WWII legends to gather in Tucson, AZ on 62nd anniversary:Last of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders

Arizona Daily Star ^ | 4/11/04 | Carol Ann Alaimo

[SandRat]

In their day, they were America's kamikaze pilots, volunteering for a suicide mission that would later be immortalized by Hollywood.

Now, after more than four decades, the last of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders are returning to Tucson, the city that showered them with gifts that are still used to commemorate their feat.

Only 17 of these World War II heroes - one of them a Tucsonan - remain. Most will arrive here this week for the group's reunion on the raid's 62nd anniversary, the first time they have gathered here since 1959.

The fanfare will include a flyover of four vintage B-25 bombers, the same aircraft the Raiders used to bomb Japan a few months after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

"It's a thrill to have them here," said Barbara MacDonald of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, one of the sponsors of the group's visit. "It's incredible to think that every one of them volunteered to go into a situation knowing that they were not likely to return."

[SandRat]

Lots more information and lots of pictures once you click the excerpt link.

Here's a salute to the Army Air Corps that became the Army Air Forces, and ultimately the Air Force.

[SandRat]

Here's a tale of extra ordinary heroism from the past and yet today we see our and our coalition partner' young men and women in the news; in harms way, no less heroic.

[Aeronaut]

[Grampa Dave]

Last night I watched one of my favorite movies, Midway.

They have this terrific scene of the bombers taking off to bomb Japan.

The pilots and their crews were true heroes when America and our allies needed heroes and good news.

I hope that the survivors get a great welcome and thank you in Tucson.

[vetvetdoug]

Now these men to me are real heroes. Basketball, baseball, and football are games played with overpaid brats. The Doolittle Raiders deserve our thanks and respect forever.

[expat_panama]

...that would later be immortalized by Hollywood.

And it's very fitting to have celebrated Doolittle's heros.   That was then.  It's a shame that today's Hollywood is so paralyzed with hatred for America that it can't to honor today's heroes. 

[McCloud-Strife]

...that would later be immortalized by Hollywood.
FRankly, it bothers me a lot that one of the biggest lefties out there played Dollittle in the film. Doolittle was a big inspiration to me growing up

The man on the right is a craven snob and makes me flinch everytime I hear him open his mouth.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

My dad was of this era. He flew C-46s as a civilian pilot in the China-Burma-India Campaign.

[tet68]

In their day, they were America's kamikaze pilots, volunteering for a suicide mission

Pathetic to see a writer do this, the mission was dangerous but it was not a suicide mission.

God bless these men.

[SAMWolf]

God Bless them all, real heroes

[SENTINEL]

My favorite boyhood book. Worth a read if you haven't.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

And, there was no plan to bring them back to the carrier...they were headed for China.

[expat_panama]

it bothers me a lot that one of the biggest lefties out there played Dollittle in the film.

^{I don't mind it if the plumber I hire is a Democrat-- so long as he does a descent job cleaning my septic tank.  Among the captains of the entertainment industries the actors are considered the hired help-- way} d o w n ^{the respect ladder.  It's like that in most businesses- the face you see at the counter is usually not the brains of the company.}

[Bogey78O]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

[kabar]

A daring exploit that bordered on a suicide mission. This small band of warriors lifted a nation's spirits, a nation that experienced a few months earlier the shocking defeat of Pearl Harbor. Doolittle took the fight to the enemy's homeland. To call them heroes is an understatement.

[marktwain]

In their day, they were America's kamikaze pilots, volunteering for a suicide mission

I do not see this as disrespectful. If you read the book "Flyboys", it becomes clear that given the conditions under which they took off, they did not expect to return from the mission alive.

No, they did not celebrate it as a "suicide" mission, and expect to see 72 virgins when they died, but I am convinced that most of them did not expect to survive the mission when they launched.

In fact it was only because of a totally unexpected reversal of wind direction, that most were able to survive the mission.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[blackie]

Support our heroic fighting forces: Past, Present and Future!

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[cyborg]

Real heroes (as opposed to Vietnam posers like Kerry) BUMP

[blackie]

Amen, cyborg!