Big celebrations were held here on the 50th and 60th anniversaries, but this one will be more laid-back.
Nine of the 80 Raiders are still alive and six are planning on attending. Eleven of them were captured or killed after the attack. Fourteen complete crews were able to make it back to American lines.
Columbia's connection to the raid was that they did some of their initial training at the Lexington County Army Air Force Base in Columbia.
I went to Wikipedia and found the names of some of the 16 planes that took part:
Whiskey Pete, The Green Hornet, The Ruptured Duck (Good one), Whirling Dervish, Hari-Kari-er (especially appropriate), Fickle Finger of Fate, The Avenger, TNT, and Bat Out of Hell.
I wonder if the others had names?
A Salute to a Great Bunch of Guys!! --Cooter
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