, WHILE SERVING IN NORTH AFRICA, JIMMY DOOLITTLE AND SEVERAL VETERANS OF THE RAID CAME TOGETHER FOR AN IMPROMPTU REUNION TO MARK ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY ON APRIL 18. THERE, THEY TOASTED THEIR COMRADES- THOSE WHO SURVIVED, AND THE SEVEN WHO DIED DURING THE RAID AND AT THE HANDS OF JAPANESE CAPTORS.
IN THE END, 62 OF THE 80 DOOLITTLE RAIDERS WOULD SURVIVE WORLD WAR II. THOSE SURVIVORS CARRIED ON THE TRADITION OF A REUNION EACH APRIL 18, AND A TOAST TO THOSE WHO HAD PASSED ON. THAT TRADITION CONTINUED FOR SEVEN DECADES UNTIL 2013, WHEN THREE OF THE FOUR LIVING DOOLITTLE RAIDERS GATHERED AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE FOR ONE FINAL TOAST-LED BY LT. COL. RICHARD COLE.
TODAY, HE IS THE LAST TO SURVIVE.
for the help the Chinese people were willing to give us. They were able to keep us ahead of the Japanese and out of the occupied area.
Ultimately, we fulfilled our mission. It’ s true we didn’ t inflict much damage on the Japanese targets, but we’ d proven that the Japanese were susceptible to an air attack, which caused them to transfer much of their power back to the Central Pacific. In addition, their decision to transfer two carriers to Alaska proved advantageous in securing our subsequent victory at Midway. Looking back, it was certainly a turning point in the war and one I was proud to heard from him, it was usually because something urgent needed to be done. With that said, our success was a tribute to the leadership of Col. Doolittle. He was a prime example of how an aircraft commander should act. He was a commander, but also a crew member and a team man. I observed a lot about how he handled himself and the way he related to anybody at any level. Some of that rubbed off on me. But that’ s also what made the whole group of us work well up there. I befriended some other well-known pilots, including Buddy Lewis, who later played third base for the Washington Senators, and Jackie Coogan, the actor and comedian. I was it that much harder to adjust to civilian life. The Truman presidency helped. Having a veteran in that office signaled a change in a lot of the ways veterans engage as citizens.
History has remembered us well, but truthfully I don’ t think the Raiders ought to be set aside in any special way. We’ re happy to be included in the generation that participated during those pretty dangerous times. Our country was in a very dangerous situation and I think being part of the big picture is a legacy enough.
– WWII –
10 WORLD WAR II CHRONICLES