Speaking of B-25's -

April 18, 1942.

Sixteen B-25s take off from the carrier Hornet. First off the deck was flown by Lt. Col. James Doolittle.



None of the pilots had ever flown off a carrier before that day.

The story:

https://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/misc-42/dooltl.htm

I guess you pick a guy named Doolittle for the same reason you name a boy Sue. :friendly_wink:

Great group of men who knew the extreme risk and volunteered anyway! Heroes all of them. A real shame some didn't return. PJ

Brave men, indeed. Four raiders remain, three of whom gathered for a "final toast" in November, 2013. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/doolittle-raiders-share-one-last-toast-f2D11579302

IIRC, of the 80 raiders, 3 were killed, 8 were captured. Of those 8, 3 were executed. That's almost miraculous given the circumstances they had to operate under. If I recall correctly, 12 of the Doolittle Raiders were killed in action later during the war.

Two of the surviving raiders, David Thatcher and Ed Saylor, were born in Montana. After the war Mr. Thatcher was a mailman, he delivered mail to my wife's parents home in Missoula MT. Last year he was shown on TV attending a University of Montana football game.

A little while ago, i was watching a Military channel program about the raid where some of the airmen were interviewed. I was amazed at how modest these heroes were. There was nothing about them that would have stood out on the street. I was really touched by the show.

maynard said:

A little while ago, i was watching a Military channel program about the raid where some of the airmen were interviewed. I was amazed at how modest these heroes were. There was nothing about them that would have stood out on the street. I was really touched by the show.

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It's pretty much standard fare for members of the "Greatest Generation". Many of them were "This is what I had to do for my country, that's all". One of the qualities oft overlooked, though, is how much credit these gentlemen give to their parents. Of the members of this generation that I've interviewed and talked to, when the topic of work ethic comes up, the answer is invariably "If you think I work hard, you should have seen my father (or mother as the case may be)"

My dad was with the Army Air Corps Flying Tigers stationed in the Chinese Theatre. He had very little to say of his experiences. He was a Master Sargeant, Mechanic. My wife gave me a great B&W framed photo of the Hornet with the B-25's on deck for Christmas. It also has a small piece of metal from a B-25 that was being restored. She knows my passion for WWII warbirds. If you've not read any of the books written of the Raid over Tokyo...I highly advise it. Note...the Tiger Cub book is about Spitfire pilots in the European Theatre.

I read the book, "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" when in the fifth or sixth grade. Watched the movie of the same name. I think there was a movie about Pearl Harbor and the raid. That movie, i think kind of cheapened to actual raid, i believe.

Trevor Triumph said:

I read the book, "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" when in the fifth or sixth grade. Watched the movie of the same name. I think there was a movie about Pearl Harbor and the raid. That movie, i think kind of cheapened to actual raid, i believe.

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Yep - like most films, stories are condensed and "hollywood-ized". But it got the story out to a wide audience.

Even Eisenhower's "Crusade in Europe" has its biases and condensations. Reality can't be put into print (or pictures) very well; you always get a story modified from what really happened.

But quite a story nevertheless.

Tom

My dad came home from the war in 1945. He was in the Army and then went into the Merchant Marines when requests were sent out to other branches that they needed men to man the ships. He went to the Maritime Academy in Sheep's head bay NY, the place Walter Winchell called, a legal concentration camp! Made two trips across the German sub infested waters of the Atlantic taking supplies to England. He saw companion ships blown out of the water right next to their ship, stood on the deck with others shooting and blowing up floating mines entering Naples harbor, spent time in Italy, etc,etc. But, if it wasn't for my Uncle, I would have never known this, as dad would never talk about the war! If asked about it, dad would say, it was just a job and it's past, less forget about it. I never asked him again. Everyone has their heroes, he was mine! He passed 5 years ago, in his sleep, at 90. I really miss him, I will always miss him! PJ

SaxMan said:

It's pretty much standard fare for members of the "Greatest Generation". Many of them were "This is what I had to do for my country, that's all". One of the qualities oft overlooked, though, is how much credit these gentlemen give to their parents. Of the members of this generation that I've interviewed and talked to, when the topic of work ethic comes up, the answer is invariably "If you think I work hard, you should have seen my father (or mother as the case may be)"

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I'm a boomer, both my parents had their lives radically altered by the war. Sacrifice and hardship... they would rarely discuss that, but rather tell of THEIR parents and how it came to be that they (and by extension, we) were alive. Both sets of grandparents worked at hard physical labor to keep bread on the board. The maternal grandfather was a stone mason, immigrated from Italy when young. Paternal grandfather worked his one-man coal pit in eastern Ohio to get his clan through the depression. I did get the tales of others involved in the war; the stories of the Tuskeegee Airmen, Doolitle's raid, the AVG. Found out in my later teens my mother had lost her first husband in a P-38 crash. My ol' fella endured the Ardennes winter, leaning against a tree to sleep on occasion. Got blown out of an anti-aircraft gun mount by an 88 round in proximity shortly after crossing the Rhur. They met and wed in 1948. Had me two years later.

And my parents-in-law were younger then, they were eastern Europeans. They had to escape the Nazi and Russian armies as teens. FiL won't talk of it, his late older brother did fill me in on some of the details over a couple vodka sessions. MiL has just finished dictating her stories of her family's trials as they ran west to get out from under the Nazi and Russian armies. Some hair raising stuff. Mitsy and older brother were born in England.

Remarkable people, every one.

Remarkable people, every one indeed. On last night's "Call the Midwife", a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto said "You must keep on living until you can start to live again."

My Dad was an engineer for General Electric until he volunteered in December 1940. Joined the Signal Corps and was sent to Solomons and Fiji to train British (and eventually USA) troops in the installation and use of radar. Mom was a nurse in Baltimore in the early 1930s, and then a draftsman for Glenn L Martin Aircraft in California during the War.

Neither wanted to talk much about the War years. "It was something most people just did, despite complaining and major changes in your life - you just did it. For yourself, for others, for your country".

Their wedding photo: Fresno California, May 30, 1945. The country is still at war, but heading into a new world.

I only hope that the kids today realize just how important all of these folks were! Our life style today relates drastically to the rewards these people gave us by doing such unselfish heroic deeds back then. A reminder now and then is a good thing. Let us never forget! PJ