Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Doolittle Raiders Reunion 2008

From the June 2, 2008, Pensacola (Fl) News Journal.

Retired Major Tom Griffin wanted to get back at the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He and 79 other men got that chance on April 18, 1942, with Doolittle's famous raid on Japan. This was a major blow for American morale and shocked Japan.

Griffin and six other raiders returned to Eglin Air Force Base where they trained for the mission.

Retired Master Sgt. Wes Fields was also an original Doolittle raider.

Five of the seven returnees took a tour of the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. While there, they posed for a picture by a B-25 similar to the ones they flew off the deck of the USS Hornet that day.

While at Eglin AFB, they had practiced short take-offs to prepare for the mission.

Retired raider Col. Bill Bower, 90, of Boulder, Colorado, said, "We competed, and they pulled those who had the best performance."

Sixteen bombers with five-man crews, took off from the Hornet that day in B-25s loaded with 500 pound bombs.

Three B-25 bombers flew over the reunion at one point.

Old News, But We're Surely Losing the Greatest Generation, and Especially the Limited Number of Doolittle's Raiders. --Cooter

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