The Doolittle Raiders were a special group of Air Force pilots who, on April 18, 1942, flew B-25 bombers off of Navy carries to bomb Tokyo.
With no possibility of returning to a carrier, the pilots were told to land where they could and prepare to survival the best way they could.
Their Reunions are ending. Please read the story and refresh your memory about this special group of flyers.
http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130421/NEWS/304210004/Doolittle-Raiders-g ather-final-reunion
Be sure to also read page 2.
Gene
Amazing people from an incredible time.
It has always struck me as ironic that Jimmy's surname was "Doolittle", when he and his men did so very much.
I've had the distinct honor of meeting the remaining Doolittle Raiders a year or so ago. I believe there were 4 left at the time. I've got a video disc of it that I will always cherish.
Thanks Eugene, it's important that we all remember what was done in the past to defend our country and our freedoms. Here's another example of true American Heroes,
From the Claremont Advocate, July 14, 1898
The Battle Line at Santiago, Cuba: "An officer of the Twenty-first began to sing the Star Spangled Banner. All along the line of fierce fighters entangled in the brush, the strain was quickly caught up and even the wounded and dying joined in the chorus: 'And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.'The national hymn has often been sung by brave and heroic sons of the Republic, but never before did its strains of inspiration break upon the air with such pathos as when in the lull of the battle's roar a thousand men in the jungle at Aquadores, with their rifles firmly clutched in hand, gave utterance to that which is alike prophecy, and inspiration to every loyal heart."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-UetUdgZ8
Happy motoring, Warren
Earliest I can think of is great uncle Walter Oder that went off thru Canada - at age 44 in 1915 - to fight in France long before the USA entered the fray. He is buried in one of the dozens of Soldier's Cemeteries in Boulonge, France
America's Greatest Generation. They survived the Great Depression and, having been toughened
by its deprivations, fought and won WWII — and virtually every nation that is free today is free
because of them.
Then, they topped it all off by landing on the Moon (and Dad machined the landing gear that
went on Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's Lunar Module). There will never be another generation
like The Greatest Generation.